The Foundation For Tomorrow
Helping Vulnerable Children in Tanzania
In 2004, Meghann Gunderman Sehorn was volunteering at an orphanage in Tanzania. She met triplets who were orphaned shortly after their birth. Meghann saw how hard the orphanage was working to care for the triplets as well as the other children in the facility. But she was disheartened to learn that their resources ran out for children over the age of five, especially devastating in a country with more than one million orphaned and vulnerable children.
The Foundation for Tomorrow is based in Tanzania with a support office in Charlotte. Over the last 20 years, TFFT has supported children and teachers across Tanzania through scholarships and teacher training programs.
Meghann came home and shortly after left her job at a New York investment bank and began raising money so the children who had captured her heart could go to school. What started as a desire to help these children has grown into an organization committed to investing in children through the power of education. Over the last 20 years, The Foundation For Tomorrow (TFFT) has supported more than 200 children and trained 4,500 teachers across Tanzania who have reached more than 176,000 students in classrooms.
Miller Bianucci, TFFT executive director, was volunteering at the same children's home two years after Meghann was there. She met some TFFT employees and knew she wanted to stay involved. “That trip shaped everything in my life,” Miller says. She went on to earn a master’s degree in African Studies and Comparative and International Education and joined the TFFT staff seven years ago.
TFFT supports students in Tanzania from pre-kindergarten through graduation and the start of their careers.
She explains how the mission of TFFT has expanded, "We started as a scholarship program and quickly learned that a scholarship on its own does not carry a child through 12 years of school. Fees get a child through the gate. Thriving throughout school takes teachers who know how to teach. It takes health care when students are sick. It takes someone who is invested in them, and follows up when they waver. It takes guardians who are part of the work rather than on the receiving end of it. That is why we widened what we do, and why we call it the Whole Child Approach."
Evelyne Kaijage is The Foundation For Tomorrow’s Training and Skills Coordinator in Tanzania. She credits TFFT’s holistic approach and hands-on commitment to the organization’s success.
Today there are three core TFFT programs:
The Scholarship Program – A central tenet of TFFT’s work is that success looks different for each student, and they use a Whole Child Approach to take into account the diverse ways individuals learn and grow. TFFT supports students from their entry into its educational program in pre-kindergarten, to their graduations from secondary school, and to the start of their careers. TFFT provides for students’ varying needs through their health and psychosocial program, career coaching and mentoring program, and alumni development program. TFFT's wrap-around programs are designed to address the holistic needs of each student, ensuring they are healthy and well-prepared as they navigate their educational paths and transition into adulthood. There are currently 100 scholars in the program.
The Teacher Training Program works with teachers and school leaders in both private and government schools. It includes training workshops, lesson plan coaching, resource creation, a bi-annual teacher training convention, a newsletter written for teachers by teachers, and a Teacher of Distinction award recognizing outstanding educators.
The Learning Centre is TFFT’s newest and most ambitious undertaking. It houses six community resources under one roof: the Lenore Madden Library, a free lending library of 50,000 volumes; a Literacy Lab; a Teacher Training and Resource Centre; a Technology and Computer Training Centre; a Higher Education Advisory and Scholarship Centre; and an NGO and Social Entrepreneurship Incubator. It is designed to serve a surrounding community of roughly 500,000 people, which is a much larger group than TFFT has reached directly before.
Miller points out that TFFT’s work happens in Tanzania, led by Tanzanians. Evelyne Kaijage, TFFT’s training and skills coordinator, says, “What makes TFFT truly different from other organizations is our holistic approach and our deep, hands-on commitment to creating real, lasting change. We focus not only on the child but also on the community, teachers, and parents, because we understand that a child's success depends on the strength of their entire support system. We don't just put children in school; we equip them with what they need to thrive. Our scholars receive allowances, uniforms, health insurance, school supplies, tutoring, psychosocial support, and mentoring. The difference we make is tangible. I get to lead alongside an incredible team of passionate, dedicated people in Tanzania. Together, we are not only changing lives, but we are also shaping the future of our nation."
The Teacher Training Program works with teachers in private and government schools in Tanzania. More than 4,500 teachers have gone through the training and reached more than 176,000 students in classrooms.
TowneBank is honored to partner with TFFT. “TowneBank has been our bank for years, through every chapter of our growth,” Miller says. “We started as a small organization run out of Charlotte. We are now working across two countries, with a national NGO registration in Tanzania, an international NGO registration, and a Learning Centre serving a community of half a million people. Every one of those steps brought new financial complexity with it, and we made every one of them as a small team. Having a banking partner who stayed with us through all of that, and who understood what we were building rather than just what size we were, made a real difference. Small nonprofits do not always get treated as serious institutions. With TowneBank, we can put our attention where it belongs – on the children and teachers we work with in Tanzania.”
The Foundation For Tomorrow’s Learning Centre is the organization’s newest and most ambitious project. It houses six community resources under one roof including a library, a literacy lab, a teacher training center, and a computer training center.
TFFT can use help in a variety of ways. Their annual fundraiser is the South of the Sahara Gala, held on November 7 this year at The Casey in Charlotte. Team TFFT is one of the organization’s fundraising arms that has spots in major global marathons and hosts Mount Kilimanjaro climbs. “Come on a vision trip in Tanzania,” Miller says. “We host one every year and anyone is welcome to join us to see our work firsthand. You can also be an ambassador and introduce us to someone who might care about this work or volunteer your time and professional skills.”
For more information, visit TheFoundationForTomorrow.org.