A Path to Higher Education for Refugees

Dr. Chrystina Russell spearheads innovative initiatives to bring university education and employment pathways to underserved communities around the world. She currently leads Southern New Hampshire University’s Global Education Movement (SNHU GEM), a competency-based bachelor’s degree and career training initiative for refugees. Prior to SNHU, she was the Chief Academic Officer at Kepler, the first blended learning university program in Rwanda. Chrystina served as the founding principal of Global Tech Prep, a high-performing public school focused on helping low-income students succeed through technology, and as faculty at the City College of New York. Chrystina began her career as a bilingual special education teacher in New York City. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Michigan with a BA in Social Organization & Minority Communities, has an MA in Bilingual Special Education, and holds a Ph.D. in Urban Education Policy from the CUNY Graduate Center.

Only 3% of refugees (ages 18-25) are enrolled in some form of higher education. For women and other marginalized groups, the figure is even lower. With the average duration of displacement more than 25 years, entire generations are forced to spend their lives in refugee camps and urban slums with few opportunities for advancement, sowing potent seeds of despair and discord. 

GEM provides refugees with tools to become agents of change. It is a community-rooted, evidence-based solution that helps refugees develop skills, earn accredited bachelors’ degrees and foster connections to meaningful and well-compensated careers in business, humanitarian aid and the global digital economy.

Over the next five years, we plan to double our impact and expand operations into five new countries across Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Americas.

Nearly 80 million persons are displaced throughout the world. Every day refugees and other displaced persons demonstrate incredible perseverance, determination and resourcefulness to transform their own lives. Yet, the magnitude and dynamic nature of this displacement ensures that no one-size-fits-all approach can sufficiently address it. Thousands of solutions aimed at root causes and consequences of displacement are needed. But where will those solutions come from and who will lead the resulting efforts? We have found that interventions that ignore the voices of refugees, and those in the communities where refugees reside, are difficult to implement, frequently shortsighted and often marginalize the very refugee and host communities they intend to help.   

Our solution focuses on the importance of developing the innate skills and capacities of refugees and providing them with credentials and connections needed for success in the 21st century. Research indicates that even in refugee settings, higher education can be a gateway to upward social and economic mobility with lasting effects that extend beyond the individual. However, only 3% of college age refugees are enrolled in college, and very few refugees are ever given the opportunity to attend one in their communities for free.

The Global Education Movement (GEM) provides an accredited bachelor’s degree program to refugees and those affected by displacement for free. We created the program to help refugees on their transformative journey through a college education.We offer it where refugees live -- in urban and rural settings throughout the world and at no cost to the learners. In partnership with local organizations and institutions on the ground, our model blends online and in-person academic instruction, internship and on-the-job training, individualized coaching, psychosocial support, and career counseling for each student. Learners gain critical skills as they work toward earning a bachelor’s degree at Southern New Hampshire University, an accredited nonprofit university that houses GEM. The program has been validated by external, independent evaluations that demonstrate GEM graduates have higher academic performance, levels of employment and earnings than comparison students from other universities.To date, over 800 students have graduated from the AA program, 400 from the BA program and 1,200 are currently enrolled. With graduates poised to become leaders in business, health and the humanitarian field, GEM graduates are not only helping themselves and their families, but they are leading and inspiring others.

We began in 2013 with a focus on vulnerable Rwandan learners without access to higher education. In 2015, we piloted a program in the remote refugee camp of Kiziba on the Rwandan/Congolese border. Showing early promise, we expanded to additional urban areas and refugee camps in South Africa, Kenya, Malawi, and Lebanon. GEM now serves over 1,200 students and graduates across nine sites in five countries. By helping to unlock the innate skills and passions of refugees, we are helping graduates to become agents of change on the local, national and international stage. Already, GEM graduates are ascending to leadership positions in business, healthcare, education and humanitarian development.

