Francine Goundry

As Our Own

Founded in 2006, As Our Own's mission is to prevent the exploitation, enslavement, and trafficking of children by revolutionizing the standards of care for vulnerable children in India – caring for them as our own, for life. As Our Own's vision is to transform the way the world cares for vulnerable children. To achieve this vision As Our Own provides a life-long family & high caliber education through college to vulnerable children so that they may become empowered leaders & reach their full potential. We have a three-pronged approach: Care: Through a combination of best-in-class academics and a family-environment, As Our Own establishes a new benchmark for the care of vulnerable children. Each child is cared for as an unconditionally-loved daughter and she is empowered through best-in-class academic opportunities from primary school through college & graduate programs. Through our best-in-class care, each daughter is empowered to reach her full potential and become an empowered leader for the future. Training: Through the Child Development Institute at Hope College we offer a Master's Degree in Child Development which equips India's next generation of child development leaders and caregivers in holistic & clinically-sound child development best practices. Through this training each graduate is empowered to lead best-in-class care & education programs for children from vulnerable backgrounds. Replication: By partnering with other organizations, we empower, mentor, and equip group homes to replicate the As Our Own model so that the caliber of care for vulnerable children extends beyond our facilities. Through replication As Our Own is able to scale their model of care, deploy leaders from the Child Development Institute to organizations in-need, and empower even more children to reach their full potential.