Clay Dunn, Govt Director of VOW for Women
Jessica Abo sat down with Clay Dunn. He’s the chief director of VOW for Women, a corporation deeply dedicated to elevating consciousness of the urgent difficulty of kid marriage.
Clay visiting companion organizations in Nepal in 2022
The place it started
Rising up in a poor, rural neighborhood in Kentucky fuels Clay Dunn’s ardour to verify nobody’s childhood turns into a useless finish. “Once we give ladies the liberty to decide on whether or not and whom to marry, we in flip defend their proper to training, their well being and well-being, and their means to earn cash and construct financial independence. Each woman deserves all this stuff,” he says.
In keeping with the Ladies and Women Index 2021, every year 12 million ladies underneath the age of 18 marry right into a union not rooted in love or alternative. Which means a woman will get married each three seconds.
How does it work
VOW for Women addresses the crucial funding hole to finish youngster marriage by supporting native organizations straight concerned in empowering younger ladies in Africa, Asia and Latin America the place youngster marriage charges are the best on the earth. “We expect these native leaders are in one of the best place to know what the ladies of their communities want and to give you options which are finest for his or her scenario,” says Dunn. Their program helps ladies full their training, perceive their rights and make choices about their future. So far, they’ve awarded grants to greater than 175 neighborhood organizations. “We preserve listening to from these companions that adjustments are occurring: ladies are standing up for themselves and one another, in a means they by no means have earlier than in these communities. It is thrilling to see ladies understanding their rights, accepting their energy and making their very own decisions about their future,” he says.
Marriage ceremony gown from the couple’s wedding ceremony the place they exchanged vows
A singular method to increase funds
To fund their necessary work, VOW for Women has developed a inventive fundraising technique that entails turning celebrations of affection into assist for ladies in danger. So far, greater than 8,000 {couples} have aligned their weddings with their vows in a roundabout way. From {couples} asking for donations along with or in lieu of items, to turning the bridal bathe right into a fundraiser, making donations on behalf of company in lieu of favors, or gifting the marriage occasion with items that give again, there are lots of methods folks can become involved.
Maggie and Jeremy stated their wedding ceremony vows.
Dunn says the partnerships fashioned with numerous stakeholders, reminiscent of {couples}, occasion professionals and beneficiant manufacturers, have been instrumental in mobilizing funds and supporting their mission. VOW for Women has been the marriage charity of alternative for a lot of high-profile {couples}, together with Sheryl Sandberg and Tom Bernthal who just lately donated $1 million to the group in reference to their large day.
She hopes extra folks will pledge to empower younger ladies and provides them decisions for a brighter future.