Philanthropy is not about money. It’s about feeling the pain of others and caring enough about their needs to help. - Timothy Pina
We give back to local communities and initiatives around the world in many ways. Sometimes that looks like sharing our wisdom by sitting on the board of nonprofits with powerful missions, supporting subsistence entrepreneurship through our businesses, or finding innovative ways to make a difference.
Check out where we spend our time and money below.
Africa’s Tomorrow is a non-profit organization that helps provide higher-education to rural African women. They provide no-interest, forgivable loans in the amount of up to $5,000 per year for rural women to attend college and they provide food and housing support while the students attend college.
Africa’s Tomorrow also helps support development within rural communities and foster interaction with other people and practices. They’re doing incredible work to break barriers for women who live in rural communities to gain access to higher education, mentorship and more. Our founder, Mwai Yeboah, sits on the board of Africa Tomorrow and mentors a young woman within Africa Tomorrow’s student program.
When Females Lead is a Zambian-based nonprofit organization that raises confident female leaders across the African continent. Their mentoring initiative helps connect mentees with one another and mentors who help transfer knowledge and competencies to women in various fields, including agriculture and innovation and technology. Through mentorship and internships, they support women in their career growth and development in an effort to become the leading platform in Africa for female leaders.
Our founder Mwai Yeboah sits on the board of When Females Lead where she contributes her time and expertise to help the organization achieve its objectives.
Ben Parker and the late William Ruck-Keene established Tongabezi Lodge in 1990 in Livingstone, Zambia. At the time, Ben’s wife Vanessa was a volunteer teacher in Livingstone. In 1995, members of the Tongabezi staff asked Vanessa if she would start a pre-school to teach their children to read and write.
On the condition that it would remain small, she agreed and Tongabezi Lodge donated the money to build one classroom for 15 students who lived within walking distance. Vannessa named the school Tujatane which means “let’s all hold hands together” in the local language Chitonga.
Despite the initial wish to keep it small, growth was inevitable. Today, The Tujatane Trust School is an award-winning school and accomplishes everything Vanessa originally hoped it would except remain small. 280 students are enrolled in a multi-classroom school with an art room, music room, sports grounds, library, and canteen. The school has also cultivated a very talented, beautiful and authentic children’s choir that performs at various events throughout the year.
When our wedding planning arm Love From Mwai by Exalt Africa plans and designs destination weddings in Livingstone, we often book the choir to sing during the wedding ceremony, which is always a crowd favorite and something our clients esteem as one of their top favorite elements of their wedding. We also make monetary donations to the trust school each year.
Our Founder, Mwai Yeboah, is VOW's Brand Ambassador for Africa, which means she’s a top advocate and wedding specialist who has taken a stand against child marriage by offering meaningful gift list ideas to her clients that include giving their guests the option to donate to VOW in lieu of a traditional gift.
VOW is an organization with a global initiative to mobilize the wedding industry to end child marriage by raising awareness to child marriage, donating funds and supporting VOW in its efforts.
