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Meet Jane (aka our founder)

Kara Kliewer
Apr 27, 2017
2 min read

Who is Jane Doe you ask? Well, we're here today to answer that question!

Jane grew up in central Oklahoma City and, after high school, attended Vanderbilt University. While in high school, she spear headed student council and regularly volunteered at local charities.

"Honestly, I grew up rather privileged. I went to a nice private high school and have done quite a bit of traveling. However, my father has always instilled a sense of gratitude for what I've acquired because of others and compassion for those with less opportunities in me."

During college, Jane majored in philosophy and minored in non-profit management. She's passionate about studying varying cultures and their practices. Furthermore, she studied philosophy as a means of trying to do this better.

After college, she initially thought she wanted to go in to full time teaching. Nevertheless, after spending a couple of years with Teach for America, she decided she wanted to be more intricately involved with people outside of a school classroom.

Around that time, she discovered the concept of mobile libraries. For those of you unfamiliar, mobile libraries transform busses into, literally, busses full of books. These busses will often stop in urban, low-income communities to allow those without easy access to a library the chance to acquire and read books.

(mobile library)

Instantly, she was fascinated with the idea of repurposing old busses for some greater use. For her, deciding how to use a bus was no brainer.

"As a child, I was always at the park down the street. Also, my dad regularly took us camping and we often vacationed to national parks. So, from a young age, I was a huge fan of the outdoors. For me, it provided a peaceful place where I could just run, play, exercise, be creative... whatever. Beyond being active, nature allowed me to learn more about my surroundings and how to care for them appropriately. I wanted to share this passion."

Shortly thereafter, Jane took out a small loan to start things up. She purchased a pretty sketch school bus and renovations began with operations running out of her apartment.

With a school bus in operation, Jane's next task was finding a reliable staff and getting her first community of focus to trust her mission.

Soon, she had assembled some local college students intrigued with her mission, and, after some grassroots community outreach- she had her first group of kids on board.

Now that her organization has expanded quite a bit, Jane looks forward to what lies ahead.

"Honestly, I'm so surprised at how fast this has grown. I have seen kids learning and growing, and I have gotten to connect with so many amazing people. Now, we are looking to acquire two more school busses, and I am just extremely grateful and excited to see the communities we take on next become transformed."