Core to ensuring a 95% graduation rate within four years of enrollment and an employment rate of 88% within six months of graduation has been the deep involvement of refugees and host community members in our development. Today, more than 50% of GEM’s core team are GEM graduates, providing invaluable input in all facets of our work. We are also guided by an advisory board of leaders from each of the countries where we operate and only work with program partners who are community-rooted and led.

Our project is people-oriented and people-powered. Our theory of change holds that by helping refugees build upon their innate skills they can earn valuable and necessary credentials for personal and professional growth. By giving people access to opportunities, new leaders will emerge who are capable of taking on the difficult causes and consequences of human displacement - whether that is in business, healthcare, education, development, the environment or another field. Refugee by refugee. Community by community. Country by country—we know that empowering the underserved to grow their strengths will create a more stable, safe and prosperous world for us all.

My journey to this project began years ago as a bilingual special education teacher in New York where I saw how holistic student support could fuel academic and personal success. In 2009, I helped found an innovative technology-focused middle school, Global Tech Prep, serving as its first principal. The idea of the school was to help bridge the digital divide by giving underserved students in Harlem access to technology. Yet more was needed to raise student proficiency and success than just technology. We needed to build an entire school community that put students at its center. Combining thoughtful pedagogy with new ways for students to harness and use technology inside and outside of the classroom, standardized test scores soared, as did opportunities for students. By 2013, I had worked in underserved neighborhoods domestically for more than a decade and wanted to test what I was learning in a completely new setting. I had that opportunity when I helped to start a new university program (Kepler) in Kigali, Rwanda as its chief academic officer. In partnership with SNHU, we developed what is now the Global Education Movement by combining a competency-based, online degree program with in-person academic coaching and career support. 

One of the places I draw my passion for this work is from my own experience as a university student, which fundamentally changed my own life’s trajectory. I entered school focused on becoming an attorney, taking pre-law classes, working at a law office and studying hard for the LSAT. My college thesis advisor, Marvin Krislov, a prominent law professor who has since served as president of Oberlin College and more recently Pace University, challenged my thinking. He convinced me to apply for the NYC teaching fellows instead, reminding me that I could always go to law school after the fellowship concluded. I followed his advice and became a bilingual special education teacher in the Bronx and on to the path I’m currently on now. I am reminded of the power of higher education every day as I meet with students and build lasting relationships with future leaders in countries around the world. For instance, one GEM graduate, Tujiza, who graduated with a BA from our first cohort of students in Rwanda is now at SNHU completing her Ph.D. in international business and working on the GEM team. It is these stories that inspire and motivate me.

I come into social entrepreneurship -- leading and growing innovative, high impact solutions to problems -- not as a business person, but as an educator. I have seen first-hand how systemic barriers in education hold students back. In each experience and setting, I have worked collaboratively with communities to develop learner-centered approaches that empower student success. This has greatly informed my approach to building GEM and to leadership more broadly. By elevating the perspectives of students alongside parents and teachers, we create avenues for students to become part of the solution. In addition, I have also been blessed with the ability to find great people to help achieve our goals. This applies not only to our own team but to that of the programs we partner within in each country, which are critical to our ability to deliver high-caliber, personalized programming to every GEM student. Finally, through time and experimentation, we have been able to fine tune how to effectively leverage technology to enhance student success. In our programs, students become makers and producers, not just consumers of technologically-delivered interventions. 

All of these factors have been significant contributors to the success we’ve had in growing GEM from just 50 students in Rwanda in 2013 to over 1,200 students in five countries today,  95% of whom are are finishing their bachelor’s degree in four years (compared to 58% of students in the United States who finish in SIX years).

I was hired in 2013 as Chief Academic Officer at Kepler, the same year the university program started operations. Upon arriving in Rwanda to start my new job, I learned there was no budget, no internet, and no housing for staff or students at the school. We had just four weeks before the first students arrived. In the absence of executive leadership, I contacted the head of Kepler’s board of directors to backward map a solution. If we pushed the start of the program off a year, our inaugural class of students would be too late to enroll in a different university. It would also damage our reputation. We pressed ahead with the board naming me de facto CEO. The only way to open the school in such a short time, in a country that I had never lived, meant trusting my team. By raising up the voices that knew the country context and student population best, I allowed others to lead. In the end, we had to delay the school opening by two weeks. The greatest victory, however, was the end of school assessment. No students reported knowing there was any kind of leadership challenge within the organization.

