Pencils of Promise (PoP) is a non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 that builds schools and increases educational opportunities in the developing world. They are a 501(c)(3) organization with school-building operations in Laos

Laos

Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

, Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

 and Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

.

History

Pencils of Promise was founded in October 2008 by Adam Braun with $25 in hopes of building one school, and grew out of a movement of young professionals lending their time and skills to the organization in a volunteer capacity throughout 2008 and 2009. In 2010, it began building out its full-time staff both domestically and abroad.

External links

• http://www.pencilsofpromise.org Pencils of Promise homepage
• http://www.takepart.com/news/2011/02/24/pencils-of-promise Article on takepart.com
• http://blogs.wsj.com/in-charge/2011/02/03/first-stop-london-next-stop-the-world/ Article on PoP winning British Airways Contest
• http://abcnews.go.com/International/conversation-pencils-promise/story?id=12788528 ABC News interview with Adam Braun