MWEMBE
Empower | Educate | Enable
Mwembe is on a mission to empower, educate and enable vulnerable women & children living in East Africa. We achieve this by partnering with local grassroots organisations who offer a range of education, entrepreneurship and micro-financing initiatives. Through these partnerships, we can help make a huge difference in local African communities.
Mwembe is registered with the Australian Charities & Not-For-Profits Commission (ACNC) and is run and governed by a team of dedicated volunteers with a wide range of skills and experiences.
AFRICAN EDUCATION STATISTICS
The driver behind our focus on education
61%
of Ethiopian women with no schooling have a child before turning 20 compared to 16% of women with 8 years of schooling
LOCAL PARTNERS
ST GEORGE'S SCHOOL
Ethiopia
St. George's School is using the power of education to transform the lives of some of the world's poorest children. Opened in 2014, St George's provides a high-quality education, healthcare and two meals a day to more than 450 Ethiopia children.
Our partnership with St George's, and their governing body - Northwood African Education Foundation, enables our community to make a real difference in the world by sponsoring a disadvantaged student through school.
WOMEN FOR WOMEN IN AFRICA
Kenya
Women For Women In Africa works with the women and children of Kibera, East Africa’s largest slum and one of the largest in the world, by providing education and resources to enable them to live a life of dignity, happiness and hope for the future.
Our partnership with Women For Women in Africa, enables our community to make a real difference in the world by sponsoring disadvantaged students through school and donating to fund important entrepreneurship and micro-financing opportunities for women.
SPONSOR A STUDENT
Make a huge impact in the fight against poverty by sponsoring a student through school today...
Want to know more about sponsorship? Read our Sponsorship FAQ.
If you cannot afford a full sponsorship, why not ask a friend to split a sponsorship. To sign-up for this option, click here.
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
Nelson Mandela
MEET YOUR SPONSOR STUDENT
with Adventure Out Loud
Our partnership with Adventure Out Loud provides you with the unique opportunity to visit the charities we support and meet the student you are sponsoring so you can see first-hand the impact you are having.
Adventure Out Loud is an African adventure specialist on a mission to make a difference in the world by donating 50% of their profits to keep disadvantaged students in school. To find out more, visit their website.
MEET THE TEAM
NATE TAIAROA
Chairperson
Nate is an experienced Chartered Accountant and entrepreneur with a passion for finding innovative ways to make the world a better place. With more than 15 years’ experience at Ernst & Young, as an entrepreneur and as a not-for-profit finance advisor. Nate is active on a number of local and international not-for-profit boards, most notably acting as the Treasurer for the Mirror of Hope C.B.O. in Kenya from 2015 – 2020.
Since 2008, Nate has spent a most of his time travelling, living, volunteering and guiding across Africa. Nate is also the founder of Adventure Out Loud, an African travel specialist on a mission to make a difference in the world by donating 50% of their profits to keep disadvantaged children in school. Nate currently sponsors at the School of St Jude, St George's School & the Mirror of Hope.
MURRAY WEGNER
Secretary
Murray is a retired secondary school Principal with a passion for providing a diverse and inclusive curriculum to keep at risk students in education. His post graduate thesis examined the transition from school to work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males.
Murray has been a member of Lions International (motto “We Serve”) since 1980 and is currently a District Chair of the Youth of the Year Quest. He has been active in Queensland Freemasonry since 1987 and he is also a Board Member of The Australian Institute of Country Music. Murray is a Life Member of Wide Bay School Sport is a keen walker, having traversed Mont Blanc and summited Mt Kilimanjaro. Murray and his wife Maxine currently sponsor a student at the School of St Jude, Tanzania.
ANDREW PARTOS
Treasurer
Andrew is an experienced professional with a demonstrated history of working in the architecture, development & planning industry. Skilled in sustainable development, urban design, creative brief writing, feasibility studies, city revitalisation and mixed-use projects, Andrew is an award winning urban designer, architect and landscape architect with over 25 years’ experience. He is also the founding director of Mwembe.
He has worked in sustainable development for over ten years, with client responsibility for some of Australia’s most innovative projects, including the award winning Government Services Building and Lonsdale Street redevelopments in Dandenong and the Meridian 'productive landscape' community in South Dandenong, His projects include numerous precincts at Melbourne Docklands and infill projects throughout metropolitan Melbourne. Recent projects include a sustainable mine village in Balama, Mozambique with its associated community outreach program, and cluster village projects in Taradale and Malmsbury in central Victoria. Andrew regularly appears as an urban design expert witness at VCAT.
Valerie Simons
Board Member
Valerie is incredibly passionate about helping others, specifically empowering children through education. Valerie has been an active member of the Rotary Club of Paddington since 2017, and has been the PR director and a Board member since July 2019. Valerie is also active with a number of other Australian and international charities.
Valerie’s career has been in sales and finance in the automotive industry for the last 18 years, but her passion is for making a difference. She also loves photography, nature, and travelling. One of Valerie's favourite things is to combine travel with charity visits and work while on a trip. From Nepal to Burkina Faso, Kenya, Tanzania and Cambodia, Valerie has gained experience and knowledge meeting communities and spending time with the people who call these countries home.
Valerie currently sponsors 2 boys, one at the School of St Jude and one at the Mirror of Hope. She has met both of her sponsor students and she loves witnessing the difference education is making in their lives, and in the lives of their families.
GET IN TOUCH
Want to know more about what we do or have questions, give us a shout...