One Sky For All Children

A former screenwriter and independent filmmaker, Jenny Bowen founded Half the Sky in 1998 in order to give something back to China, her adopted daughters’ home country and to the many orphaned and abandoned children then languishing behind institutional walls.

In 1998, named (in honor of the many little girls who’d lost their families) for the Chinese adage, “Women hold up half the sky” – Half the Sky was born.

Today, Half the Sky has become OneSky, a global NGO(non-governmental organizations) that has transformed the lives of thousands of marginalized children and helped eastern regional nations to re-imagine its entire child welfare system.

OneSky aims to unlock the vast potential hidden in our world’s most vulnerable young children. They create and implement simple, replicable early learning programs that provide nurturing responsive care, transforming the lives of thousands of at-risk children every day, and ensuring that those most in need have a second chance at childhood.

Our Iowa Reading Association President’s personal tie to this organization. A good friend of Julie’s was a volunteer for this organization for five years. One Sky (formerly known as Half the Sky) has aided in the adoption of children for two families in Julie’s circle of friends.  The funds collected by the Iowa Reading Association will be donated to the Vietnam Chapter of the One Sky organization.