2026 Award Recipient
ElaPatel-Euler
Project Girls Growing Education
Project Girls Growing Education
Ela is the co-founder and leader of Girls Growing Education (GGE), an organization that installs offline Digital Learning Labs in schools that lack reliable internet access.
Ela’s motivation came from personal experiences and connections. When traveling in India, she saw girls her own age selling toys on the street instead of attending school. She also learned about girls in Ethiopia who had never touched a computer, and other similar stories. Ela asked a simple question: could digital learning work in places with little to no connectivity? She went to work on a solution.
Each GGE Digital Learning Lab is built around a compact device preloaded with offline educational content, including Khan Academy and Project Gutenberg, that can connect up to 15 computers simultaneously without internet. Labs are supported by locally hired staff, and a youth Ambassador Program trains teens in Ethiopia and Virginia to design and lead their own labs.
The program, which began in 2023 as a two-week EdTech summer camp in Ethiopia’s capital, has grown into a network of more than 25 Learning Labs that have reached more than 20,000 students. Along the way, GGE earned a Letter of Recognition from the Ethiopian Ministry of Education.
An organization that installs offline Digital Learning Labs in schools that lack reliable internet access, giving students in underserved communities the tools to learn without connectivity.
