The National to play LA’s Troubadour

The National and Cooperative for Education Team Up to Launch the Thousand Girls Initiative with Intimate Benefit Concert at Los Angeles

The National is taking on an international challenge: educating girls in Guatemala. On October 16, 2015, The National will perform at the legendary and intimate Troubadour nightclub in West Hollywood, California. The National, who have headlined major venues around the world including Barclay’s Center, London’s O2 Arena and Sydney’s Opera House, will play the 500-capacity room with proceeds supporting Guatemalan nonprofit Cooperative for Education’s efforts to improve the education of girls in Guatemala. Tickets go on sale August 21st at 10 am PDT here.

Lead singer Matt Berninger is teaming up with his cousins Joe and Jeff Berninger, co-founders of the nonprofit Cooperative for Education (CoEd), to launch a major program expansion called the Thousand Girls Initiative.

“Almost twenty years ago my cousins Joe and Jeff Berninger quit their corporate jobs and started this non-profit. CoEd has already reached more than 150,000 kids with textbooks and computers, and now they’re taking on girls’ education. I’m excited to join the effort to keep 1,000 girls from dropping out of school, which is so common in Guatemala,” stated The National’s Matt Berninger. “I’m really proud to be a part of this amazing organization.”

According to USAID, educating girls yields a higher rate of return than any other investment available in the developing world. Yet, gender inequality in education remains an enormous issue in impoverished Guatemala.

The Thousand Girls Initiative aims to reduce this disparity by growing to reach 1,000 girls in CoEd’s Scholarship & Youth Development Program by the year 2020. In a country where the national high school graduation rate is only 18%, 95% of students who finish middle school with a CoEd scholarship go on to graduate from high school.

More About Cooperative for Education
Cooperative for Education was founded by brothers Joe and Jeff Berninger in 1996 with the mission of helping Guatemalan schoolchildren break the cycle of poverty through education. CoEd accomplishes this mission by providing sustainable educational tools (like books and computers), training, and scholarships. For more information about CoEd, please visit www.cooperativeforeducation.org.

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