The girls of the Kisa Project in Tanzania may not know Shontelle or Kat De Luna, but the performance of these pop stars' at "Girls Who Rock," a media event that occurred the previous week, may have helped sponsor their education this upcoming school year. The event was hosted by She's The First, a nonprofit geared toward education in Tanzania. The benefit concert was held at Santos Party House on 10 June.

AfricAid's Kisa Project targets secondary school-age girls in Tanzania, providing scholarships to attend school. According to UNICEF, only 20 percent of the country's secondary school-aged girls are enrolled in school. Kisa (Swahili for 'story') allows many girls a chance to complete secondary school as well as provide leadership training.

She's The First founder, Tammy Tibbets, believes that the education of girls is paramount to giving them a chance to rise from the poverty that often keeps them from achieving what they are capable of.

"She's The First is a mixture of influences: the mantra of "style and substance" that I picked up from a legendary editor of Glamour magazine, the power of social media that we all witness every day...[the She's The First team] all share a passion for making a difference, and we all have different talents and networks to offer to achieve a sponsorship for a girl."

Tibbets' trips to sub-Saharan Africa forced her to see the obstacles for girls there and get the motivation to start an organization that could help address their poor educational conditions.

"Personally, my travels to Liberia and my career in digital media gave me the motivation to run with this idea," Tibbets told MediaGlobal. "I thought of the concept of a network and the name She's the First -- what it means to have an education, so you can break barriers and achieve your dreams."

While her mission to further girls' education is not an uncommon one, one thing that sets Tibbets apart from many non-profit leaders is her age. Tibbets started She's The First in 2006, when she was 20 years old. At 24, she has worked to enlist the power of social media, grass root donors, and celebrities from the music and fashion industry to raise awareness and funds for girls in twelve countries throughout Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

Tibbets has not let her age hinder her from leading and growing a successful organization. In fact, it has encouraged her to seek support from young leaders and donors.

"We first discovered Ashley Shuyler's work when perusing DoSomething.org, a site for non-profit causes that are started by young people under age 25."

Shuyler, Executive Director of AfricAid is also 24 years old. After traveling to Tanzania at age 11, she began searching for ways to help bring resources and training programs to the region. By connecting American universities with foreign aid implementations AfricAid has worked to address issues of health, infrastructure, and education in Africa. The Kisa Project is AfricAid's first initiative to address the specific needs of school aged girls.

"Girls usually cannot themselves afford secondary school fees and, when forced to choose, parents generally send their sons to school instead of daughters, believing that men have greater later economic earnings power than women," Shuyler explained to MediaGlobal. "Girls are not taught to believe they can achieve what men can, and rarely have mentors or role models to show them otherwise."

Shuyler and Tibbets both implement the use of social media into their campaigns. As part of The Kisa Project's partnership with The Center for Digital Storytelling, program mentors are able to tell their personal stories documenting their experience working with the girls through the school year. For donors, these movies help provide visuals that illustrate how their donations are being put to use.

Harnessing the sharing powers of sites like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook has helped both organizations connect with partners who might not have otherwise know about them. "You'll be surprised how many people come out of the woodwork wanting to help...Non-profits once only had brochures to hand out to give information - social media gives you tools that are so much more exciting," Tibbets explains. "Tapping into pop culture and style enables us to tap into new audiences outside the non-profit world, attracting new communities and talents to the cause."

While celebrities took top billing at the benefit concert, Shuyler says the girls of The Kisa Project are the center of attention. "The Kisa Scholars are living examples of how educating girls can transform communities,...share this message with their families, community leaders, and other young women like themselves."