EDPOWERMENT INC

In 2010 Moira Gomez Madonia, a secondary school teacher with an earlier career in finance, joined fellow educators and international volunteers, Kerri Elliott and Jillian Swinford, to create EdPowerment, a 501-c3. Their mission: to find ways to continue to educate discarded teens and young adults, and those born with autism and other intellectual disabilities in villages outside Moshi, Tanzania. In the ensuing years, EdPowerment has developed into a thriving organization that positively impacts the lives of those it serves in this area through three separate but integrated programs. Most recently, having secured a Rotary Global Grant to develop the Kilimahewa Educational Centre, EdPowerment now funds a full computer/internet training course of study, vital classes in English and other academic subjects, and an agricultural best practices program for villagers. A full range of students - from special needs learners, to capable students seeking extra help (tuition), to young adults and teachers wanting to boost their English and internet technology skills, to local farmers seeking great business know-how - now come to Kilimahewa to learn. Our Tomorrow's Scholar-Leader Sponsorship Program now supports, nurtures and mentors 40 students in secondary and high school, vocational school and university programs. Our commitment is to work with each participant until he or she is able to assume independent lives as contributors to their community. Connects Autism Tanzania (CA Tanzania) began in 2010 as a program to conduct workshops and educational forums about autism and co-occurring intellectual disabilities. Our mission - to educate a society that shuns and refuses to accept and educate this population. As of summer, 2015, CA Tanzania is now a registered Tanzanian NGO with marked impact on families, society, educators and even businesses in the Northern Tanzania region. In April 2015, CA Tanzania (formerly Autism Connects Tanzania) led the first World Autism Day marches ever in Tanzania - in 7 separate districts. Our advocacy has now received national notice in the media as we continue to counter the stigma surrounding the intellectually disabled in this country.