The Rumie Initiative

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Rumie Initiative
Founded2013; 11 years ago (2013)
FounderTariq Fancy
TypeNon-Profit
FocusEducation, Technology
Location
Area served
20+ Countries worldwide
ProductRumie Tablet, LearnCloud
Key people
Tariq Fancy

The Rumie Initiative (Rumie) is a non-profit based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The organization develops and delivers low-cost technology that enables the distribution of digital learning resources to communities with limited Internet access.

History[edit]

The Rumie Initiative was founded by Tariq Fancy in 2013 to educate children in underserved communities around the world using affordable technology.[1]

Rumie's products are deployed in more than 20 countries worldwide.[2] The organization received popular attention during the 2014 Ebola Crisis, when it partnered with the Liberian NGO Camp for Peace to deploy Rumie tablets as part of a rehabilitation program for child soldiers.[3] As a result of the Ebola epidemic, however, schools across the country were shuttered,[4] and Rumie's tablets quickly became a resource for children to continue their education from home.[5]

In 2015, Rumie began deploying its technology to assist children affected by the Syrian refugee crisis.[6][7] At the time, a primary challenge was the deficit of free digital learning content for Syrian students. In response to this issue, Rumie announced during a 2015 presentation at Y-Combinator that it was opening the LearnCloud—a portal for free-license learning content, allowing users to find, share, and rate free digital educational resources.[8]

Funding[edit]

Tariq Fancy, a former investment banker and private equity investor, founded Rumie with his personal savings, committing to work without salary until the organization became financially sustainable. In early 2014, Rumie raised $1 million in philanthropic donations from outside backers, including Ed Clark, the retired CEO of TD Bank, Rob McEwen, the chairman and CEO of McEwen Mining Inc.,[1] and Mark Wiseman, then the CEO of the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.[8] Rumie has subsequently raised funding from large institutional backers, including Google[9] and Scotiabank.[10]

Recognition[edit]

The Rumie Initiative has received widespread coverage in the mainstream media, including CNBC,[11] The Toronto Star,[1] CBC,[12] Quartz,[6] Forbes,[5] and Mashable.[3] Harvard Business School[8] and INSEAD[13] have both published case studies or profiles on the organization's mission and progress.

During its three-year existence, the organization has also garnered numerous awards. In 2014, Rumie was named the "Best Social Startup" by Global Entrepreneurship Week.[14] In 2015, the organization graduated from the Y-Combinator Imagine K-12 accelerator. In 2016, the US Library of Congress awarded Rumie a prize for literacy promotion.[15] In 2017, Rumie won the Google.org Impact Challenge.[16][9]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Bringing education to the world's poor children | Toronto Star". thestar.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-09. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  2. ^ "Rumie Initiative". Rumie Initiative. Archived from the original on 2016-11-08. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  3. ^ a b Santus, Rex. "As Liberian schools remain closed, tablets could become digital classroom". Mashable. Archived from the original on 2017-05-06. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  4. ^ "Ebola: Liberia shuts schools to tackle outbreak". BBC News. 2014-07-30. Archived from the original on 2017-05-28. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  5. ^ a b Guerrini, Federico. "The Rumie Initiative: Using Tablets As Learning Tools In Ebola-Stricken Communities". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  6. ^ a b "Help Syria's refugee children by assigning them homework". Quartz. Archived from the original on 2017-08-09. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  7. ^ "Toronto non-profit wants help bringing solar-powered educational tablets to kids in need | Metro Toronto". metronews.ca. Archived from the original on 2018-03-30. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  8. ^ a b c Kim, John J.-H.; Migdal, Amram (2016-01-19). "Rumie: Bringing Digital Education to the Underserved". Harvard Business School Case Collections. Archived from the original on 2017-06-30. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  9. ^ a b "Google.org Impact Challenge | Canada". Google.org Impact Challenge | Canada. Archived from the original on 2017-09-01. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  10. ^ "News Release | Scotiabank". www.scotiabank.com. Archived from the original on 2017-07-17. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  11. ^ "This start-up aims to bring education to the world's poor". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2017-07-28. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  12. ^ "CBC.ca | Metro Morning | Tablets for Liberia". www.cbc.ca. Archived from the original on 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  13. ^ "INSEAD" (PDF). INSEAD Entrepreneurship Profile. 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-10-27. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  14. ^ "Breezometer, Real-Time Air Quality App, Takes Top Prize in Startup Open". PRUnderground. Archived from the original on 2018-01-04. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  15. ^ "Library of Congress Literacy Award Winners Announced". The Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 2018-01-04. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  16. ^ "Winners announced in $5M nonprofit challenge from Google Canada". www.newswire.ca. Archived from the original on 2017-07-14. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Rumie_Initiative&oldid=1221487049"