20 years of investing in African women

Investing in women's education and opportunity

• Engagement with the South Africa College of Tourism (SACT) during our first Women’s Empowerment Retreat introduced guests to the college’s work training young women for careers in conservation and hospitality.
  
• This connection resulted in a “Magic Grant” from The Helen Gurley Brown Foundation expanding SACT’s training capacity for future guides and rangers through the Tracker Academy.
  
• ROAR AFRICA also established an annual scholarship for a Zimbabwean female tourism student to study at SACT, creating a direct pathway into conservation and hospitality careers.
  
• Each year a handful of SACT graduates are offered the opportunity to participate in international summer work at the YMCA program in Boston. For many, this is the first time they have left their country.
  
• Conversations in Zimbabwe with leaders from the Girl Child Empowerment Trust and RESCUWS led to funding for the distribution of sustainable menstrual health products, directly addressing one of the primary causes of absenteeism among rural schoolgirls lacking access to basic sanitary supplies.

Supporting conservation leaders and wildlife protection

• Through the retreat network, The Helen Gurley Brown Foundation “Magic Grant” was also directed to speaker Dr Lucy King’s Save the Elephants beehive fence initiative in Kenya’s Tsavo region, supporting human–elephant coexistence while generating income for local communities.
  
• Conversations with speaker Dr Moreangels Mbizah, founder of Wildlife Conservation Action, at the 2023 retreat in Zimbabwe led to ROAR AFRICA funding her community-led lion conservation work, supporting research and human–wildlife conflict mitigation.
  
• At the same retreat, engagement with speaker Sarah Clegg of the Malilangwe Trust (http://www.malilangwe.org/) led to a further ROAR AFRICA investment in a rhino data-tracking system to strengthen monitoring and on-the-ground protection within Zimbabwe’s Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve.

Amplifying African voices through storytelling and global platforms

• The platform extended globally when retreat guest Pat Mitchell invited Dr Lucy King and Resson Kantai Duff of Ewaso Lions to speak at TEDWomen, elevating African-led conservation leadership onto an international stage.
  
• Following her participation in the 2021 retreat, Geralyn Dreyfous, co-founder of Impact Partners and founder of the Utah Film Center, committed support for the production of five documentaries filmed in Kenya focusing on social and conservation issues.
  
• Retreat guests Cristina Ljungberg and Lisa Schejola Akin went on to fund two African marine biologists through the NEWF Dive Lab program, supporting the development of African underwater filmmakers working in conservation storytelling.
  
• The generosity of retreat guests also supported sponsorship for new photographic work by renowned African cultural documentarians Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher, expanding the visual record of traditional African societies. Their work will soon be displayed in a new museum in Arusha, scheduled to open in February 2027 thanks to the extraordinary support and commitment of past guest Lisa Schejola Akin.

A Network of Influence

Amplifying African Women's Voices

These are just some examples of what happens when women convene with purpose: capital moves, programs scale, leadership expands and wildlife and communities’ benefit.

I remain steadfast in my belief that if African women rise, wildlife will thrive. What we have built together proves it.

Our next Women’s Empowerment Retreat will take place in northern Tanzania, January 10-15, 2027. If you wish to contribute meaningfully to this next chapter, we would be honored to welcome you.