buildOn at University of Michigan-Dearborn is an official chapter of buildOn, a nonprofit organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service and education. The goals of this organization include: 1. Give students the opportunity to help the development of young children locally and globally; 2. Reach out to the communities surrounding the University of Michigan Dearborn and play an active role in its development; 3. Give students the unique experience of building a school in a developing country; 4. Increase cultural awareness and cultural competency; 5. Increase and promote the concept of sustainability by upholding buildOn’s sustainable approach by ensuring that schools are built with a community rather than for a community; 6. Promote buildOn’s emphasis on empowering, not saving, communities; 7. Promote buildOn’s emphasis on cultural immersion and exchange with communities; 8. Foster student leaders with knowledge and experience in advocacy, fundraising, and volunteering so that may leave the University of Michigan-Dearborn with skills to change the world. Our student-led organization is committed to raising funds to build schools in the developing world, volunteering at local institutions and/or organizations, and becoming active citizens in our communities.