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Higherlife Foundation

Website:

www.higherlifefoundation.com/
Type:

African Grantmaking Organization
Formation:

1996
Founders:

Strive Masiyiwa

Tsitsi Masiyiwa
Headquarters:

Westgate
Location:

Harare, Zimbabwe

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The Higherlife Foundation is an African-based private grantmaking foundation that prioritizes funding educational projects and scholarships for African children, including the Capernaum scholarship, which focuses on orphaned and disadvantaged children in Zimbabwe, and the Joshua Nkomo scholarship, which focuses on students that have performed exceptionally well on examinations. 1 2

The foundation’s founders, Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa, also founded Delta Philanthropies, a Zimbabwe-based nonprofit organization that provides social services, takes a liberal stance on gender issues, and advocates environmentalism. 3 4 5

Strive Masiyiwa also sits on the board of directors of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation and the global advisory board of the Council on Foreign Relations. 6 7

Background

The Higherlife Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation based in Africa, founded in 1996 by Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa. The foundation provides funding to projects relating to education, healthcare, disaster relief, and agricultural advancement in Africa. 8 9 10 11

Grantmaking

The Higherlife Foundation prioritizes funding educational projects and scholarships for African children, including the Capernaum scholarship, which focuses on orphaned and disadvantaged children in Zimbabwe, and the Joshua Nkomo scholarship, which focuses on students that have performed exceptionally well on examinations. The organization also created a $6.4 million scholarship fund, which sends African students to Morehouse College in the United States, in 2013. 12 13

The organization launched a $100 million scholarship for junior and senior doctors in 2019. The “medical training completion fellowship” applied to junior and senior doctors who were in full-time employment at Zimbabwe’s public teaching hospitals. 14

Affiliated Organizations

The Higherlife Foundation is the implementation partner of Delta Philanthropies, a Zimbabwe-based nonprofit organization that provides social services, takes a liberal stance on gender issues, and advocates in favor of environmentalism. Delta Philanthropies was also founded by Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa and is a registered charity in the United Kingdom. 15 16 17

People

Strive Masiyiwa is the executive chairman of the South Africa-based telecommunications company Econet Group, and Cassava Technologies. He was appointed to serve as an African Union Special Envoy in May 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in this role, heads the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team. Alongside his wife, Tsitsi, Strive Masiyiwa is a co-founder of Delta Philanthropies. 18

Strive Masiyiwa sits on the board of directors for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a left-of-center private grantmaking foundation that held nearly $55 billion in assets as of year-end 2021. He also sits on the board of directors for the Rockefeller Foundation, the global advisory board of the Council on Foreign Relations, the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Board for Sustainable Energy, and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s Humanitarian Prize Jury. 19 20 21

Tsitsi Masiyiwa is a co-founder of Delta Philanthropies and founding board member and current board chair of the African Philanthropy Forum. She is also a trustee of The End Fund, a private international health organization that aims to end the most common neglected tropical diseases (NTD). 22

Tsitsi Masiyiwa is also a trustee of the Legatum Institute and UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited initiative. 23

She is the founder of the African Gender Initiative, a grantmaking project of the African Philanthropy Forum founded in 2022 to raise $50 million over ten years to support the Africa-focused efforts of the Co-Impact Gender Fund, an international $1 billion initiative that plans to fund women’s-interest groups and services in Africa, Asia, and Latin America over ten years. 24

References

  1. “Education – Higher Life Foundation.” Accessed June 5, 2023. https://www.higherlifefoundation.com/education/.
  2. “Higherlife Foundation.” Points of Light. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://www.pointsoflight.gov.uk/higherlife-foundation/.
  3. “Delta Philanthropies.” Accessed June 5, 2023. https://deltaphilanthropies.org/.
  4. “Who we are – Delta Philanthropies.” Accessed June 5, 2023. https://deltaphilanthropies.org/who-weare/.
  5. “DELTA PHILANTHROPIES – Charity 1178335.” The Charity Commission. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/5108991/charity-overview.
  6. “Strive Masiyiwa.” Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/leadership/strive-masiyiwa.
  7. “About Us – Higher Life Foundation.” Accessed June 5, 2023. https://www.higherlifefoundation.com/about-us/.
  8. “Health – Higher Life Foundation.” Accessed June 5, 2023. https://www.higherlifefoundation.com/higherlife-health/.
  9. “About Us – Higher Life Foundation.” Accessed June 5, 2023. https://www.higherlifefoundation.com/about-us/.
  10. “Disaster Relief and Preparedness – Higher Life Foundation.” Accessed June 5, 2023. https://www.higherlifefoundation.com/drp/.
  11. “Rural Transformation and Sustainable livelihoods – Higher Life Foundation.” Accessed June 5, 2023. https://www.higherlifefoundation.com/rtsl/.
  12. “Education – Higher Life Foundation.” Accessed June 5, 2023. https://www.higherlifefoundation.com/education/.
  13. “Higherlife Foundation.” Points of Light. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://www.pointsoflight.gov.uk/higherlife-foundation/.
  14. Writer, Staff. “Strive Masiyiwa’s Foundation Announces $100 Million Scholarship Fund For Doctors.” Techzim. November 27, 2019. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://www.techzim.co.zw/2019/11/strive-masiyiwas-foundation-announces-100-million-scholarship-fund-for-doctors/.
  15. “Delta Philanthropies.” Accessed June 5, 2023. https://deltaphilanthropies.org/.
  16. “Who we are – Delta Philanthropies.” Accessed June 5, 2023. https://deltaphilanthropies.org/who-weare/.
  17. “DELTA PHILANTHROPIES – Charity 1178335.” The Charity Commission. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/5108991/charity-overview.
  18.  “Strive Masiyiwa.” Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Accessed June 26, 2023. https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/leadership/strive-masiyiwa.
  19. “Strive Masiyiwa.” Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/leadership/strive-masiyiwa.
  20. “About Us – Higher Life Foundation.” Accessed June 5, 2023. https://www.higherlifefoundation.com/about-us/.
  21. November 3, 2022. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2022/11/gates-foundation-2021-form-990.pdf.
  22. “Tsitsi Masiyiwa.” The END Fund. February 21, 2018. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://end.org/team/tsitsi-masiyiwa/.
  23. “Tsitsi Masiyiwa.” The END Fund. February 21, 2018. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://end.org/team/tsitsi-masiyiwa/.
  24. [1] Quartz. “Tsitsi Masiyiwa is putting her millions into reducing Africa’s gender gap.” January 20, 2023. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://qz.com/tsitsi-masiyiwa-is-putting-her-millions-into-reducing-a-1849999988.
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