Designed for students to go beyond grades and test scores, to have a real and lasting impact
In 2019, Sage Experience was founded by Charles Goli, Zhitao Yang, and Ben Schwartz to connect high-potential students globally between developed and developing communities - so that together they can leverage their energy, skills, and desire to make a difference. Sage gives students a chance to develop themselves as they work with a local team to solve a community’s real-world challenges connected to students’ academic strengths and interests.
Sage was established to solve significant problems at the intersection of international development, college admissions, and volunteer programs. Sage Experience is built on the power of cross-cultural collaboration, the value of learning through real-world efforts, the belief in youth’s ability to make change, and the importance of including a community in developing the skills to sustainably solve the challenges they face.
Many students participate in international volunteer programs in developing countries that leave communities worse off by having volunteers fill jobs of local community members, who become disempowered and possibly unemployed. Charles saw how these programs can exacerbate unhealthy power dynamics implying foreigners are needed to solve a local community’s problems. He wanted to offer a new program that focused not on short-term investments that look good to donors or feel good to volunteers (like painting a building or building a classroom), but rather worked towards sustainable long-term solutions that develop the next generation of local leaders like him.
For college admissions, students (and parents) too often fixate on grades and testing. Ben, a former Assistant Director of Admissions at Dartmouth, saw this everyday in his job as an admissions officer. He wanted to empower young people to use their time and talents on things that mattered - and go beyond grades and scores or superficial activities. He met tens of thousands of applicants eager to have a real impact on the world, yet instead families waste significant time and sums of money on tutors and test-prep so their students can improve their SAT scores. These tests fail to show a student’s true talents and potential, so Ben, having supported youth in Ghana, West Africa for more than decade, decided to offer a bridge between the students seeking top colleges globally with the inspiring young people of Ghana so that together they could make a difference.
The Sage team is determined to flip the paradigm of volunteers swooping into places like Ghana on experiences that benefit already privileged students at the expense of the local community. Instead they want to match international volunteers with Ghanaian peers to collaborate as equals, each bringing valuable skills and perspectives to a team and all supported by world-class mentors to solve real-world challenges and grow as leaders ready to collaborate across cultures and expand their impact in the future.
Sage ran its first ever summer leadership program in July 2019, bringing together students from Ghana, China, the US, Canada, and Italy. In the spring of 2020, Sage launched a new semester-long program that uses a similar approach, with international students participating remotely during the school year.
Sage offers the following 3 programs:
Ghana Summer Program: 16-day project-based experience held in-person in Ghana between June and August
Semester for Impact: Semester-long projects with international students participating remotely for several hours per week, with fall semester running October to December and spring semester February to May
Travel Programs: Immersive trips customized to the individuals, couples, families, or school groups, so you experience first-hand Ghana’s rich culture, history, and geography, scheduled to meet your needs
“Our story has been an uphill battle, but that has given us perspective to understand the world through the relationships we’ve built along the way. We are commited to leaving the world better than we found it. From our sustainable home to our inclusive leadership philosophy, our actions are defined by our desire to help others realize the potential within them and the opportunities that surround us.”
— Ben, Co-founder
My leadership was born from persistent disappointment
"Born in a remote fishing village in Ghana, I was sent away to the city before I turned six, carrying my parents' hope for a better future. I struggled on the streets to survive, but seizing every opportunity that passed my way, I was determined to use education to lift up myself, my family, and my country. Even if I had not eaten for 3 days, I would force myself to get to school.
Eventually, I would become the first in my family to graduate from high school. To share the joy of learning with others, I established a library in the main town near my family’s village. This was not enough. I aspired to go to college.
Then, when my student visa to study business and sustainability at a US college was denied, I decided if I cannot learn on a college campus from diverse classmates, I must bring diverse classmates to my community so we can learn from each other about our world. With funds and mentors from the US, Canada, and Ghana, I learned on-the-job by constructing a sustainable home to host you and guests from around the globe. Working closely with my mentor and family member, Ben, Dartmouth '06, MIT Sloan '17, & Harvard Kennedy School '17, we established programs to showcase the beauty of this region and delight you with a activities built upon over a decade of experience bringing to West Africa students and alums from high schools, colleges and universities globally.
I dream of one day graduating from college, though today I am eager to meet you, learn alongside you, and make you an honorary member of our community in these awe-inspiring surroundings."
— Charles, Co-founder
Become part of our story and witness your impact through the relationships you build here
Your Stay Makes a Difference
We bring communities together to promote economic opportunity through relationships and learning. When not hosting international guests we host educational programs to support business, health, agriculture, education, arts, and more across the region. You are a vital part of our story, as your stay with us makes possible the bringing together of entrepreneurs, teachers, leaders, inventors, builders, artists, and artisans, young and old, seeking to transform their lives and their communities.
Sustainable from the Beginning
Our home and activities are designed for social impact in the community and limited impact on the environment. Enjoy home-cooked fusion dishes with ingredients from local farms. Sit in our grand hall under timbers locally harvested with our neighbors. Discover a favorite African author as you read a book from our library in our sustainable home.
Our construction workers from the nearby towns learned new skills on the job and earned wages to help them develop themselves and start new businesses. Through your experience with us we want you to develop personally as we develop our community.