Our Program is One of a Kind

Girls Gotta Run is the only organization in Ethiopia to utilize the National Sport of Running as a foundation for girls to develop personal agency, community, and mentorship. We aim to create safe spaces, end child marriage, and expand access to secondary school for vulnerable girls through key investment strategies like education, running, life skills, savings, and entrepreneurship.

Mothers Program

Learning life skills, financial literacy, business 101, and community support.

Learn more

Girls Education

Creating networks of mentorship, friendship, and lifelong support systems.

Learn more

Girls Running

Building stronger bodies and minds through regular training and nutrition education.

Learn more

What Makes us Different

Three Ethiopian teen girls standing together smiling with arms confidently crossed wearing Girls Gotta Run shirts

Invest at the right time

We invest in girls during adolescence when they are most vulnerable to dropping out of school and entering early marriage.

Athletic Scholar sitting with her mother who is pointing her pencil at paper on a clip board

High-impact innovations

We work with girls and their families to identify the key challenges they face and create effective, sustainable, and culturally relevant solutions.

Woman in blue addressing the classroom of Athletic Scholars in their Girls Gotta Run shirts

Local organizations

We partner with hyper-local organizations that have demonstrated experience and relationships in the communities we work in.

Girls Gotta Run family of 5 standing in town outside a house

Sustainable programming

We invest in the financial resilience of families, building their capacity to weather economic challenges and create a path to financial prosperity.

We Work in Two Key Locations

Our programs are focused in 2 regions of Ethiopia where girls often face challenges accessing and completing secondary education due to early marriage, household responsibilities, and lack of resources. Schools are overcrowded and under-resourced, especially in rural areas. Schools often lack adequate materials and infrastructure like proper bathrooms, teaching staff, and extracurricular programming. Many girls drop out due to economic pressure, domestic roles, or early marriage.

Graphic map of Ethiopia with Soddo and Bekoji locations called out

Wolaita Soddo

Located in Southern Ethiopia, Soddo is a town rich in culture and identity. Despite a growing economy, families in Soddo continue to struggle with limited economic opportunity and access to family planning. Since 2013, Girls Gotta Run has worked with the only all-girls school in Soddo, the Abba Pascal Girl’s School, to provide girls with the tools they need to complete their education and build a future of their choosing.

Bekoji

An astonishing 16 Olympic medals in 20 years have been won by runners from Bekoji, a small farming village in the highlands of Ethiopia. Here, running offers a means of building a better future and the honor of contributing to the Ethiopian national identity. Girls Gotta Run has worked in Bekoji since 2014 and is the first and only non-profit organization investing in female athletes and coaches in this historic town.

Smiling woman wearing a headscarf and traditional clothing at an outdoor market with tomatoes and other produce.
A person kneeling in a rustic, outdoor setting, preparing small round objects in a green plastic basin. The area has dirt ground, stones, and wooden structures and tools nearby, including a large drum and a small metal bowl with water and additional
Group of diverse women and girls in athletic clothing standing outdoors, smiling, and raising their hands, with a clear sky in the background.
A woman holding a young child outdoors near a vibrant green wall, with another person partially visible. The background features trees and a grassy area.
Women and children at an outdoor market selling produce like potatoes, vegetables, and greens. Many are wearing colorful headscarves and traditional clothing, with smiling faces and busy market activity in the background.
A group of smiling young people, mostly girls, sitting outdoors on green grass, with trees and sunlight in the background. They appear engaged and happy.
A woman on the street appears to be stretching or warming up while a girl in athletic clothing is running or exercising nearby, with a few onlookers in the background on a sunny day.
Three young women smiling and hugging each other, wearing maroon tops, with one wearing a yellow headband with a bow and another with earrings, in an outdoor setting.
Top-down view of nine people standing in a circle on a dirt ground with fallen leaves, wearing athletic shoes of various colors including pink, white, gray, and black.
Two women hugging in front of a wooden and metal building with a woman standing inside. A child is standing nearby, looking up. The building has blue vertical bars and a green roof.
Group of women and girls running outdoors on a dirt trail in a grassy field with trees in the background.