Celebrating the Andresen-UWC Norway Anniversary Fund
23 August 2024
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Now, more than ever, the world needs future leaders capable of tackling humanity’s most pressing challenges. UWC is committed to nurturing these leaders - changemakers who can navigate cultural and social differences, collaborating to discover collective solutions to our shared problems. To make this vision a reality, every year UWC raises funds to provide scholarships for our students.
UWC is proud of its partnership with the Andresen family and UWC Norway, through their combined donation to the Johan and Marianne Andresen-UWC Norway Anniversary Fund, which has been held at UWC International since 2012. The generosity of both parties has unlocked opportunities for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who would otherwise not be able to access transformational education without such support.
Thanks to this commitment, six young people have so far undertaken the two-year International Baccalaureate at six UWC schools. Below, you can read more about the journey two of these students, Shreif and Vicente, have taken.
The UWC Endowment Scholarship Fund
UWC proposes to migrate the Andresen/UWC Norway Anniversary Fund into the newly launched UWC Global Endowment Scholarship Fund.
Inspired by UWC’s 60th Anniversary and the launch in January 2024 of the UWC Endowment Fund*, the Andresen family and friends of UWC Norway have once again joined forces and committed a new significant gift to add to their combined scholarship fund at UWC International. By pooling their gift with the UWC Endowment Fund, the enhanced fund will provide an annual source of income in perpetuity, unlocking multiple scholarships at UWC for talented young people from disadvantaged and conflict backgrounds, creating young leaders to impact the change the world needs.
"The UWC Endowment scholarship fund has already raised over 50m USD and our goal is to increase this to 500m USD. It is a clear demonstration of how we are striving to equip a new generation of leaders for peace and a sustainable future. Moreover, it is due to generous endowments such as this that we can continue to create the global leadership the world needs now, and in the future."
It is estimated that the proceeds from this fund will unlock over 30 scholarships in the next 20 years. The Andresen-UWC Norway Anniversary Fund’s augmented capital gift amounts to roughly 1.3 million USD.
* The UWC Endowment Fund aims to provide needs-based scholarships to at least 50% of the 3,000 young people admitted annually through our 157 national committees to one of the 18 UWC schools. In the first six months, the UWC Endowment Fund has grown to almost 50 million USD. Our goal is to increase this to 300 million USD and to eventually reach two billion USD.
"The Andresen-UWC Norway anniversary fund is quite unique in the way it has brought together a collective of philanthropists who want to extend the impact of their individual giving by pooling their gifts. I am both impressed and moved by how the scholars from underprivileged backgrounds who have been awarded anniversary fund scholarships are becoming real changemakers."
The impact of a scholarship:
Shreif Abdallah
The first ever Johan and Marianne Andresen Scholarship - UWC Norway Scholarship was awarded to Shreif Abdallah, from Cairo, Egypt. He attended Waterford Kamhlaba UWC starting in 2015 and successfully completed his International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) there in December 2016. He was also a key member of the team that won the 100,000 USD ZayedEnergy prize.
After completing his IBDP, Shrief was awarded a full scholarship to attend the University of Rochester, where he pursued a BSc in Computer Science. During his time at the university, he engaged in undergraduate research, co-authored a publication and had the rewarding experience of working as a teaching assistant.
Upon graduation, Shrief began his career as a software engineer, working for companies such as Citrix and Coinbase. At Coinbase, his work has been particularly fulfilling, aligning with his passion for increasing societal financial freedom through advancing cryptocurrency technology.
On a more personal note, during his time at UWC, Shrief met the person who would become his spouse. They were married in 2022 and now have a one-year-old baby girl and are currently residing in Florida.
Vicente Pedro Diogo
Vicente was one of only six students nominated by the UWC National Committee Angola in a highly competitive process involving 172 eligible applicants for entry in 2024. Here's what the national committee told us about Vincent:
"Vicente is a very determined student, who is very passionate about mathematics and becoming a scientist. He captivated us with his written essays (in English, and in Portuguese), and his oral communication skills during the debate - despite his hearing difficulties.
Coming from a large family of 10, he understands the importance of the actions of everyone in society, claiming that we cannot always rely on the government to solve our problems.
Vicente’s academic strength and purpose, strong connection with the community, determination to overcome his own limitations, make him a good ambassador of Angola for UWC. We are honoured to recommend him as our deserving candidate as we believe he nourishes the values and the potential to succeed at UWC Adriatic as well as inspire others with his unique life experience, ideals, and drive."