About us
A word from our President & Founder
“To whom much is given, much is expected.”
“Alone we go fast, together we go further.”
Two simple quotes that are dear to my heart.
Indeed, I am what I am today because the little boy from the village of Batié that I once was, has fought for and has been given opportunities along his way.
I will always share my wealth with the most vulnerable populations, with the youth that is eager to succeed and just need a push, with the sick that life’s could be revive with treatment, with the homeless that the stability of a shelter would turn life’s around, with the refugee that need to feel welcome to exult its potential and contribute to society.
Simply, I fully understand the misfortune and suffering that is around every single one of us. At my level, I will always do something to contribute to the betterment of lives through this Foundation I created in 2018.
This Foundation I am commited to.
This Foundation that is one of my biggest achievements.
Francis Ngannou
Created by Francis Ngannou in 2018 in Cameroon, The Francis Ngannou Foundation is also registred in the US since 2018.
The life of Francis Ngannou is a testimony of the power of giving and of the power of chaperonning. The Francis Ngannou Foundation is simply Francis’ way to show his gratitude and appreciation for all he has received from the most surprising places and people. The same way he has beneficiated from spaces and unexpected mentors that opened doors to him, his vivid desire to be a light in the lives of others in his turn has since then constantly expressed it self through the work of his Foundation.
For the past 6 years, everything The Francis Ngannou Foundation has built and accomplished accross Cameroon has been realised solely with Francis Ngannou personal funds. He intends to continue his charitable work accross Cameroon and Africa with his personal funds while also leveraging his notoriety and credibility to organise global fundraisings.
The Francis Ngannou Foundation was created to reach extremely low-income, underserved and vulnerable populations, marginalized communities, causes and geographical locations often overlooked by mainstream philanthropy in Cameroon and Africa.
Our core mission is to foster lasting change for non-disabled and disabled children, the youth and the suffering by providing them with health and education facilities as well as creating for them a sustainable environment that will empower them to unlock their potential to become the leaders of tomorrow.
Education
We strongly believe that education and science are the pillar of society and ignorance its downfall. Alleviating poverty and fostering change inevitably require educated individuals in positions to make the best conscious choices for themselves and their community has a whole. We thus strongly believe in the magic of education and science; We work hard so that every child, every youth in Cameroon can be empowered by having access and benefiting from a solid education at all levels. It should indeed not be a luxury but a norm for all to go to school, high school and even university.
Sport / Art
By creating spaces and environments where the Youth can acquire knowledge and expand its mind, we create opportunities for them to express their potential, to improve their future: pulling up many families from the poverty cycle and to nurture local as well as global peace.
Health / Mental health / Drug Addiction
We aim to strengthen the technical facilities of health services in Cameroon by providing modern heavy equipment and by building modern rural hospitals.
In a country where mental health is still very much unknown, even a taboo and sometimes associated to witchcraft, we aim to create a dialogue to educate populations on the very real existence of mental illness. By creating awareness campaigns, programmes and by building adapted clinical facilities, we want to enhance the mental health, emotional wellbeing and social inclusion of individuals on their journey to recovery.
Emergency reliefs
Even though Cameroon is one of the most stable countries in the Central Africa region, it is currently enduring a civil war in two out of its ten regions. This thus results in many scourges such as:
- Large migrations of people fleeing the armed conflict (50,000 refugees);
- Destructions of schools, hospitals, faith temples, etc;
In turn, this leads to extreme precariousness and lack of basic primary needs.
We contribute as much as we can to help these populations in great distress to have access to clean water, hygiene and sanitary, health and education.
Empowerment and integration
Fundamentally, our objective is to always empower the populations we aim to help.
We are not saviours but rather helpers. Indeed, in order to design valuable sustainable solutions, we believe it is important to respectfully work hand-to-hand with our recipient communities. The knowledge we acquire by doing so cannot be found in textbooks nor reports, it edifies us on the courses of actions to take, on how to take them, on their expected impacts and on how to keep improving them.
This does not only give a great sense of dignity to our beneficiaries; it gives them a greater sense of responsibility and strengthen their communities.
Innovation
We foster innovation or at least modernisation by working creatively with local and international experts.
