MIT African Students' Association Impact Fund

While we discuss and learn about improving the African continent through our biweekly African Learning Circle, a seminar open to the entire MIT community about how we can apply our MIT education, entrepreneurship and innovation towards the development of Africa, we have noticed a gap in support for the actual implementation of these projects. Last year, in partnership with MIT-Africa, we started the ASA Impact Fund as a means to fund student social impact initiatives by Africans for Africa. This was in part because we felt that there were a lot of promising projects our members had that failed to get funding on campus. However, we also had no extra funds to help them. MIT-Africa felt that it was doing well in initiatives for non-African students at MIT to learn about Africa, but could do more to support African students in impacting their home countries. Together, we recruited ASA alumni to make up a board in charge of refining the fund, fundraising, reviewing applications, etc. Therefore, the Impact Fund exists as an avenue to assist our members in undertaking social impact projects on the African continent. These projects address critical societal issues and foster positive change in African countries, thereby combining theoretical learning with practical application in alignment with MIT's motto. For its first cohort in summer 2024, the Impact Fund has supported 4 students with $14,000 across 3 different African countries (Tanzania, Kenya and the DRC), with social impact initiatives ranging from a milling business to support farmers in a conflict-ridden area, to a cashew nut processing tool to improve productivity for rural small-scale processors, to bringing solar power to a community, and skills development for children exposed to early marriages.

How You Can Help

A gift of $100 could potentially cover a tenth of the travel costs for one of our Impact Fund awardees. We welcome donations of any amount and are immensely grateful for your consideration to partner with us.

Our Way of Thanking You

To thank supporters, we offer opportunities for special recognition through shout-outs on our social media, as well as potentially naming specific awards after the donors based on the level of donation.