The mission of Imagine Scholar is to empower future leaders around the world through the vehicle of creative education!

The Imagine Scholar vision focuses on making deep lasting change on the individual level. We believe that the systematic empowerment of local leaders is the most effective long term method of change. Through its primary program, "The Imagine Academy, South Africa", we offer intensive long-term mentorship to a select group of motivated local scholars, beginning in the 9th grade. The focus is on creative education to help fully develop young minds into dynamic 21st century thinkers. The core areas of focus are creativity, critical thinking, social consciousness, and personal accountability. The goal is not for these students merely to "get by" but to help give them the tools to be the difference makers of the next generation.

Guiding Principles
1)Learning should never be boring!!!  The marginalization of children’s inherent passion to learn is one of the great tragedies of our world.
2)That education is the most powerful vehicle of empowerment and sustainable change.
3)Lasting change in a community must come from within.
4)The key to success is mixing a deep organizational passion, with the existing drive of the individuals.  If this exchange does not exist, it is charity, not empowerment. 
5)Quality not Quantity.

Why it was formed?

Basically this area is pretty tough (HIV prevalence over 40%, Unemployment above 80%, and a University graduation rate hovering around 0). Our goal is really pretty simple though, we just want to expand the creative, imaginative, critical-thinking, abstract-reasoning, lateral-thinking, love-of-learning, willingness-to-dream-bigable faculties of the Imagine Scholars.  You know, standard rural African education stuff.  To change this area, and this world, you need to facilitate the creation of dynamic creative leaders for the next generation, that’s our goal.

2011 Imagine Scholar FUNraiser:


This year we are attempting to collect funds for materials for our exciting creative mind expansion. Due to an outside funder covering all admin costs, every dollar goes directly to students, so don’t hold back :)

Your Amazing Generosity at Work:

$11- You’ve bought a yearly supply of multi-vitamins for a student to get essential brain building nutrients not really available in a local diet of candy, soda, BBQ’d meat, and maize-meal.

$39- You’ve just purchased 10 used books for the Imagine Academy Monthly Book Club. Some of the probable books for next year “The Giver, A Wrinkle in Time, Mandela Way, Siddhartha, My Name is Asher Lev, The Alchemist”

$73- You just bought the entire Carl Sagan’s Cosmos on DVD. 

$137- You’ve just bought a really awesome, like ultra huge dry erase board. Now I can stop doing the lessons with a stick in the dirt!

$291- You’ve bought uniforms for the entire class of 13’ to go back to school in style. Well maybe not style, but at least in accordance with school regulation.

$487- You’ve purchased a new computer for the Imagine Academy center. These computers will be linked to the internet and help connect our rural students to a whole wide world they’ve been missing.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: check out our super cool new website www.ImagineScholar.org