Charity Sponsor Spotlight: ​Nuru International

Nuru International was started by Jake Harriman, a West Virginia native, USNA and Stanford graduate, and Special Operations Marine. Jake graduated with distinction from the US Naval Academy and served seven and a half years as an Infantry and Special Operations Platoon Commander in the Marine Corps. He led four operational deployments and was awarded the Bronze Star for actions in combat. Jake’s experiences convinced him that the “War on Terror” can’t be won on the battlefield alone; the contributing causes of terrorism–specifically extreme poverty–must also be eradicated. Jake left the military and enrolled at Stanford Graduate School of Business to found Nuru International. Upon graduation, Jake led a team to launch Nuru’s first project in Kenya in 2008. To date, Nuru has helped more than 140,000 people begin to chart a path out of poverty for good in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Nigeria.

Aside from Nuru’s founder, many Nuru staff, volunteers, and board members have come from the veteran community, including many currently active and former Marines. Like Jake, the experiences they had while serving our nation led them to believe that we need to not only address the threat of violent extremist groups like Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Boko Haram through direct intervention, but also, we need to prevent them from furthering their cause through the exploitation of people living in extreme poverty. Nuru equips people with the tools and knowledge they need to lift themselves out of extreme poverty for good.

Since 2013, Nuru has been an official charity partner of the Marine Corps Marathon. The first year, many of Jake’s classmates from USNA class of 1998 helped get the team started. Since that time, many current midshipmen have joined our team as well. In addition, Nuru is proud to have dozens of civilians #RunWithTheMarines over the last nine years. More than one hundred runners have joined Nuru to “Charge the District,” “Beat the Bridge,” and “Take the Iwo!” either in person or through running virtual Marine Corps Marathon events since the advent of COVID-19. These runners also commit to raising funds to fight extreme poverty together with Nuru. Nuru runners have raised more than $150,000 to help more of our global neighbors live hope-filled lives.

Want to run with us next year? Contact our team to get more information.

Want to make a donation to support our current team’s fundraising efforts? Click this link to make a donation online and show your support for this life-changing work.