Zoe Jelinek

Zoe was only twenty years only when she died in a tragic accident in September of 2022. She had recently returned to Seattle from an eight-month stint in Zambia, teaching at a small preschool and elementary school in the heart of Livingstone. 

Zoe always connected with babies and children and found a passion for teaching while in Zambia. She learned so much from the dedicated and talented teachers she worked with at the Maher Christian Academy, but also saw how resource deprived the schools in Zambia and most of southern Africa were. Textbooks were years old and out of date, school supplies were rationed, and computers were absent, even for the teachers. And yet, Zoe marveled at how hungry the children were to learn, how eager they were each morning for their day at school, how they did not take education for granted. They knew it was the key to their future and a gift to be valued. Zoe saw an opportunity to connect these children and teachers with the resources so much easier to come by in the western world. After a trip back home to Seattle for Christmas 2021, Zoe returned to Livingstone with five laptops that her dad had refurbished, and shared those with the teachers at Maher. Reserving a couple for the classrooms, Zoe spent time teaching the older children the basics of computer navigation and search. 

After returning home for good in the summer of 2022, Zoe shared her dreams of opening an educational resource center in Livingston where children and adults alike could come and take classes, use tools, computers, and other resources, so rarely available to folks there. After Zoe’s devastating passing, her mom and dad, other family members, and a huge, amazing network of friends worked together to launch this foundation to carry on Zoe’s work and dreams in a place that meant so much to her, a place where she learned and grew into the beautiful young woman we were, and are, so proud of. We welcome you to join us in fulfilling Zoe’s dreams.

In their recent annual news magazine, Zoe's high school, Bishop Blanchet, published and article about the trip to Zambia and South Africa   BBHS_Mag+AR_Fall23-FNL4 (fliphtml5.com)