Reflecting on a year of growth & focus
Welcome to the first update of 2024 from ZOF Africa – bridging digital skills to ambitious, low-income students in Zimbabwe
🔎 In this newsletter
✨ 2023 highlights
125 students funded. Of these, we funded 25 for follow-on courses, and 6 are being placed into internships
First all-girls coding class
In-house assessments developed to track the potential & progress of students
Building a new edtech platform to monitor the impact of programmes on students in the long term and give them access to their online profiles (externally funded)
👉In case you missed it, our impact was showcased in our first ZOF Africa video last year (see also our trailer if you are short on time)
👓 Spotlight on
Miracle Missions Vimba, our trusted partner in Zimbabwe
ZOF volunteer of the month Fanny Morrison
💪 2024: help us support another 100 ambitious students this year
💵 2023 Financials
$32,600 (£25,800) raised
$33,300 (£26,400) spent on programmes
$4,500 (£3,500) on admin, banking, and media expenses
📢 Asks
💰 Consider donating- we are a volunteer-run charity and rely on personal donations
💻 Donate your company’s used laptops (UK-based readers)
🏣 Onboard us onto your company's charitable giving system (for more information contact Claudia)
📆 Attend our online event the week of March 28th. Stay tuned for more details!
🚀 Highlights for 2023
💻 Donors enabled 125 students to complete coding, robotics, and leadership courses
👩🎓 Students were 15-18 years old from low-income high-density areas in Harare
⛏️In Q4, we doubled down on 25 students who demonstrated exceptional ambition. During an 8-weekend course, they deepened their understanding of critical tech fields, including 3D printing and digital design
👩💼This year, we have secured 6 internships for 2023’s top students to teach them critical workplace etiquette and grow their networks. All students have demonstrated incredibly high ambition for learning and growth
👩💻 Actor/Director/Producer O-T Fagbenle and his charity ABC Foundation inspired and funded us for our first all-girls class of 30 students to complete a Python coding course
💻 Ipsos restored and donated 63 laptops, enabling all of our students to participate in our courses. Ipsos is a leading multinational market research firm
Systemiq, a leading climate consultancy, donated an additional 6
🏆 We developed a screening and assessment process for our students to ensure that we can assess the potential and progress of our students in a multi-faceted way. This includes assessments in abstract reasoning, communication, curiosity and perseverance
✨Career coach Joy Mahobele developed a robust career readiness & leadership skills curriculum that resulted in increased confidence and impressive CVs designed on Canva
⚒️We are building Helios, a new ed-tech platform that will allow us to better assess and track students and analyse our impact over time. In a second version, we will enable students to access and share their online profiles that ZOF has access to. This is all being externally funded. If you are interested in learning more or investing, contact Georgina
Takunda Chingonzoh, a renowned expert on the African technology landscape, joined our UK Board of Trustees
Graduates from our Intensive Tech Follow-On Course
Students from our first all-girls Python coding course
A happy graduate from ZOF Africa's 8-week follow-on tech course poses with The Maker Club
Students design and 3D print keyrings in the 8-week follow-on tech course
✨ Spotlight on
Miracle Missions Vimba
Miracle Missions Vimba (MMV) is a Zimbabwean-based grassroots organization dedicated to fostering self-sufficiency and minimising donor dependency. Like ZOF Africa, MMV is a volunteer-run organisation that supports Zimbabweans in the areas of education, health, and environment. They have been invaluable to the success of ZOF Africa's programmes on the ground - managing everything from finding and assessing high-potential students from low-income backgrounds, to ensuring that all parties are working smoothly and in unison to support the students' success and well-being. We owe a bit part of our 2023 success to this wonderful organisation and look forward to deepening our partnership over years to come.
Miracle Mission Vimbas Team
MMV, ZOF Africa, and career coach Joy Mahobele visit students in Hatcliffe
Volunteer of the month, Fanny Morrison
Fanny, currently in high school, dedicates her free time to volunteering for ZOF, unless she's busy getting lost in a good book. Managing ZOF's Social Media presence, she crafts posts to elevate the organisation's online visibility, all with the goal of amplifying awareness about its impactful initiatives. Fanny's aspiration is clear: to expand ZOF's reach, fostering increased recognition and support for the meaningful change it brings to the world.
Volunteering with ZOF brings her joy, aligning with her belief that a good education should be available to everyone. Fanny looks forward to many more fulfilling moments as she continues her volunteer journey with ZOF.
ZOF volunteer of the month, Fanny Morrison
💪 2024 - Looking Forward
This year, our aim is to bring on board 100 new ambitious young students from low-income backgrounds. Each of them will learn the fundamentals of coding and gain valuable leadership skills to promote holistic development. Similar to the previous year, we will then extend invitations to the 25 students who demonstrated the utmost determination for follow-on tech courses in 3D printing, digital design, and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, we plan to offer an additional 5+ internships to the highest performers.
Participation in ZOF Africa's programmes proves to be transformative for our students. According to feedback from parents and teachers, there is a notable increase in self-confidence and improvements in problem-solving skills. This exposure not only instills a growth mindset—a can-do perspective—but also equips students with practical tools to make a lasting difference in the world.
📈 Financial Update - 2023
2023 summary (rounded)
Total raised: $32,600
US entity: $20,730
UK entity: £9,377 ($11,900)
Programme expenditures: $33,300
US entity: $18,800
UK entity: £11,470 ($14,500)
Admin expenses: $3,800
USA entity: $2,022 (admin)
UK entity: £1,411
Finance expenses: $700
USA entity: $500
UK entity: £150 ($200)
Thank you for your support,
The ZOF Africa Team