The Emerge Story

During the summer of 2005, MIT student Alia Whitney-Johnson arrived in Sri Lanka as a tsunami-relief volunteer, sponsored by a fellowship from the MIT Public Service Center. During this trip, she encountered a heartbreaking reality: Girls as young as 11 and pregnant from rape or incest had been cast out of their own families, denied the right to formal education, and imprisoned for their own protection.

A jewelry-maker since age seven, Alia decided to host a beading workshop to better acquaint herself with the girls. The act of creating jewelry soon became a tool for transformation, uplifting the girls' spirits and ultimately helping them to overcome the emotional, social, and economic obstacles they faced. The Emerge Bead Program was born as a way to sustain the girls' work, connecting the young women to supplies and training, a global market, and a global community of support.

After incubating her programs through the nonprofit Universal Awakening, Alia founded Emerge Global in 2008 with the goal of empowering girls all over the world who have survived sexual abuse to rediscover a sense of hope, build a strong community, and fulfill their own visions of the future.