Casey Alison Myers, Founder & Executive Director of One Digital World
Meet Casey Alison Myers, human rights activist and Founder of One Digital World, a nonprofit organization founded in March 2020 with the goal of spreading global equality by empowering forcibly displaced families through digital education. One Digital World is currently creating computer lab classrooms in migrant shelters along the US-Mexico border where asylum seekers can learn computer and internet literacy, English, and general education as well as access virtual legal support and public health information that prepare them for integration and self-reliance in a new country and culture.
What made you want to join The Torrey Project Bootcamp?
In 2016, I left my job at a University to travel the world and learn about how I could make a bigger impact in the education profession. I sold everything I couldn’t fit into a backpack and visited over 50 countries, eventually ending in Lesvos, Greece where thousands of refugees were living in camps while they sought asylum from war and persecution. While I volunteered there, I learned that getting asylum wasn’t the end of their problems, many continued to struggle in their new countries because they lacked language and digital skills necessary to integrate and become self-reliant. This is why I created a curriculum tailored to this population and addressing these needs but if I want refugees and displaced persons to have free access to education, who will cover the costs?
I joined the Torrey Project boot camp to help me to grow ODW from a project into a business. That meant creating a business plan, understanding our financials, and filing the necessary legal paperwork. More importantly, it meant identifying the goals and theory of change of an entire organization that would allow me to expand and develop other projects that benefit my mission.
No one expected COVID-19 to shut down the world the way it has but because of the lessons I learned during the boot camp, I was able to use these obstacles as opportunities to adapt and managed to incorporate, receive 501(c)(3) designation, build partnerships, and begin operations all during a global pandemic.
Want to learn more about One Digital World? Visit their website or follow them on Facebook or LinkedIn.