Dr. Mam Yassin Sarr

Dr. Mam-Yassin Sarr is Co-founder and Director of Starfish International, a nonprofit organisation that is focused on advancing humanity through girls’ education and providing international service-learning opportunities in The Gambia. The organisation’s approach to solving the underdevelopment and poverty that characterises The Gambian community has been educating girls who are high-achieving and at risk of dropping out. The strategy focuses on providing scholarships to enable the girls to continue their education while also starting their own small businesses, even as they are serving their communities. Of her service, Mam Yassin says, “I have a vested interest in what happens to my community because my community has given me so much. I believe that there can be no greater investment than the education of the youth, particularly, and especially in the areas of both character education and academics. I also believe that when we invest in the primary educators of the next generation (girls), we invest in the family, the community, and the world at large. And this is the dream I have dedicated my life to realising.”