WWO's mission is to educate, heal, and empower children, by embedding trauma-informed, play-based programs in vulnerable communities that lack access to early childhood and positive youth development programming.
Our Inception Story
In the early 1990s, our founder, Dr. Jane Aronson, a renowned pediatrician, and adoption medicine specialist, traveled to Eastern Europe while participating in medical missions. Dr. Aronson discovered children with profound developmental delays, attachment disorders learning disabilities, and severe failure to thrive.
Her response was to develop groundbreaking programming to eliminate these delays, and to create Worldwide Orphans Foundation in 1997. Since that time, WWO has been dedicated to supporting underserved children living in vulnerable communities around the world, addressing their developmental, psycho-social, and educational needs, expanding our reach far beyond orphans.
Dr. Aronson’s pioneering educational programs, developed from the perspective of a scientist, and pediatrician, remain the foundation of our current programs. Over the last 26 years, WWO has served over 200,000 children and caregivers and has teams in Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Haiti, Ukraine, Vietnam, and the US. We remain dedicated to supporting the healing, education, and empowerment of children in vulnerable communities.
Our Vision
WWO's vision is a world where children are prepared to learn, youth are prepared for life, and communities are prepared to support them.
Our Values
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Trust
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Impact
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Collaboration
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Resilience
Our goal is to reach as many underserved children and families as possible and to expand our impact to 1,000,000 beneficiaries by 2033.