Education WithOut Borders (EWOB) was cofounded in 2000 by Abdi Hassan, a native of Somaliland and formerly a popular adjunct professor in the Black History Department at Portland State University; Dan Shea, MFA 1999 PSU graduate, artist, teacher, and long-time community and Human Rights activist; and Marc Hinz, graduate student of Public Administration at PSU.

Both Abdi and Dan were founding members of Students for Unity, a progressive student group at PSU, and they were both involved in the formation of KPSU, the campus radio station. Dan and Marc were founding members of the Rearguard, a radical student newspaper, and both were leaders of the successful student-run campaign for a Drop-In Childcare center for parents attending PSU.