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Plan International USA (Plan) is an international development and humanitarian nonprofit organization that partners with girls and their communities to advance children’s rights and equality for girls. It is part of Plan International, a global nonprofit federation that works to tackle the root causes of poverty by working with communities, organizations and governments.


History

Plan was founded in 1937 by British journalist John Langdon-Davies and refugee worker Eric Muggeridge. Originally named "Foster Parents Plan for Children in Spain", it aimed was to provide food, accommodation, and education to children whose lives had been disrupted by the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, as "Foster Parents Plan for War Children", it worked with displaced children throughout war-torn Europe. By the 1970s, it had started working with children throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Plan International USA was originally incorporated as "Foster Parents Plan, Inc." in 1939 in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
to connect U.S. donors to sponsored children in developing countries. It was one of the first Plan International federation members. Its programs are implemented in more than 50 developing countries. In 1974, the international parent organization, Foster Parents Plan shortened its name to "Plan International". In the 1990s the U.S. organization followed suit, changing its name "Childreach/Plan International" and eventually to "Plan International USA".


Finances and structure

Plan International USA is a publicly funded American non-profit charitable organization, deriving its income from a combination of individual contributions and private and
federal grants A grant is a funding, fund given by a person or organization, often a Government, public body, charitable foundation, a specialised grant-making institution, or in some cases a business with a corporate social responsibility mission, to an indi ...
. The total operating revenue in 2024 for the organization was approximately $58.6 million. The headquarters are located in Providence, Rhode Island. Shanna Marzilli was named President & CEO in January 2023. She proceeds to the position held by Mustafa Kudrati for 10 months and Dr. Tessie San Martin, who served for 11 years and stepped down in 2021. Other executive team members include Dave Cannata, Chief Financial Officer; Jim Peters, General Counsel; Katherine Williford, Chief Development Officer; and Jennifer Trainor, Chief Strategy Officer. Plan USA's board of directors has included at least one youth representative since 2015. In addition, the Plan USA Youth Advisory Board is a youth-led group that advises the organization on projects and participates in events. The Youth Advisory Board runs the annual Youth Leadership Academy, a yearlong program designed to train and support young activists as they create change in their communities.


Campaigns and Reports

Because I Am a Girl Because I Am a Girl is an international movement by the aid organization Plan (aid organisation), Plan. The campaign is made to address the issue of sexism, gender discrimination around the world."Discrimination against girls 'still deeply entrenc ...
was an international campaign addressing
gender discrimination Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is in ...
. Its goal was to promote the rights of girls and bring millions of girls out of
poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...
around the world, promoting projects to improve opportunities for girls in
education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
, health care, family planning, legal rights, and other areas. In September 2018, the organization released "The State of Gender Equality for U.S. Adolescents". The report was covered by several media outlets including the ''New York Times'', ''Washington Post'', and ''Forbes''. It reported how adolescents in the U.S. think about gender equality and what shapes those views. The report was named Media Relations campaign of the year by ''PR Daily''. In August 2019, the organization announced the largest individual gift in the organization's history. The gift will fund a program model called GirlEngage, which aims to challenge social and gender norms, send more girls to school and work to keep girls safe in their communities. This approach amplifies the voices of vulnerable and marginalized girls by including them in all stages of a project life-cycle – from defining the problem through program evaluation. In October 2022, Plan USA’s We Are the Girls campaign launched in the U.S. to address gender inequality domestically and around the world. The campaign aimed to promote girls’ leadership to end gender inequality and fight its root causes through girl-led projects related to education, health, protection, youth equality and economic empowerment. During its run, the campaign partnered with Unsplash, Z100 and UNIQLO to garner support for Plan’s $200 million goal and encourage people to sign the We Are the Girls pledge.


Programs

In coordination with Plan International and its other chapters, Plan International USA helped fund and organize the following combined international programs and activities in 2024: * 43 million children supported through Plan’s work. * 1.1 million children were sponsored. * Partnered with 36,367 organizations. * Worked in 66,875 communities across 80+ countries. * Reached 17.8 million children and adults with education programs, increasing access for 5.3 million girls. * Implemented 87 disaster response programs, supporting 3.2 million girls.


Child sponsorship

Plan's
child sponsorship Child sponsorship is a type of fundraising in which a charitable organization associates a donor sponsor with a particular child beneficiary. The sponsor receives updates from the child, typically including photos and translated letters, which help ...
program links each sponsor to an individual child in one of more than 40 countries where Plan International has sponsorship programming. Sponsors contribute money and have an opportunity to correspond with the child and his or her family. Donations are not given directly to the child but are used to support projects for entire communities. New York Times columnist
Nicholas Kristof Nicholas Donabet Kristof (born April 27, 1959) is an American journalist and political commentator. A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and an op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times''. Born in Chicago, Kristof wa ...
visited a child he sponsored in the Dominican Republic, a trip he wrote about in one of his columns while pointing out the benefits of child sponsorship programs. The effectiveness of the program was studied by RMIT University through an analysis "Changing Lives: An Analysis of Child Sponsorship Data". It looked at more than 12 million surveys from 2.7 million sponsored children over several years, finding that more children attend school in sponsored communities than in non-sponsored communities, that school attendance rises every year the program works in a community and most children have greater access to improved water and sanitation.


In popular culture

The organization was featured in the 2002 film ''
About Schmidt ''About Schmidt'' is a 2002 American comedy drama film co-written and directed by Alexander Payne and starring Jack Nicholson in the title role. The film also stars Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, and Kathy Bates. It is loosely based on the 1996 no ...
'' and ''
Girl Rising Girl Rising is a global movement for girls' education, based primarily around a 2013 feature film, '' Girl Rising''. Film The movie ''Girl Rising'' was produced by Kayce Freed, Tom Yellin and Holly Gordon at The Documentary Group in partnershi ...
'' in 2013. The organization is also featured in the book '' Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide'' by
Nicholas Kristof Nicholas Donabet Kristof (born April 27, 1959) is an American journalist and political commentator. A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and an op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times''. Born in Chicago, Kristof wa ...
and Sheryl WuDunn, published in 2009.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plan (Aid Organisation) Children's charities based in the United States Charities based in Rhode Island International charities