Shannon Elizabeth Foundation

We believe that our youth are, indeed, the heroes of tomorrow. But that tomorrow can, and must, start today. This imperative is the focus of our second initiative, called Animal Avengers. We must educate and empower young people in every way we can, particularly in developing economies. Without our commitment and their energy, there is little hope of a better world. A world in which all ecosystems thrive without any threat of destruction through human greed.

We want young people everywhere to pledge themselves as animal avengers now and in perpetuity. More than that, young citizens must become Earth avengers, humanity avengers, and life avengers in the broadest sense. We must make big changes and make them fast. But who are we to tell younger generations how to clean up our messes? Young people are more than capable of identifying the problems and what to do about them. They don’t need our instruction. Instead, we need to collaborate with young people everywhere and help to empower them to become innovative leaders in their local, regional, and even global communities. We must hear their voices and facilitate their ability to stand up for a better world. We are committing our resources to three critical areas.

EMPOWERING STUDENTS
We believe that iconic wildlife species, such as rhinos, can engender interest and respect for all living beings and the landscapes they inhabit. As an extension of our Rhino Review initiative, we are partnering with education-focused nonprofits to go into schools and help to excite kids. Our future generations must fall in love with these captivating creatures and the wilderness which surrounds them.

EMPOWERING TEACHERS
Teachers are vital to nurturing our youth. We want educators everywhere to utilize Rhino Review as an informational resource. We are working closely with schools to develop a teacher’s toolkit to support their wildlife curriculum and bring rhinos right into the
classroom. This kit will be free to download straight from our platform and will be optimized for offline teaching. Our teacher’s toolkit will be visually stimulating, factually flawless and notably inspiring.

EMPOWERING UNIVERSITY GIRLS
We are currently developing relationships with key partners to identify and support economically disadvantaged girls in South Africa who have a proven passion and ability to pursue a career in the conservation economy. Scholarship opportunities include wildlife veterinary sciences, wildlife and conservation management, conservation administration, and eco-tourism. This is an ideal opportunity for philanthropists to contribute to the development of young girls to be tomorrow’s leaders. We are launching this in the second quarter of 2020, allowing for the first enrollment in January 2021.

We believe that to truly maximize impact and make immense change, few things work as well as political reform which bolsters new and existing laws that effectively combat the illegal wildlife trade, stifle poaching syndicates and disrupt the rampant killing of our natural world. Instead of making ubiquitous emotional appeals, we choose rather to use rational, science-based data to support sound decision-making by our lawmakers.

We consult objectively with lawmakers to better inform policy decisions. We have been increasing our presence in Washington, D.C., consulting with senators and representatives of Congress on various bills across multiple international issues such as trade, poaching, poorly regulated tourism and wildlife ownership.
We demonstrate how the decisions taken by politicians affect people on the ground in places like Africa where economies, societies, and wildlife sustainability are impacted. Also, issues of national security become critical discussions as we communicate how these international issues affect the people of America.

We are also increasing our presence in South Africa, building relationships with local parliamentarians and ministers.

The sustainable use of land is a global issue and one that requires solutions that reflect a deep and meaningful integration of environmental ambition and socio-economic necessity. Many of the world’s protected areas are flanked by some of the most impoverished communities on the planet.

Often, this brings wildlife into conflict with these communities, exacerbating the challenges in finding solutions that honor both the communities and wildlife as equal stakeholders.
Sometimes these villages are given a small stipend, or they might benefit from a simple project funded by the reserve. But what would it look like if these communities became guardians and champions of wildlife and wild places?

We have created a philanthropic investment model that achieves a transparent, scalable and integrated solution for the astute philanthropist to ensure their investment becomes a tangible part of their long-term legacy, whilst creating hope for impoverished communities and protecting the natural habitat for many threatened species.

We believe that conservation is not an action, but rather a
consequence of an action. And that action is the protection of land through the upliftment and inclusion of local communities in the conservation economy.

Our program, Sireletsa (which means “to protect” in Sepedi), is a fund designed to positively contribute to the challenges of unifying these economically marginalized communities in protecting our natural heritage. Sireletsa conforms with the need for transparency, impact and sustainability of your philanthropic investment with the long-term development of land and people.

There’s no shortage of critical land areas that require protection. With land secured, we then host several functions on that land:
–Private and public tourism products ensuring people and specifically donors, are able to visit the land regularly and immerse themselves in our conservation initiatives.
–Community development programs that include
infrastructural solutions like renewable energy, schools,
clinics, basic sanitation, skills development, job creation,
entrepreneurial development of micro-enterprises, and finally, land ownership.

At its core, the land will be a flagship of community development but will be a home to all of our critical conservation programming, which includes:
–A rhino orphanage providing critical care to orphaned baby rhinos that have lost their mothers to poaching.
–The creation of an IPZ (Intensive Protection Zone) for rhinos and other targeted species to be protected from poachers.
–An endangered species rescue and rehabilitation center allowing for long-term protection.
–A youth education facility where young people from around the world are able to experience the African bush whilst learning about conservation first-hand.
–An exclusive volunteer center to encourage donors and guests to actively participate in on-the-ground conservation efforts.

In addition to our in-house initiatives, we have a long-running grants program. We are in the field working hard on these issues every day, but no one organization can do it all. So we support other impactful NGOs who are making a difference but may need a little help. We have done everything from funding an anti-poaching unit at a rhino orphanage and purchasing specialty night-vision goggles for a helicopter pilot in South Africa, to funding a solar-powered water pump during a drought for the animals in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe.