When Tammy Tibbetts was 23, she worked as a web content manager for a women’s magazine. She loved seeing first hand how social media can create change in how we accomplish things and connect with others. When she became frustrated by an article on teen pregnancy in Liberia, she realized she wanted to help promote education for girls in developing countries. Education is the primary factor in decreasing rates of teen pregnancy, unemployment, and domestic violence. Tibbitts founded She’s the First with a group of friends in 2009, with a simple social media campaign calling young people into action to raise enough money to sponsor just one girl to finish school.
In 2011, Tibbetts was able to relaunch She’s The First into a fully-fledged nonprofit. The organization’s fundraising projects have included several fun activities. These include promoting bake sales of tie-dyed cupcakes (300 cupcakes at one dollar a piece raises enough to sponsor one girl), to a benefit concert called Girls Who Rock. The organization researches the highest quality education partners, and provides them with profiles on girls that the organization’s donors are supporting. The site is now an interactive community connecting donors to organizations and subsequently girls in developing countries that are now able to go to high school by participating in one of various programs.