The School Days Project: How Marcella Supports Girls' Education

Despite girls’ education rates increasing globally, 132 million girls aged between 6 and 17 are still out of school around the world. 15 million girls of primary school education have never stepped into a classroom. Half of those girls live in sub-Saharan Africa.

Even before Marcella had its name, our team became motivated to create an ethical brand that catalyzed social change - with an emphasis on advancing women and girls in society. We decided to use what we knew best, beautiful fashion, as a vehicle for progress. Knowing that no systemic issue can be solved alone, we eventually partnered with the NGO powerhouse, CAMFED (the Campaign for Female Education). Having already positively impacted the lives of millions of girls in over 6,800 government partner schools in sub-Saharan Africa, CAMFED is revolutionizing girls’ access to education as well the opportunities for those girls beyond the classroom.

We've now developed a business model to directly help CAMFED continue the incredible work they do - what we call the "School Days Project." The premise is simple: each design we sell supports a girl going to school for 5 days. Meaning that we support the five-day equivalent cost of school fees, books, uniforms, menstrual pads and more - not just one of these things but everything that a girl needs to go to school for one week. And, thus, for every 40 designs we sell, a girl will end up going to school for an entire year.

So we’re starting there at Marcella - with "one design, five school days" - to create a future where no girl is left behind and where every woman can have a seat at the table.

If you’d like to learn more about CAMFED’s mission of promoting gender equality through girls' education, please visit their website at http://camfed.org.