EBENEZER NORMAN
At our Club meeting on January 29, 2026, Ebenezer Norman provided an inspiring account of his journey from growing up in a poor village in Liberia to founding, funding and running New Dimensions of Hope, a non-profit which has built and supports two schools for children in Liberia.
As a small boy, Mr. Norman wondered why he was born into one of the poorest nations on Earth. Perhaps, he surmised, God was punishing him for something bad he had done in a past life. In Liberia, only about 15% of the population is literate. But from the age of 10, Mr. Norman was passionate about wanting an education. At the age of 10, his family sent him to live with another family in a city in Liberia. The bargain was, young Ebenezer would do chores around the house and in exchange, the family would pay his elementary school tuition. Young Ebenezer kept his end of the bargain. However, the family did not. At the age of 11, Ebenezer took a second job as a paper boy. With the money he earned, he enrolled himself in school and got through middle school and high school.
In the town where Mr. Norman went to school, there was a factory that produced Coca Cola and Sprite. Young Ebenezer befriended the factory’s security guards, hoping to see what went on inside the factory. However, as he was not employed there, the guards would not let Ebenezer in. Ultimately, one of the employees effectively adopted him as a son and brought him inside the factory on “take your child to work day”. The “big boss” at the factory took a liking to Ebenezer and helped him apply for college scholarships. Ultimately, he got a scholarship to Regis College in Denver, where he earned undergraduate and Master’s degrees.
As part of his college education, Mr. Norman learned the stories of Susan B. Anthony, Ghandi and Nelson Mandella. Their stories convinced Mr. Norman that he had been born in a poor village in Liberia for a reason other than punishment. At first, he returned to the factory in Liberia where he had been adopted. But later, he returned to Colorado to start New Dimensions of Hope, a non-profit.
Six years ago, Mr. Norman started driving for Lyft. He sees about 60 passengers per day as a Lyft Driver and tells each of them his story. He devotes 50% of his Lyft proceeds to building and supporting schools in Liberia. So far, New Dimensions of Hope has built and sustains two such schools. The schools started out as elementary schools but have expanded to provide high school curricula as the children have aged. So far, about 1500 Liberian children have attended the two schools. The schools do not have electricity. However, each has a generator that is used to power the school’s computer lab one day per week. Mr. Norman’s goal is to provide an education to some 5 million African children before he dies.
For a podcast of Mr. Norman’s full talk, click on this link: https://async.com/show/broomfield-rotary-podcast-2MrpNRXW/a-new-dimension-of-hope-ndhope-r4202Jeg
