AFRICAN SKY INC
Spread Love
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Education
Eliza Swedenborg, Program Director
Community Arts
Adam Klein, Program Director
Community Health
Aleric Babej, Program Director
Food Security
Carolyn Kulb
Where we work
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of community-based projects completed (in alignment with our 2020-2024 strategic vision and goals)
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of podcasts and public outreach initiatives completed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Total number of communities directly reached by projects/programming (Mali & US)
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
African Sky's work is designed to meet four strategic goals:
1. Address community-identified priorities by connecting Malian and US communities
2. Empower individuals and communities through education and knowledge sharing
3. Develop strong leaders for social change
4. Advance African Sky's organizational integrity and operational sustainability
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Partnership: Malian communities are equal partners in all of African Sky's projects. We envision, design, implement and evaluate our projects with our Malian counterparts. Our projects focus on expressed community needs.
Sustainability: African Sky projects are sustained within the community after official project timelines expire. Projects are designed to positively impact the ecological, social, and economic foundations of our host communities.
Friendship: African Sky seeks to build enduring friendships and increase understanding between American and Malian communities.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
African Sky leaders include an energetic assemblage of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who served in Mali. Additionally, our team includes professionals and students of all ages, most of whom have been part of the African Sky family for years. We also have leaders and partners all across Mali; these Malians include teachers, farmers, mothers, fathers, entrepreneurs, artisans, and more.
Together, out transatlantic team is well positioned and experienced in not only delivering transformative resources and support directly to Malian communities, but we uniquely build long-term relationships with our Malian partners to collaboratively develop and deploy initiatives that enrich all of our lives.
As an all-volunteer organization, we can do this work with minimal overhead, allowing us to deliver over 95% of every donated dollar directly to our Mali programs.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since our first year in 2004, African Sky's core accomplishments include (but are not limited to) the following:
*Construction of three village schools and one women's literacy center (all in rural farming communities)
*Created and hosted a cross-generational, self-help women's summit
*Established an on-going, multi-sited women's literacy program
*Collaborated with Malian communities and Engineers Without Borders chapters to complete technical projects including access to clean water, a school construction cement mixer, and a sorghum press for making sorghum molasses as a more nutritious and locally produced substitute for sugar (commonly used to sweeten porridge)
*Facilitated numerous pen-pal, art, school supplies drives, and other cultural exchange between US and Malian schools
*Partnered with and provided direct support to self-help organizations for women and for people with disabilities
*Provided emergency direct relief for families and communities experiencing food crises
Goals we are currently working to achieve include building and operating a modest community center to extend our literacy program and to organize seasonal workshops to provide support and learning opportunities for community leaders throughout Mali. Additionally, the center will organize and facilitate an annual community summit to exchange ideas and successful initiatives achieved in our partner communities.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
AFRICAN SKY INC
Board of directorsas of 07/18/2022
Jeremy Coats
Cherie Wade
Susan Schunk
Kathy Lacy
Kevin Dreslinski
James Allen
Hamidou Dicko
Sadio Sogoba
Amy Freels
Jamie Newhall
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Not applicable -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Not applicable -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Not applicable -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
No data
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 07/18/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.