Education Matters Africa Foundation
Where Talent Meets Opportunity
Learn how to support this organization
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The Education Matters Africa Foundation supports the work of Education Matters, an educational non-profit trust in Zimbabwe that seeks to match talent with opportunity to help young people reach their potential. Education Matters' flagship program, USAP Community School, The USAP Community School is a residential 11th and 12th grade (A Level) school that educates high-achieving, low-income Zimbabwean students to excel at the worlds top universities and return home to build society. Our vision is to be a global leader in transformative education exclusively for low-income students, sustained by their own success through alumni support. We are trying to level the immensely uneven educational playing field so that talented, hardworking students determined to make a change in their communities can access top higher education.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
USAP Community School
The USAP Community School is a residential 11th and 12th grade (A Level) Quaker school that educates high-achieving, low-income Zimbabwean students to excel at the world’s top universities and return home to build society. We teach as much through the curriculum as the values of integrity, equity, service and curiosity at the core of our community. Students benefit from a holistic education aimed at developing critical thinking, communication and analytical skills, and computer literacy – all important for a successful transition into a demanding university education. Alongside GCE A’levels, students participate in an intensive Humanities core and a school culture that honors and celebrates the equal dignity of every person and embraces difference as an opportunity for growth. We aim to help students think through not what do they want to be as a result of their education, but what problem here in Zimbabwe do they want to solve.
Zimbabwe Career Connect
The Education Matters Zimbabwe Career Connect Internship Program is an experiential service learning program that matches Zimbabwean students studying in the U.S., Canada and with Ashesi University in Ghana, with Zimbabwean companies and non-governmental organizations during the student’s vacation period from university.
Rise
Rise is a collaborative initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust which is designed to increase opportunities for exceptional young people. Schmidt Futures, in partnership with The Rhodes Trust, announced the inaugural cohort of 100 Global Winners for Rise, a global initiative that finds brilliant people who need opportunity and supports them for life as they work to serve others. Education Matters is the Zimbabwean local partner for the Rise program. In 2021, the inaugural year, we had 17 finalists and 3 global winners.
TWEENS
The TWEENS project is a peer tutoring project run by and benefiting refugee students at the Tongogara Refugee Camp. TWEENS began as a service learning project initiated by several of the USAP Community School refugee students in 2020 during the first Zimbabwean lockdown.
In 2021, 88 students are being provided TWEENS tutoring lessons, 58 are offered “in person” lessons and 30 are receiving “online” lessons via WhatsApp given COVID protocols and restrictions in Tongogara Refugee Camp. Each tutee is offered three in person lessons per week in addition to daily online lessons. Overall, TWEENS offers different activities with the aim of encouraging education which benefits 720 youth in the camp. Apart from tutoring, TWEENS also functions as a clearinghouse of scholarship information, organizes and facilitates awareness campaigns on COVID19, carries out door-to-door visits to tutees, and gives motivational speeches at the school and during food distribution, all with a thrust on education
Where we work
Awards
Top Rated List 2023
Great Non-Profits
Affiliations & memberships
Global Giving Top Ranked Organization 2023
Global Giving Effective Organization 2023
Global Giving Vetted Organization 2023
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsAverage financial aid award per FTE student
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Students
Related Program
USAP Community School
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
The average scholarship of a USAP Student starting university in USD.
Number of clients participating in educational programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People of African descent, Students
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This the total number of students in our programs: USAPCS, TWEENS, YYAS, ZCC Internships and Rise.
Total dollar amount of scholarship awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People of African descent, Students
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Scholarship dollars earned by USAP students for four years of university study.
Number of academic scholarships awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People of African descent, Economically disadvantaged people, Students, Refugees and displaced people
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of scholars who earn a Bachelor's degree
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Young adults, People of African descent, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of first-entry undergraduate program students who identify themselves as 'visible minorities'or 'non-white'
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, People of African descent, Students, Refugees and displaced people, At-risk youth
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
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?
