Katie Myler's work has opened up educational opportunities to children half a world away.
By Paul Brubaker | The Backgrounder
Katie Meyler and her organization, More Than Me, have something in common with the Newark public schools: both received huge endowments of cash in order to improve public education.
When Newark was awarded $100 million from Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg it made headlines. The results fell short of expectations, as documented in Dale Russakoff's book, "The Prize," last year.
Meyler was awarded $1 million (an amount equal to 1 percent of Newark's prize) from Chase Bank on a televised special in 2012. Her results might be considered to be much better, but they are also come much further away from home -- in Liberia on the western coast of Africa.
"After we got that million dollars, we opened our first school," said Meyler,a Bernardsville native, on the latest edition of The Backgrounder Podcast. "There's five additional schools in September that we'll be strengthening. Those school are already existing but they're not functioning. We're going to be making them functional."
Does Meyler know something that Zuckerberg, Cory Booker, and Chris Christie do not? Or is it simply easier to get things done in an underdeveloped country? Meyler's answers may be surprising - especially when you consider she was working in the global epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in 2014.
Time Magazine listed her as a "Person Of The Year" for her bravery in continuing to work with Liberia's children during the outbreak.
You can hear Meyler's amazing story by simply clicking on the orange play button at the top of this page.
Paul Brubaker, former journalist and congressional spokesman, keeps it real with the people who make New Jersey the most fascinating place on Earth. Check back every week for a new episode of 'The Backgrounder.'