Teach for Senegal was birthed from the life experience and ultimate life calling of our founder, Raby Gueye. An educator and entrepreneur, she’s known since her youth her destiny of purpose-driven work for everyday people and young people. 

 

Raby was born and raised in rural Senegal until she was eight years old—where her family immigrated to the United States as refugees due to a conflict that impacted her family. Just like many refugee families, adjusting to a new country came with its challenges and trials. With the encouragement of teachers, Raby and her siblings stayed the course and even helped their parents navigate daily life in America while they received an education.

 

Throughout her formative years in school, it became clear to Raby being educated is vital for one to be able to reach their full potential and thrive, but wondered why such education disparities exist in her home country and all over the world. Tapping into her passions of being a potential fulfiller and problem solver, she began her consistent service work for Senegalese youth while in high school. There, she was encouraged to explore a career in human rights law, as she aspired to work towards helping refugees experience fewer challenges that she endured with her family. But during her time as a student at Arizona State University, she transitioned pursuing a career in education from her experience teaching at a refugee agency, in an underserved community in India as well as a Teach for America educator. 

 

These teaching experiences revealed the importance of cultural representation in the classroom and in the curriculum. Raby also realized the need to disrupt the system, while working within it, if children were to truly realize their purpose. Starting with her own community, she developed Teach For Senegal with the help of mentors to make this purpose-driven work a reality. Currently, Raby and her team are building partnerships with the Senegalese government to create a collective vision among themselves, as well as with the communities Teach For Senegal will serve under the core values of leadership and empathy, as well as being locally rooted and globally informed.

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The talent from Africa’s youth is palpable; their passion is even more evident. Teach For Senegal not only wants to inspire the diaspora to return home and invest in the continent but to also exemplify the ability for young Africans to be given the room to finally solve their own issues—without aid—to prepare children for the real world.

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