Description

Before she went on to attend two Ivy League institutions, Cornell University and Harvard Business School, where she graduated top 5% of the class as a Baker Scholar, Umaimah Mendhro grew up without access to formal education for much of her life in rural Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, where she lived in exile. After business school, Umaimah went on to build a multi-million-dollar e-commerce brand, VIDA & Co., backed by Google Ventures, Y Combinator, and others. She eventually bought back the company from her investors and turned into a Public Benefit Corporation. It was from this solid foundation that Umaimah directed a $1M grant from VIDA to launch One League, a global education enterprise with the mission to democratize access to world-class education for the most gifted, underserved population of the world. She also managed to convince Harvard, MIT, and Stanford to collaborate with her on the venture.

In less than 10 months since its conceptualization, One League was offering an Ivy League quality graduate-level education, via globally accessible live, synchronous classes, with curriculum curated and licensed from Harvard, MIT, and Stanford.

One League’s program is led by distinguished faculty, who have taught at top-tier institutions (including HBS), authored award-winning books and articles, and are dedicated to the rigor of One League’s world-class learning offering.

One League’s inaugural class represents a diverse array of participants from nearly 50 countries, including Afghanistan, Ghana, Iraq, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Uganda, and the United States and a 50-50 female-male gender ratio. The cohorts include a Forbes 30 Under 30 Awardee, a Presidential Award Winner, a Human Rights Fellow, a Global Prize Winner to Combat Energy Poverty, and a Top 100 Women in Technology Awardee. Fellows are working on audacious projects such as realizing energy equity across Africa, creating agents of change in Southeast Asia, and building technology incubators in the Middle East. The class includes survivors of war, first generation college graduates, refugees, ethnic and cultural minorities, and sole breadwinners for their families living under the poverty line.

One League is providing access to opportunity, networking, and knowledge on par with top-tier educational institutions. One League fellows are championed by the organization’s extensive coalition of industry executives and leaders and receive access to opportunities to seek venture funding to propel world-changing ideas.

One League was recently recognized by Fast Company as one of the ten Most Innovative Companies in the World in Education in 2023.

Join us to hear Umaimah’s story of triumph and perseverance, and how she developed unprecedented support to democratize access to opportunity and privilege at a global scale.

Participants must register by Noon on April 26th to receive details on joining the discussion. The Zoom link will be sent out 24 hours before the event.

Please note that no refunds will be issued.