What We Do
Caravan to Class expands access to education and leadership opportunities for young women across fourteen West African countries.
Through Bourse Jackie, we combine university and English-language scholarships with public-speaking training, mentorship, and leadership development. With offices in Bamako, Mali, and Accra, Ghana, our programs are led by West African women, including former scholarship recipients.
Together, we are building a growing network of women leaders who advance their ambitions, strengthen their communities, and open doors for others.
Caravan to Class supports young women ages 18–26 across West Africa with the education, skills, and relationships they need to become leaders in their communities. Our three programs meet women at different stages of their educational and leadership journeys.
Our work began in 2010, when we started building and supporting French-language schools in villages across the Timbuktu region, guided by the simple belief that every child deserves an education. We later introduced adult literacy classes in local languages for mothers in those communities. In 2018, we established Bourse Jackie in memory of Jackie Hoffner to help young women from Timbuktu attend university, laying the foundation for our work with women across West Africa today.
We completed our final school in Timbuktu in 2022. Today, we devote our full attention to supporting young women through our three programs.
OUR PROGRAMS
Full scholarships help five young women from Timbuktu, Mali, begin university each year. Mentorship and leadership development support their transition to higher education and preparation for professional careers.
University Scholarships
Intensive English-language study in Accra, Ghana, helps young women from eight French-speaking West African countries gain skills to pursue further education, employment, and international opportunities.
English-Language Scholarships
Public-speaking training, competitions, leadership bootcamps, and mentorship bring together young women across fourteen countries to build confidence, strengthen communication skills, and develop lasting networks.
West African Women Speakers and Leadership
Our Past Programs & School-Building Legacy
2010-2022
From 2010 to 2022, Caravan to Class built and supported 18 French-language elementary schools and offered adult literacy classes for women. The sections below highlight these past programs, which laid the foundation for our current focus on young women’s education and leadership.
School Building (2010–2023)
Caravan to Class built and supported French-based elementary schools throughout remote villages in the Timbuktu region of Mali. This effort brought educational access to communities where no formal schooling existed and ensured girls and boys could learn in safe, culturally appropriate environments.
Adult Literacy Programs (2014–2023)
Our adult literacy program provided women with essential reading and writing skills, giving them greater agency in their homes, businesses, and communities. These programs offered a pathway toward improved livelihoods and greater confidence for hundreds of women.
These legacy programs remain an important foundation of who we are and why our mission continues.
What We’ve Achieved
Provided hundreds of notebooks, pencils etc. in school supplies.
Paid over 300 teacher salaries
Awarded full university scholarships to 19 female high school graduates from Timbuktu
Distributed 1,000 school uniforms
Built 17 elementary schools
Created access to education for more than 3000 children
Taught basic literacy in local language to over 300 mothers
Provided over one million school lunches
Schools
Literacy
A School Opening
This view of the Nanga School Inauguration gives you an idea of the vibrancy of the communities we work with and how exciting a school opening is for the whole village.
Our Supporters
We could not have had the impact we have been able to have without the relationships we have with our supporters.
"The Good People Fund has been a long-time supporter of Caravan to Class, and each year we continue to be inspired by the organization's successes and the significant impact they have on individual lives. CTC is a professionally managed program in every way. Barry's hands-on approach and his ability to see first-hand the good that is being done, makes this an especially good investment of our donors' funds.”
— NAOMI EISENBERGER