GEMBA Students Launch Run4Change to Support Girls Worldwide

The 20,000km challenge connects the four INSEAD locations, benefits the Girl Rising charity and opens an avenue to act on the SDGs

In the run-up to the new academic year, several INSEAD GEMBA’19 students have teamed up to challenge the INSEAD community to run the 20,000km distance that connects the school’s locations in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Fontainebleau and the coming San Francisco location. Proceeds from the run will benefit Girl Rising, a charity that educates and empowers girls around the world.

To complete the challenge INSEAD students, staff and faculty log the distances they run into an app, but those that want to participate need to sign up by 28 August.

--- Sign Up Closed on 28 August ---

Even non-runners can support the cause. INSEAD GEMBA students are looking to raise 1€ per kilometre, and encourage everyone to contribute to this goal at inse.ad/r4cfund

Dean of INSEAD Ilian Mihov supports the effort and says, “Congratulations to the INSEAD Global Executive MBA 2019 class for launching this initiative in support of Girl Rising. Not only are you connecting people worldwide and encouraging healthy activities, you’re also helping and empowering young girls in developing countries. Good luck to all of the runners, you make INSEAD proud.”

Girl Rising, has an honourable mission to “ensure that girls around the world are educated and empowered. When every girl is free to reach her full potential, our work will be done.” Discover more about their global impact in the short Together We Rise video.

Christina Lowery, CEO of Girl Rising responds, "We are inspired by INSEAD's continued research into gender issues and grateful for their fundraising efforts for girls around the world. All proceeds donated to Girl Rising through the Run4Change campaign will support our work across countries to change the way communities’ value and invest in girls and their potential. Thank you all for helping to make this critical work possible and good luck on this campaign!"

Girl Rising works with local partners to build confidence in girls and to change attitudes and social norms so that entire communities stand up for girls and against gender discrimination. This is in line with several global Sustainable Development Goals. From villages in India to US cities, more families are enrolling their daughters in school (SDG4: Quality Education), girls are advocating for themselves and boys are joining clubs to help end gender discrimination (SDG5: Gender Equality). For girls around the world and runners who support them, this means a healthier life and improved well-being (SDG3: Good Health and Well-being).

Katell Le Goulven, Executive Director of the Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society, comments, "Student-led initiatives are nothing new, however challenging INSEAD to run 20,000km is different. The Hoffmann Institute will work with our fitness centres and coaches to organise group runs, challenges and training sessions. Completing this challenge isn’t just good for the runners, it contributes to the SDGs – from quality education to good health, gender balance and reduced inequalities. We want to see more of these initiatives on campus."

Running will begin on 1 September and continue for three months. The initiative will be recognized at INSEAD SDG Week on 2-4 December and celebrated at the GEMBA 2019 graduation on 19 December. There will be prizes for the people who ran the most, most frequently and for the best selfies.

We want to showcase the best social media pictures taken by our runners, so please add #INSEADforGood, #GirlRising and #WeDreamWeRise to any social media post.