Today we’d like to introduce you to Evah Peter and Rashi Pangeni.
Hi Evah and Rashi, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Growth Against Adversity started in our 7th grade English classroom, where we were reading Sue Park’s “A Long Walk To Water.” It gave us a glimpse of the hardships in South Sudan, and at that moment, our whole perspective shifted. While we were taking our education for granted, there were other children who didn’t even have access to clean drinking water.
Our thoughts were shared with one another, and immediately got the idea of starting a nonprofit organization for education. After that day, we got to work immediately—drafting a team, mission, and project goals. We started small, with only a few middle schoolers to call the executive team. Everywhere we went, we recruited people to join, utilizing resources such as mutual friends, social media, and volunteer platforms to obtain members and ambassadors.
Our steps were slow, but we spread our organization everywhere to ensure that people heard about us. Now as high school students, GAA has expanded into making an impact worldwide.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It was initially difficult, as we didn’t know the first thing about starting a nonprofit. Our first fundraiser was not as successful as we had hoped, and many of our initial ambassadors were inactive, making it difficult to expand globally. We also experienced internal conflicts within our executive board, which sometimes limited our effectiveness in organizing events and initiatives.
Even after becoming a verified nonprofit and growing our ambassador network, managing an organization as high school students remains challenging. Balancing academics, extracurriculars, and personal responsibilities can sometimes slow our progress, but these experiences have helped us grow as leaders and strengthen our organization.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Growth Against Adversity is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports education globally. Our team believes students can’t fully engage with learning without the basics—school supplies, emotional support, and hygiene necessities. That’s why we create opportunities for students and have gathered 2,000+ items for donation.
One of our main efforts is through donation drives, where we collect school and hygiene supplies for foster care centers and under-resourced schools. We also recognize that limited access to opportunities can hold students back. That’s why we created the Sapling Initiative, a program that has impacted students across 22 states and multiple countries. By simply filling out a form, students receive personalized extracurricular and award recommendations tailored to their interests, ranging from culinary arts to scientific research. What makes this unique is that we research opportunities specific to each student’s city or state, prioritizing affordable or cost-free options. We’re grateful to share this knowledge with youth around the world.
Another service is the Seed Journal, our newer initiative supporting young writers. We help students improve their work through editing and feedback, then publish the pieces on our online blog. It’s rewarding to see how much a writer can grow with just a few thoughtful edits.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
We believe our most important characteristic is our attention to execution. When beginning as just a few ambitious students, we took action before even being registered in the state: monthly meetings, three teams, creating forms, and even a fully operational website. We still vividly remember looking deeply into the registration process, even contacting lawyers and firms. When we were finally a legal nonprofit, repeating this pattern of thinking ahead was the origin of our growth. Within less than two years, Growth Against Adversity reached 9 countries globally. We had a vision at thirteen, and we’ve been committed to making it come to life ever since. Our team values progress, not perfection.
We also applied this mindset to marketing. After our social media lacked attention, we made small fixes that resulted in a following of over 2k+ and multiple viral videos. We didn’t buy a course or spend any money on promoting. Instead, our focus went into what timeframes we posted, choosing specific hashtags, and developing more of a niche. It’s been a satisfying experience seeing fellow youth interested in our content and sharing the same goal.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://growthagainstadversi.wixsite.com/growthaa
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growth.against.adversity
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@growth.against.adversity
