The Memory Project: Past, Present, and Future
In briefAI summary — tap to read
Ben Schumaker has spent 22 years building the Memory Project, which connects high school art students worldwide with children in orphanages and refugee camps to create portraits and identity art as gifts, fostering international kindness and cross-cultural connection. The organization has involved over 330,000 youth across 58 countries, with a recent focus on supporting 20 Afghan girls now living in Pakistan to pursue education and avoid child marriage.
Key takeaways
- The Memory Project began in 2003 when Schumaker discovered that orphaned children had never seen photographs of themselves, addressing a psychosocial need for children to feel their lives matter.
- Art serves as the vehicle for building interconnectedness between youth globally; the physical back of artwork featuring the artist's hand print and photo creates symbolic connection between creator and recipient.
- Participation in the program has dropped from 30,000 to 15,000 students annually due to teacher stress, phone-induced attention spans, and lower art class enrollment, prompting Schumaker to seek creative solutions including eliminating fees and partnering with major museums.
- Ben is now supporting 20 Afghan girls in Pakistan who otherwise faced child marriage and educational deprivation, with options for donors to sponsor individual girls or support enrichment activities like music lessons.
- Success in social service work requires starting with your idea and letting society's response determine whether it grows, rather than waiting for perfect certainty before beginning.
About Ben SchumakerBen Schumaker is the founder of the Memory Project, a 22-year-old organization connecting high school art students with children in orphanages and refugee camps. He holds a Master's degree in Social Work and has delivered hundreds of thousands of artworks across 58 countries.
AI-generated from the meeting recording — AI can make mistakes, so check the recording for anything important.
New here? How our meetings work
Is this your first time visiting us? If so, welcome to our weekly online meeting! To complete our meeting, please continue reading from here to the bottom of this page. Each Monday, our week’s meeting is posted early in the morning, U.S. Pacific Time. These meetings are designed so that you can read and watch what we post anytime during the week. The entire meeting takes about 60 minutes to complete, with the video conference recording of the program being the bulk of the time. Note that you can easily read this meeting with your favorite device, so feel free to take our meeting on the go with you. Please also complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!
To properly attend this meeting, please:
-
Read and watch the content below in its entirety.
-
Complete the attendance survey.
Everyone is encouraged to leave a comment in the Disqus section at the bottom of the page.
Greetings members, Rotarians, friends and guests
Want to Learn More About Us? - Who We Are, What We Do, Why We Do It
Want to become a Rotarian? - Join us in helping to make the world a better place!
Thanks for joining our weekly meeting!
Maxi Bustos - President-elect 2026-2027
Weekly Funny with Shags
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin!
I bought shoes from a drug dealer.
I don't know what he laced them with, but I've been tripping all day.
Inspiration
Google released a promo video for Project Genie, which I find absolutely mind-blowing as an educator thinking about how my students might learn in the near future. What do you think?
Learn something new
Scientists are exploring IVG (In-Vitro Gametogenesis)
Skin Could Be Used to Create Babies
📬 Are you receiving the Members-Only Weekly Bulletin?
Our Club News and Member links are now on the Members Only ClubRunner Site and are emailed weekly as a Club Bulletin. Please make sure your email address is current on ClubRunner.
Members, be sure to read our Weekly Club Bulletin, which is sent separately to your email address from ClubRunner each Monday. In it, you will find updates and information about what our members are up to, club activities, projects, Happy Dollars, news from District 5170, and various ways you can support The Rotary Foundation. We also send your Dues notices using ClubRunner email.
Our Weekly Bulletin, sent every Monday, provides club information. To stay informed, please ensure your email is current on ClubRunner and add mailservice@clubrunner.ca to your address book so it does not go into Spam.
Program: The Memory Project: Past, Present, and Future
Speaker: Ben Schumaker
We bring you a new program every week on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education and how they contribute to service to others.
Our speaker, Ben Schumaker, first spoke to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley in 2016 to tell the story of the Memory Project, a youth arts organization he founded in 2004. He spoke to us again in 2022 about his efforts to help resettle Afghan refugees. In this presentation, he will briefly recap the history of the Memory Project and update us on his efforts to support education for Afghan girls. He will then describe several challenges that the Memory Project (and the field of art education, in general) has faced during the past several years. Lastly, Ben will invite club members to help him brainstorm potential new pathways that the Memory Project could take in the future, with hopes of adapting and strengthening the organization in these changing times.
Ben founded the Memory Project in 2004 after an experience volunteering at an orphanage in Guatemala. While there, he learned that the children had very few personal keepsakes to take with them after leaving the orphanage. As Ben had always enjoyed drawing portraits for others, he had the idea to organize high school art teachers and art students to create portraits as positive and tangible "memories" for the children to carry into their future.
Since then, more than 300,000 young artists have participated in this effort to create portraits for children in 58 different countries. Running the Memory Project has been Ben's full time job ever since 2006, and his typical workday consists of answering emails alone on his couch. However, the days he loves far more are the ones spent delivering the portraits to children around the world.
Members and guests, please welcome Ben Schumaker!
To learn more, go to:
Please check out the Memory Project's website and see videos of our work at:
https://memoryproject.org
To learn more about Men for Equality, go to:
https://menforequality.org/
To learn more about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley, go to:
http://rotary.cool
Our Three Podcast Series
Our main program speakers are available as podcasts in addition to YouTube videos! Each week, they are available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, as well as many other platforms.
Our weekly podcast is now called:
Inspiring People — Stories of Innovation and Service
Inspiring Solutions for a Better World
Our original podcast, featuring some of the best of our previous speakers, is still available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and many other platforms.
Inspiring Women: Celebrating Trailblazers
Our newest podcast celebrates trailblazing women. It is available on Spotifyand Apple Podcasts, and many other platforms.
Upcoming program recording schedule
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.
Our online video conference room link for these recordings is always http://zoom.siliconvalleyrotary.com/. You are welcome to join us! Please note the timezone listed for all recordings is US Pacific Time (San Francisco, California, USA).
If you can’t join the live recording, please send your questions for an upcoming speaker to programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com.
