Asante Africa Foundation

How we started

Asante Africa Foundation’s beginnings.

Erna Grasz and her husband visited Tanzania in 2005 and were saddened by lack of clean water, sanitation, and basic education. During their trip, they met Emmy Moshi, who works tirelessly to improve living conditions for children by building schoolhouses in impoverished villages. When Erna returned from Africa, she researched ways to support development efforts in Tanzania and Kenya. Asante Africa Foundation was officially incorporated in the state of California in August 2006. Asante Africa Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization in the USA.

We envision African communities and families in which children have the opportunity to received QUALITY education to define their futures. Quality education will be made available by providing physical infrastructures for all children attending school, providing teaching resources and educational materials and scholarships / sponsorships for highly motivated and academically gifted children.

Approximately 90% of donations to Asante Africa Foundation support in-country programs and projects, jointly planned with local program managers.

Board members and other Foundation support is purely volunteer based. In addition, Asante Africa Foundation is not affiliated with any religious or political entity or institution. We rely solely on your generous donations to complete projects such as building schools, waterlines, sanitation facilitates and sponsoring children’s schooling.

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Erna & Mark with Kids

School desks built with your donations

View our 2007 Annual Report (4MB PDF),
which includes financial reports

Who we are and what we are about

Every child deserves an education and the opportunity to choose their future, regardless of the latitude or longitude in which they are born. Through education, every child can make their dreams a reality, help their families struggle less, and help their communities become self sustaining.

Our Vision

We envision African communities and families in which the children have the opportunity to received QUALITY education to define their futures.

Our Mission

Quality Education will be made available by providing physical infrastructures for all children attending school, providing teaching resources and educational materials and scholarships/sponsorships for highly motivated and academically gifted children.

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Making Quality Education Possible for Children in East Africa

How we achieve our mission

We fund projects that:

• Create a safer place to learn by building physical infrastructure (construction of schools, kitchens, dormitories) and improving basic health and sanitation services at the school (providing water sources, daily porridge, toilets).
• Help teachers be better teachers (supplies for the classroom, musical instruments, learning materials for the teachers).
• Assist academically talented or highly motivated children get into schools that they might not otherwise have an opportunity reach.

We achieve our vision and mission through in-country collaboration with passionate trustworthy individuals who act as our in-country program managers. They live and breathe the dream and hope of creating a better life and stronger communities in the villages where they live and work. We believe strongly that it is not our place to provide western solutions to the others’ communities, and rely on local contacts to propose solutions that work within their communities and cultures.

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The Asante Africa Leadership Team

Board of Directors

Erna L. Grasz - CEO, Founder and Chairman of the Board

Susan Olofson - Vice President, Secretary

Colin Higgins - CFO and Treasurer

Stephanie Jayne - Director, Programs

Jack Grove - Director, Funds Development

Karen Yolton - Director, Fundraising/Development

Felice Swapp - Director, Operations

Joel Abong’o - Director, Cultural Advisor

Leadership Team

Mark Newton - Senior Leadership - Technology and Program Management

Delores Bengston - Senior Leadership - Program Team for Child Scholarship

Christine Abernathy (Odero) - Senior Leadership - IT and Cultural Advisor

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