About us
A2Empowerment is a nonprofit company dedicated to empowering women through education. Since its founding in 2008, the company has awarded over 2,100 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 $80 USD will cover tuition, fees and supplies for a year of school.
A2Empowerment works with Cameroonian Partners to identify applicants, award scholarships and mentor recipients. Scholarship recipients are expected to meet monthly with their mentors and other scholarship recipients, who are clustered in their area, to report on their academic progress and discuss topics like health and wellness. In addition, scholarship recipients serve as role models by volunteering in their communities. Community projects have included tutoring younger students, painting a world map mural in their community or presenting to classmates on health-related issues.
We plan to continue and improve this program, 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. 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 Adamaoua region of Cameroon and has since expanded to include several regions.
In recent years, A2Empowerment improved sustainability by working with trusted Cameroonian Partners as mentors. We have also enlisted the help of A2Empowerment Alumni to improve training, mentoring, monitoring and evaluation moving forward.
Our Growth
A2Empowerment has expanded to award more than 2,000 scholarships across Cameroon since 2008.
YEAR NUMBER OF SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS REGION(S) OF CAMEROON 2008 17 Adamaoua 2009 27 Adamaoua 2010 47 Adamaoua, North, Northwest 2011 57 Adamaoua, North, Northwest 2012 60 Adamaoua, Extreme North, Littoral, North, Northwest, West 2013 99 Adamaoua, East, Extreme North, Littoral, North, Northwest, West 2014 217 Adamaoua, East, Extreme North, North, Northwest, Southwest, West 2015 227 Adamaoua, Center, East, Extreme North, North, Northwest, South, West 2016 234 Adamaoua, Center, East, Extreme North*, Northwest, Southwest, West 2017 263 Adamaoua, Center, East, Extreme North*, Northwest, West 2018 483 Adamaoua, Center, East, Extreme North*, Northwest, West, South 2019 86 Adamaoua*, East*, West* 2020 102 Adamaoua*, East*, West* 2021 105 Adamaoua*, East*, NorthWest*, West* 2022 103 Adamaoua*, East*, NorthWest*, West* * Project(s) mentored by Cameroonian Partner(s)
Selecting scholarship recipients
The process of selection and awarding recipients has evolved and improved since it began. Currently, the process starts in January when participating Cameroonian Partner mentors 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 A2Empowerment board member(s). Recipients are selected based on the ranking of written responses on their application, school performance and recommendations. Mentors are informed of the recipients in early June and emailed an A2Empowerment certificate to award each young woman. Contracts outlining expectations are signed by scholarship recipients and her main guardian.
A2Empowerment then coordinates with mentors to complete payments for school tuition, fees and supplies. Receipts for all payments are collected and monitored by A2Empowerment.
Funding for scholarships
Funding for all scholarships is raised through individual donations solicited by the A2Empowerment Board of Directors and volunteers participating in bike rides, marathons and other organized events. Major fundraisers have included 2011 and 2014 performances by Boston's only all-women swing orchestra, The Mood Swings, and participation in the Cause + Event 5K race.
Board of Directors
Anne Cheung holds a Master of Science degree in Biochemisty from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and completed the Institute for Nonprofit Practice Core Certificate program for nonprofit leaders in 2020. She has worked in the biotechnology industry for over 20 years. (Video)
Anne Rapin served as a Peace Corps 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. She has worked as a program manager serving internally displaced people in the automomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq and currently holds a position at USAID (Career Newsletter)
Sonbobgah Guillaume Chungong has served as an A2Empowerment mentor since 2019. He is a youth development officer in Bangourain, Cameroon.
Ryan Mitchell holds a graduate degree in International Development and Social Change from Clark University. He has a background in fundraising and has been volunteering for A2Empowerment since 2015.
Kengne Takou Vanelle is an A2Empowerment high school scholarship alumni currently studying Journalism and Mass Communication at the Chandigarh Group of Colleges, Jhanjeri, India. Once she receives her university degree, she hopes to pursue a journalism career.
Honorary Board of Directors
Website designed by Man Ching Cheung. Logo designed by Jeff Biesinger and Man Ching Cheung. All rights reserved (2010).