Empowers Africa Inc

At Empowers Africa, our main goal is to support leading organizations throughout Africa that are change-makers in wildlife protection, land conservation, and human empowerment. We provide funding for programs in the following areas:
• Education
• Healthcare
• Small business development
• Wildlife protection
• Land conservation
• Fiscal sponsorship services
• Short film documentaries

Empowers Africa supports community-led, measurable, and sustainable programs that bolster communities by improving access to education, healthcare, and business opportunities. We believe safeguarding Africa’s natural wealth is critical to the empowerment of the surrounding communities. Also, Empowers Africa provides a cost-effective fund-raising solution to 34 fiscal sponsor partners in Africa. Through our fiscal sponsorship program, we make it easier and more affordable for some of the most effective organizations on the ground to process donations from U.S. donors. By collecting funds on behalf of these NGOs, we free them up to focus on their important work on the ground.

Africa is one of the only regions in the world in which the youth population is increasing. This growth presents tremendous opportunities. Key to those opportunities is grassroots economic empowerment, arming the continent’s youth with entrepreneurial tools and removing the obstacles to progress. We are committed to supporting local projects that are doing that, not by parachuting in with boilerplate solutions, but by being part of the communities they serve and by empowering youth with skills and education.

At the same time as Africa is experiencing a rapid growth of its youth population, its wild areas are under threat from poaching, destructive land management practices and global warming. At current poaching rates, some of Africa’s most iconic residents, such as, the elephant and the rhino, could be extinct in our lifetime. Extinctions of species would be a tragedy for biodiversity. We believe that conservation can be a key contributor to empowerment and prosperity. Reducing human wildlife conflict and redefining interactions at the places where communities come into contact with Africa’s wildlife is paramount to progress for both local communities and the animals that live along side of them.

The organizations and projects that Empowers Africa supports through annual grants and our Fiscal Sponsor Program strategically tackle issues of education, health, economic empowerment, wildlife protection and land conservation with the understanding that they are all inextricably linked to one another.

In addition, our fiscal sponsorship provides 44 African NGOs a cost-effective solution to fundraising in the United States by acting as their fiscal sponsor. As an established 501(c)(3), we accept donations from U.S. donors and grant funds directly to our partners’ projects. In turn, allowing us to significantly help some of the most effective changemakers on the continent, enabling them to focus on what’s most important—the work happening on the ground.

In addition to being a fiscal sponsor to over 34 organizations and making grants to over 70 organizations, we create educational films and host a series of educational film festivals and cultural events throughout the calendar year to raise funds and awareness for critical issues facing the continent.

Conservation and wildlife protection in Africa are ever changing environments. To be an effective leader in this space, it is vital to stay current and establish relationships with other leaders in the field as collaboration remains a key strategy for success. To this point, Empowers Africa attends three leading wildlife, conservation, and tourism conferences annually and maintains frequent communication with the leaders on the ground. Empowers Africa is grateful to have such a strong network of members, supporters, and donors, and we are proud to be personally connected to the programs we fund. We make multiple trips per annum to visit the programs we support and maintain frequent communication with the leaders on the ground. We come to the table with a leadership team with vast experience in community development, wildlife protection and land conservation.

Empowers Africa has granted over 60 organizations in 15 countries throughout Africa since its inception in 2013. The nonprofit also acts as a fiscal sponsor for over 24 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Africa. Through our 501(c)3 status, we efficiently collect and grant donations to some of the most effective changemakers on the continent, allowing them to focus on what’s most important—the work done on the ground. Through donations and fundraising, we have been able to raise over $16mm since inception.

In efforts to provide the public with important insight into issues affecting the African continent, such as human-wildlife conflict or species protection, we have created and hosted educational films and film festivals. To date, we have produced seven short film documentaries regarding matters related to rhino anti-poaching efforts, lion and elephant collaring, education, small business development, and female empowerment. We were also involved with the production of 2 full-length documentaries, Edge of Existence and The Last Horns of Africa. Many of these films participated in local and international film festivals and went on to win awards such as the London Independent Film Awards, NorCal Film Fest, the Independent Short Film Awards, the Crown Wood International Film Festival, and the Accolade Global Film Competition.

Additional points of progress:
• Our annual CharityBuzz safari auction raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for African charities.
• Women in conservation. As an organization entirely run by women, Empowers Africa is excited to see the increasing role women are playing in conservation from safari guides to the frontlines of anti-poaching. Our fiscal sponsors include Asilia Africa, who run the continent’s first all-women safari camp, Dunia Camp, in Tanzania’s Serengeti, and the Black Mambas, a majority women anti-poaching team in South Africa’s Balule Nature Reserve. We are extremely proud to have supported these incredible female initiatives.
• Key changemakers that we are associated with through our fiscal sponsorship program, including Fred Swaniker, a Ghanaian entrepreneur, and Founder of the African Leadership Academy and African Leadership University.
• We were involved in the reintroduction of lions in Akagera National Park, Rwanda, where lions had been extinct for over 100 years:
• (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/28/rwanda-lions-reintroduced-south-africa-akagera-national-park +
• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/150810-lions-return-rwanda-genocide-aftermath)
• We were involved in the reintroduction of lions at Somkhanda Game Reserve, South Africa, a reserve owned by local community members:
• (https://africageographic.com/stories/lion-relocation-success-somkhanda-lions-reveal-cubs/
• https://www.news24.com/news24/travel/pics-phinda-lions-released-in-somkhanda-game-reserve-massive-boost-for-lion-conservation-20170509)
• We were involved in a cheetah translocation in 2021 from