Our vision is to enable talented young people from economically-disadvantaged backgrounds to gain scholarships offered by colleges and universities. With a strong believe in the transformative power of international education, we believe that these youth can have a deep impact on bringing their skills and experiences abroad home to make positive change.
To this end, we aim to see an increased number of students from our cohorts gain admission and scholarship to study overseas. We also aim to see them come home after sophomore or junior year to participate in an internship program with a successful and productive organization or company here in Zimbabwe and ultimately to return home after they complete their higher education and get exposed to some work experience internationally. We have the goal of cultivating future leaders in all fields who are ethical, skilled and empowered to make an impact.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our main strategy at present is to transform our successful USAP model into a two year residential non-profit 11th and 12th grade high school in Zimbabwe. We are currently fundraising to finish building our permanent campus for the school which opened its doors in January 2020. Our target group will remain to recruit high-achieving accomplished students with demonstrated leadership potential and a strong ethos of giving. The USAP Community School is a living and learning community that in addition to offering a strong academic A level curriculum in STEM, will also include an intensive reading/writing/critical thinking curriculum and project-based engaged learning. We are creating and developing this one -of-a-kind school in Africa after nearly two decades of honing the USAP model and through it sending over 500 students on full scholarships to study overseas.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our organization, which incorporated in Zimbabwe in January 2016 and now as a 501(c)3 in the United States in July 2018, is very capable of reaching its goals, despite Zimbabwe's harsh economic environment. Our staff at Education Matters in Zimbabwe are led by an American permanent resident in Zimbabwe who has 20 years of international education experience including 15 years working as the Country Coordinator for EducationUSA at the US Embassy in Harare. The other staff members are all Zimbabweans who studied at top liberal arts colleges and universities in the United States and returned to work on education in Zimbabwe.
We have a fully incorporated and active Board of Trustees in the United States which includes Zimbabwean immigrant professionals, a former U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe and the Director of International Students and Scholars at Yale University, who has supported and guided past USAP students. The board is diverse and includes a very successful USAP alumnus.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In the six years that Education Matters has been in existence in Zimbabwe, we have sent four cohorts of students and are preparing the fifth now, who will enroll in August 2024. We are now finalizing phase one of the permanent campus for the USAP Community School and have graduated three classes who have earned over $12 million in college scholarships,, with two more (76 students) currently enrolled. The USAP Community School is holistic in approach, built on pillars of community, sustainability and impact, breeding young people who radiate values of integrity, generosity of spirit and engagement. Alongside Cambridge A levels, our students participate in an intensive reading and writing English core, gain computer literacy and immerse themselves in critical thinking and problem solving through a project-based curriculum. Beyond traditionally strong math and science skills, we also hone students' communication and analytical skills. so they will be ready to excel at any top college or university. Our school is environmentally sustainable, powered partially by solar energy and with an organic garden providing food for the school.
Education Matters, in additional to USAP Community School, also partners with global exchange programs to offer more opportunities to young people in Zimbabwe across the income spectrum. Such programs include Rise from Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, Yale Young African Scholars, and Zimbabwe Career Connect. We have trained a cohort of 50 college/career advisors at high schools around the country to further support young people achieve their dreams.
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 identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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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, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
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
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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.
Education Matters Africa Foundation
Board of directorsas of 01/19/2024
Ms. Lucy Steinitz
Catholic Relief Services
Term: 2023 - 2024
Ann Kuhlman
Yale University
Brian Bejile
Citibank
Ronald Mutasa
World Bank
Lois Mufuka Martin
KAVA Consultancy
Lucy Steinitz
Catholic Relief Services
Kevin Burns
Chobani
Baldwin Guchu
Simbisa Brands
Farai Sanyangore
Bank of America
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? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
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? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
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:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 07/01/2020GuideStar 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 review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- 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 disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- 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.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.