On Monday, the UN Refugee Agency USA for UNHCR, led by a group of six women including late financier Sir Evelyn de Rothschild’s daughter Jessica de Rothschild, announced the launch of a $15 million campaign to support the education of refugee women and girls.
Building Better Futures will provide 1,000 university scholarships to young refugee women through the DAFI Scholarship Program, the world’s oldest higher-education scholarship scheme for refugees.
‘Investing in the future of women is about building a better future for everybody,’ Jessica de Rothschild, co-chair of USA for UNHCR’s Women’s Committee, tells Spear’s in an exclusive interview. For her, the campaign represents an opportunity to ‘redefine what impact looks like – by creating opportunity and agency.’
De Rothschild sees education as a powerful tool for empowerment. ‘It has a multiplier effect: these women return to their communities, share their knowledge, and pass it on to the next generation,’ she says. The Building Better Futures campaign, she adds, is a ‘long-term solution’ investing not only in the 1,000 scholarship recipients but also their wider communities.
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‘We have to start seeing philanthropy not just as charity, but as a legacy,’ she says.
Philanthropy is becoming more women-centric
For de Rothschild, the campaign goes beyond financial aid. It is also designed to bring together sustainable networks of support for refugee education – networks she believes women philanthropists are uniquely positioned to build.
With the Great Wealth Transfer approaching and women set to inherit 70 per cent of wealth in the coming decades, philanthropy is becoming ‘a lot more women-centric,’ she explains. Women not only give more – a 2023 Bank of America report found they drive 85 per cent of philanthropic giving in high-net-worth households – but they also give differently.
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‘Many women approach philanthropy holistically,’ de Rothschild says. ‘It’s about building supportive communities, actively engaging with causes, volunteering, serving on boards or mentoring.’
[See also: What’s behind conspiracy theorists’ enduring fixation on the Rothschild family?]
The design of Building Better Futures reflects this hands-on, holistic approach. ‘We like to lead with impact,’ she adds.
By 2028, the campaign aims to increase the number of refugee women in university by 20 percent. With a four-year timeline matching the length of the scholarships, the impact is both ‘tangible and measurable’, de Rothschild says. ‘We wanted results that could be seen quickly, both to boost morale and to inspire donors and partners.’
[See also: How the next generation of donors – and advisers – can shape the future of philanthropy]
Since its inception, the DAFI program has supported over 27,200 refugee students across 59 host countries. In 2024 alone, nearly 7,900 students from 54 countries were enrolled. Many, often the first in their families to pursue higher education, have gone on to careers as coders, advocates, engineers, entrepreneurs, teachers, researchers, nurses and community leaders.
So far, Building Better Futures has secured $3.1 million in early lead gifts.
