100 teens get lifetime support to foster global service work

NEW YORK (AP) — Christian Maboko wants to change the world. Starting Monday, 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 a new philanthropic program to nurture talented teens around the world.

Schmidt Futures announced that Maboko is one of the inaugural 100 Rise Global Winners, 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. The program aims to foster collaboration and new projects from young people to help solve the world’s thorniest problems.

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.

Rise 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.

Rise will notify the winners, which include teens from 42 countries speaking 20 languages, on Monday.

“We think talent around the world is distributed evenly,” Wendy Schmidt said. “But opportunity isn’t.”

Schmidt Futures and The Rhodes Trust invited teens to explain how they would address an issue or are already addressing it. More than 50,000 teens from 170 countries applied last year.

For his application, Maboko developed a...