Thur. April 4, 2019

Asante Africa Foundation

Local implementation teams in Kenya and Tanzania,  and globally guided Boards ( KE, TZ, USA) the Asante Africa Foundation is recognized for delivering educated resilient East African youth who can confidently address life’s challenges, thrive in the global economy, and catalyze positive change. Our youth enter into the community capable of managing obstacles and opportunities as they arise. We tackle complex system level challenges that girls, boys, and particularly vulnerable rural youth face. Our three main programs are: Girls’ Advancement, Accelerated Classroom Learning, and Youth Leadership, Job Readiness and Entrepreneurship. Foundational to all areas are Community and Parental Engagement, Teacher’s Training, and Community Reinvestment or Pay It Forward. We align and partner with government organizations at every level and have deep program activity in 4 Tanzania regions and 15 Kenya counties, with seeds planted in several additional regional counties (11 TZ | 28 KE).

About Erna Grasz

Erna Grasz co-founded Asante Africa Foundation with two visionary African women from Kenya and Tanzania. She refers to herself as a Systems Engineer turned Systems Entrepreneur for Global Impact. Originally trained as an Electrical-System Engineer, she spent her early career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and then in Silicon Valley. While spending 25 years in the Corporate world as a senior executive, she earned the reputation as a strategic leader, “organizer of chaos” and with demonstrated success in diverse industries, including medical device, defense research, and semiconductor capital equipment. In 2011 she left the corporate world to manage the organization full time. Erna brings her business savviness to the Non Profit world and is the visionary behind many of the organization’s innovative programs and practices. She has a strong belief in local staff, local partnerships and developing local talent for the long term sustainability. In 2013 Erna was the recipient of the Jefferson Award for public service. In 2014 She received a “Distinguished Engineering” Award for her Innovation in Developing Countries. In 2016 She was a HULT Prize Judge for Innovation in Urban slums ( Clinton Global Initiative).  Recently Erna received the 2018 Gratitude Network Award.