I strongly believe in the empowerment of women. Yet, throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, there are significant problems with the participation of women in education and often worse in refugee communities. This was no exception in Kiziba, Rwanda, one of our first efforts to implement our project in a refugee camp setting. Less than 20% of our inaugural class were women. We knew we needed to address this issue. The key issue was how to do it in a culturally sensitive way. We first worked with a parental advisory group and other camp residents. The goal was to work with the community, without forcing it on them. We accomplished this by letting female students lead. Our female students created an outreach program focused on helping prospective students prepare for the university admissions exam, which had been a key barrier to higher enrollment. By the second cohort of students in Kiziba refugee camp campus, there was an equal number of men and women across the two cohorts. For me, this story exemplifies my leadership philosophy, which is all about lifting up others, understanding and accepting complexity and trying to navigate challenges by working collaboratively.

GEM is an initiative of Southern New Hampshire University, one of the fastest growing nonprofit universities in the country with over 135,000 online students and a vast and a growing alumni network. SNHU has been named the most innovative University in the north by U.S. News and World Report for the past five years. 

Our project is unique for several reasons. First, it relies on a competency-based curriculum, which is an ideal solution for complex refugee learning environments. It allows students the flexibility to complete coursework on their own timelines, which is important given the politically and technologically challenging environments where most refugees live. This is particularly critical given the current challenges students during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, unlike most scholarship programs for refugees, our model is provided to students where they live, in refugee camps and inner cities. Bringing degrees directly to refugees in their communities not only makes the program more accessible to those who lack transportation or need to be close to family and loved ones, but the very presence of refugees going to and from school as college students sends a powerful transformative signal to the community. Finally, unlike most higher education programs, our students earn bachelor’s degrees from an accredited university (SNHU). Such degrees tend to have a global currency that opens up more career and post-baccalaureate opportunities to graduates. 

Our long-term aim is for GEM graduates to attain positions of power and influence that enable them to drive economic, social and political transformation. We believe our students can become beacons of hope and aspiration for other disempowered people not just in their own communities but around the world. We accomplish this through three blended sets of activities. First, we have developed a competency-based, online degree program delivered through SNHU. The online curriculum is rigorous, project-based and engineered to meet local labor market demands and the aspirations of students and results in an internationally recognized qualification (a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university). Second, we partner with community-based organizations in each country of operation to provide mentoring, mental health and wellness services as well as case management. This helps to ensure students have the contextual and personalized support they need to succeed. Third, we provide students with relevant training, networking events and workplace experiences. For example, each GEM student must complete an internship before graduating. This helps to not only ensure we have a strong pool of workplace candidates but it also helps to improve GEM students' social capital. The key outputs we measure against are student graduation rates, which currently stand at 95% over a four-year period and full-time employment post-graduation.

More than 1,200 students are currently enrolled in our program. Over 800 students have graduated from our AA program and 400 have graduated from our BA program. In the next year, we expect our number of BA graduates to rise to 2,000. Over the next five years, we expect the number of BA graduates to rise to 5,000.

In the long-term, we seek to leverage GEM’s solution - developed for and by refugee learners - as a catalyst to solve the worldwide issue of university financing for those that would otherwise not have access. Over the next five years, GEM will scale our work to continue to reach those most affected by displacement by reaching 5,000 learners and expanding into five new countries in Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Americas. 

GEM is also focusing on developing a diversified business model that is less reliant on the generosity of individual donors and institutional philanthropy; student graduation in pilot sites on par or exceeding our two original program sites; and new evidence of the model’s promise in other learning averse contexts. At scale, GEM Hub revenue will drive expansion to new sites and serve additional students, instead of relying on philanthropic support for growth. This sustainable financial model ensures the long-term viability of higher education access for an unlimited number of marginalized students across the globe.

