Teens Get Lifetime Support from New $1 Billion Fund

100 Rise Global Winners announces its inaugural awards.

It's part of a $1 billion program funded by philanthropists Wendy and Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google and executive chairman of its parent company, Alphabet Inc.

One of the winners is Christian Maboko. Starting next week, the 18-year-old from Burundi, who lives in a Kenyan refugee camp and has co-founded a nonprofit to help address poverty there, will get a lifetime of help with his work from this new philanthropic program, Schmidt Futures, to nurture talented teens around the world.

The program aims to foster collaboration and new projects from young people to help solve the world’s thorniest problems. This goes beyond funding ideas as a backbone to the fund is providing education, mentorships and internships to talented teens, so they can better implement their plans.

Rise Global winners will receive lifetime access to higher education scholarships, career development and funding for projects they create for public benefit. They also receive an annual three-week residential summit with the other winners, and mentorship and internship opportunities in their fields of interest. Because the costs of college degrees vary widely around the world, the prize for each winner also will vary.

Maboko plans to use Rise’s financial support to further his work in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya and go to college, even though only 1% of high school graduates in the camp do so.

“I’m trying my best to be among the 1%,” he told The Associated Press.

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