About Us

About us

A2Empowerment is a non-profit company dedicated to empowering women through education. Since its founding in 2008, the company has awarded over 150 educational scholarships to young women in Cameroon. Recipients are chosen based on need and merit, with a priority placed on selecting girls in the later years of high school when they are at a higher risk of dropping out. This year approximately $65 USD will cover tuition, fees and books for a year of school. All company overhead costs have been covered by the company co- founders, so the full amount of all donations is put towards scholarships. The project is set up as a Peace Corps Partnership Project, so all funding is strictly monitored by the Peace Corps and A2Empowerment.

In 2011, a total of 59 recipients have been selected in the North, North West and Adamaoua regions of Cameroon. A2Empowerment coordinates this process with Peace Corps Volunteers. Scholarship recipients are expected to report on their progress to Peace Corps Volunteers and meet monthly with the other recipients in their area. In addition, the recipients serve as role models by volunteering to tutor younger students as part of the Community Contribution required for all Peace Corps Partnership Projects.

We plan to continue and improve this program in 2012, sustaining support for current recipients who qualify and expanding the program to additional students.

Our history

A2Empowerment, Inc. was founded in 2008 by Anne Cheung and Anne Rapin in order to improve the lives of girls and women in underdeveloped parts of the world. Anne Rapin's experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon compelled both women to act.

A2Empowerment co-founders contacted the Peace Corps in Cameroon in 2007 with an interest in developing a need and merit-based scholarship project for young women, focusing on girls who have dropped out or are at a high risk of dropping out of school. The project proposal was embraced by the Peace Corps and developed by A2Empowerment co-founders along with Peace Corps Volunteers in Cameroon. The project started in the Adamoua region of Cameroon and expanded to the North and North West regions in 2010. The expansion was prompted by Peace Corps Volunteers who witnessed the success of the project in Adamaoua.

Selecting scholarship recipients

The process of selection and awarding recipients has evolved and improved since it began. Currently, the process begins in January when participating Peace Corps Volunteers publicize the scholarships in schools and their community. Completed applications, which include a questionnaire, a report card and an optional recommendation letter, are submitted to A2Empowerment by the due date in March.

Applications are reviewed and rated by the A2Empowerment co-founders. Recipients are selected based on the written responses on their application, school performance and recommendations. Peace Corps Volunteers are informed of the recipients in early May and sent an A2Empowerment certificate to award each young woman.

A2Empowerment then coordinates with one Peace Corps Volunteer from each participating region to write a Peace Corps Partnership Project proposal. Once the project is accepted by Peace Corp officials, funds are paid though the Peace Corps website by A2Empowerment. The Peace Corps transferrs the money to the regional Peace Corps Volunteer contact in Cameroon and funds are distributed by that volunteer to the participating Peace Corps Volunteers in their region. Those volunteers then pay the tuition, fees and school supplies for each girl, up to the amount of 30,000 CFA. Receipts for all payments are collected and monitored by Peace Corps and A2Empowerment.

Funding for scholarships

Funding for all scholarships is raised through donations solicited by the A2Empowerment Board of Directors participating in bike rides, marathons and other organized events. On June 18th, 2011, A2Empowerment held its first benefit in the Boston area featuring Boston's only all-women swing orchestra, The Mood Swings.

The total amount of all donations to date have gone toward scholarships, as conservative overhead costs are maintained to allow full coverage by A2Empowerment co-founders.

Board of Directors

Anne Cheung holds a Master of Science degree in Biochemisty and currently works in the research department of a biotechnology company in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Anne Rapin served as a Peace Corps science education volunteer in Binka, Cameroon, in 2004 and 2005. She holds a Master of Public Health degree, with a focus on international health and development, from Tulane University and currently works on an epidemiologic study for the City of New York.

Thomas Landers, Jr. is a Certified Public Accountant and currently practices at an accounting firm in Buffalo, New York.

Man Ching Cheung holds a doctorate degree in neuroscience from Tufts University Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Science and currently works as a research scientist in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University.

Ndange Rudolf Ngirishi is a resident of Cameroon and works as an elementary school teacher near Bamenda, Cameroon.