The most significant barrier in the coming year relates to COVID-19 and the threat it poses to our students. Overcrowded conditions where many of our students live, mean the risk of spreading the infection is a constant and paramount concern. The disease has also limited our ability to expand in the short term and forced us to delay and even cancel some existing programs. 

Over the longer term, the most significant challenge relates to our ability to effectively communicate who we are and what we do. With our focus on students these past years, and getting results, we have not always placed a high enough priority on how to best tell the inspirational stories of our students -- through earned media, social media, our website and video campaigns.  

We have moved rapidly to ensure the safety of our students and limit the spread of COVID-19, working closely with program partners to launch and manage programs completely remotely. While GEM has always had a significant digital component, we have worked creatively to determine new ways to augment traditional face-to-face interactions. This has included distribution of a laptop to every student in our program along with corresponding data plans that allow students to connect online wherever they are. We are also augmenting academic programs with remotely delivered psychosocial support and career counseling. We are also learning new modes of communicating with on-the-ground partners and developing new methods for sharing information with the broader student and refugee communities. 

Our longer term communications challenge, one that has come into sharper relief as a result of COVID-19, is one where we are actively seeking additional support. Just in the last month, we had the opportunity to pivot as part of the TED Conference. While we were originally set to be featured as part of the in-person conference, we ultimately had to convey our message through a digital platform. The video we produced has already been viewed nearly 100,000 times  and we are looking to do more to leverage new opportunities to share the inspirational stories that our students can share with the world.

We partner with a number of organizations globally to accomplish our work. For instance, we work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In each country of operation we have contractual partnerships with community-based organizations, such as Kepler, in Rwanda and the Lebanese Association for Scientific Research (LASeR) in Lebanon. These experienced, highly-skilled community based organizations provide in-person support services including classroom-based instruction and case management. Our implementing team works alongside each to share best practices, adapt to local conditions and keep sites laser-focused on academic, internship, and employment outcomes. 

There is tremendous demand for accredited degree programs in refugee settings throughout the world. The challenge has long been an issue of access – degree programs are either too costly, too distant or simply not available to refugee populations living in host countries. We see GEM as providing a scalable solution to refugees for free and on-location/where refugees live. 

Beyond the generosity of donors and the commitment of Southern New Hampshire University, which helps to subsidize student costs, we have developed an exciting new sustainability model. GEM Hub, which started as an assessment center 11 months ago, leverages social impact sourcing and artificial intelligence to cut degree costs for GEM students. To date, we have already cut the cost of a degree through GEM in half. We are now beginning to outsource services – ranging from assessment to administrative support -- to other units inside SNHU and externally to third-party payers (e.g. other universities). The expectation is that we will generate  additional revenues that will help to fuel GEM’s expansion across the globe. 

GEM combines a philanthropic fundraising strategy with an earned revenue model via GEM Hub, which we view as a key to GEM financial sustainability.

We are continuing to expand the amount and type of services we provide through the GEM Hub to further reduce degree costs and cover GEM’s operational expenses. By the end of 2022, our goal is to have no more than 30 percent of our annual core operating budget support come from philanthropy, driving toward 0 percent over the longer term. This will enable us to strategically leverage future philanthropic funding for new pilot projects and initiatives that test or expand GEM’s learning model.

We are actively leveraging our relationships through Audacious and also seeking new foundation support. SNHU has also generously committed to keep supporting the GEM initiative. However, over time our aim is to reduce the burden of philanthropic support through GEM Hub.

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The primary reason for my applying to the Elevate Prize is that I want to help share the incredible resilience and resourcefulness of refugees. While I could not prouder of the success that GEM has had, demonstrated through independent, longitudinal research, I want us to be able to share the success of our students with the world and to inspire others. Winning this prize would help us to hone our message and provide new ways to expand the GEM network, especially with employers. By getting the messages out about our students, we hope to connect them with employment opportunities that they would not ordinarily receive. This exposure will help to further empower GEM students and allow them to be the change they want to see.