USD$2M fund to make giving back to community a cornerstone of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program
Universities and institutional partners included in the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program will receive funding towards these efforts, leading the design and delivery of the competitive fund in a manner that reflects local context. The Foundation will lead monitoring and evaluation activities to learn, evaluate, and determine how to extend and scale the opportunity within and beyond the Scholars Program.
"The announcement of the new fund has been met with a lot of excitement across the Scholars Program," said Shantel Marekera, a Scholar at Arizona State University and the founder of Little Dreamers Foundation, an organization that helps Zimbabwean girls attend pre-school in Harare's Glen View 8 community. "Many Scholars have been shelving their innovative and revolutionary give-back ideas because of the absence of seed funding opportunities. However, this fund dedicated to support Scholars' social venture ideas will definitely encourage us to follow our passion and ignite change within our communities."
"The Scholars community is comprised of ambitious young leaders who are eager to create positive change in their community by using their game changing ideas, and whose only limitation is often a lack of funding," says Kayiza Isma, a Scholar at Makerere University and a co-founder of Sparky Social Enterprise, a project that leverages a low-cost, efficient technology to addresses post-harvest losses and food insecurity in Uganda. "The Mastercard Foundation's new fund will initiate a wave of community transformation across Africa by kickstarting hundreds of social ventures pioneered by young African leaders themselves."
Since 2016, the Mastercard Foundation has supported over 30 ventures founded by Scholars working to improve the lives of others. In Ghana, Happy Home Eco-Sanitation Company/Services has partnered with Ashesi University to build a 7-unit toilet facility at Berekuso Basic School, which will benefit about 1,000 people, as well as a standalone toilet facility in Berekuso for EduCare, a nursery school, which will serve 30 children under the age of 10. In Zimbabwe, the Little Dreamers Foundation anticipates its first cohort of 12 girls by January 2019 and continues to develop its poultry project, which will feed the children once they are registered in preschool and will reduce school fees for vulnerable families. In Uganda, Sparky Dehydrator has trained 400 farmers and sold 22 food dryers, 18 of which are currently used by farmers in five districts across the country.
"As much as a brilliant solution and a great team are needed to solve a difficult problem, accessing funds is highly essential for young leaders like ourselves," says Kwabena Adu-Darkwa, a Scholar at Ashesi University College and the co-founder of Happy Home Eco-Sanitation Services, an initiative that aims to provide low-income communities with access to environmentally friendly and affordable micro-flush toilets in Berekuso, Ghana. "This was our own experience - our idea to provide communities with access to safe, affordable toilets had to be shelved until we gained the needed financial backing. We believe this new seed funding initiative from the Mastercard Foundation will help catalyze give-back projects and will provide many other Scholars with the opportunity to convert their ideas into workable solutions."
About the Mastercard Foundation
The Mastercard Foundation seeks a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn and prosper. The Foundation's work is guided by its mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion for people living in poverty. One of the largest foundations in the world, it works almost exclusively in Africa. It was created in 2006 by Mastercard International and operates independently under the governance of its own Board of Directors. The Foundation is based in Toronto, Canada. For more information and to sign up for updates from the Foundation, please visit www.mastercardfdn.org. Follow the Foundation @MastercardFdn on Twitter (#MCFScholars).
About the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program
The Mastercard Foundation believes that all young people, no matter their starting point in life, should have an equal chance to obtain a quality education and pursue their aspirations. We are providing education and leadership development for over 35,000 bright, young leaders with a deep personal commitment to changing the world around them and improving the lives of others. Through a network of universities and non-governmental organizations, the Scholars Program ensures that students whose academic talent and promise exceed their financial resources, are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to become the next generation of ethical leaders. These young people will create change that matters within their communities and will usher in a new era of inclusive prosperity in Africa and beyond.
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