Our Beliefs
Mission
Accountability
Leadership

Leadership

EdPowerment Inc. is a social outreach organization formed by a group of volunteers who worked with impoverished young people in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania, and their supportive colleagues in the U.S.

	Moira G. Madonia holds a Bachelor's degree in English and history, a Master’s degree in International Management, and a Secondary Education Teaching Certificate.  She has combined careers in business, financial writing and conference programming, and secondary education. In 2009, Ms. Madonia travelled to Tanzania to teach in a rural village setting. While there she experienced first-hand both a desire and a need for education at its most basic level. After returning to the U.S., Ms. Madonia collaborated with like-minded volunteers, and Tanzanian community leaders, schools and organizations to develop EdPowerment Inc. She has continued to teach high school in the U.S. while traveling to Tanzania during vacations. Because of EdPowerment's marked growth in just two years, she will be leaving her teaching position in July 2012 to focus on EdPowerment's work in the community of Moshi and to secure avenues of financial support in the U.S.
	Kerri Elliott and Jillian Swinford met each other as special education teachers at the Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School in Chicago. They first volunteered in the Kilimanjaro region in the summer of 2008 and have continued their involvement with this population. In the summer of 2009 they returned with textbooks and other supplies to support the Kilimahewa Educational Centre (KIWOCE) in Moshi. In the summer of 2010 they organized the first Autism workshop in the region. Most recently Jillian completed her M.A.T. in Art Education at Columbia College, Chicago. In July 2011, Kerri, a teacher at Antioch Community High School, received the Peace and International Understanding Award from the National Education Association. Both women remain committed to developing this Centre and to creating a pilot program of support for autistic and other special needs individuals in Tanzania.
	Grace Lyimo (Mama Grace) acts as the Director of EdPowerment Inc.'s initiatives in the Moshi and Arusha areas of Tanzania. For years she has been an advocate for impoverished families and those struggling with disabilities in Kilimahewa and the surrounding villages. She has held administrative positions for a leading international volunteer organization and for the Peace Corps in the region. Mama Grace, who has degrees in nursing, midwifery and public health, is directly responsible for organizing Autism Connects Tanzania, EdPowerment's program to reach out to autistic children and their families who currently have little or no support services in this country.