We ally modernity and tradition in order to implement coherent solutions for the communities we aim to improve.
Using local resources, when possible, we find inventive ways to reach our goals. When we build a hospital or a school, we do it with viable materials from the region. This not only value local cultures and customs, it respects the integrity of local eco-systems and their environment.
Impact & Accountability
We have made mistakes in our approaches to problems before, we have even met hurdles when implementing a new programme or when digging a new building’s foundations in the ground and it is ok, we are only humans. However, we have always put accountability at the centre of our own learning process. This means that we always derive plans that translate into measurable results. Even with the best idea, if we cannot apply a measure to assess the validity of our work on the field, we will not proceed. We understand our responsibility to diligently allocate our resources in a manner that create sustainable value. Our end goal is truly to create real and long-lasting impact in the communities we touch.
Trust and transparency
Transparency or rather the lack of transparency is we believe what refrains many foreign organisations to work with and/or to allocate fundings to African countries.
We thus make transparency a key feature of our Foundation and we proud ourselves for our internal good governance processes.
We do not withstand information from our donors, to the contrary we aim to create with them real long-lasting relationships. We usually welcome any ally in the fight for better human conditions to visit our facilities and to engage with the beneficiaries that keep trusting our work.
Our Code of Conduct and Ethics
Personal and Professional Integrity
All staff, board members and volunteers of The Francis Ngannou Foundation (“Foundation”) act with honesty, integrity and openness in all their dealings as representatives of the Foundation. The Foundation promotes a working environment that values respect, fairness and integrity.
Mission
The Foundation has a clearly stated mission and purpose, approved by the Board of Directors, in pursuit of the public good. All of its programs support the mission and all who work for or on behalf of the Foundation understand and are loyal to the mission and purpose. The mission is responsive to the constituency and communities served by the Foundation and of value to the society at large.
Governance
The Foundation has an active governing body that is responsible for setting the mission and strategic direction of the Foundation and oversight of the finances, operations, and policies of the Foundation. The governing body:
- Ensures that its board members have the requisite skills and experience to carry out their duties and that all members understand and fulfill their governance duties acting for the benefit of the Foundation and its public purpose;
- Has a conflict of interest policy that ensures that any conflicts of interest or the appearance thereof are avoided or appropriately managed through disclosure, recusal or other means; and
- Is responsible for the hiring, firing, and regular review of the performance of the President General Manager, and ensures that the compensation of the chief executive officer is reasonable and appropriate;
- Ensures that the President General Manager and appropriate staff provide the governing body with timely and comprehensive information so that the governing body can effectively carry out its duties;
- Ensures that the Foundation conducts all transactions and dealings with integrity and honesty;
- Ensures that the Foundation promotes working relationships with board members, staff, volunteers, and program beneficiaries that are based on mutual respect, fairness and openness;
- Ensures that the Foundation is fair and inclusive in its hiring and promotion policies and practices for all board, staff and volunteer positions;
- Ensures that policies of the Foundation are in writing, clearly articulated and officially adopted; Ensures that the resources of the Foundation are responsibly and prudently managed; and,
- Ensures that the Foundation has the capacity to carry out its programs effectively.
Responsible Stewardship
- The Foundation manages its funds responsibly and prudently;
- The Foundation spends a reasonable percentage of its annual budget on programs in pursuance of its mission;
- The Foundation spends an adequate amount on administrative expenses to ensure effective accounting systems, internal controls, competent staff, and other expenditures critical to professional management;
- The Foundation compensates staff, and any others who may receive compensation, reasonably and appropriately;
- The Foundation prudently draws from endowment funds consistent with donor intent and to support the public purpose of the Foundation;
Openness and Disclosure
The Foundation provides comprehensive and timely information to all stakeholders and is responsive in a timely manner to reasonable requests for information. All solicitation materials accurately represent the Foundation’s policies and practices and will reflect the dignity of program beneficiaries. All financial, organizational, and program reports will be complete and accurate in all material respects.
Program Evaluation
The Foundation regularly reviews program effectiveness and has mechanisms to incorporate lessons learned into future programs. The Foundation is committed to improving program and organizational effectiveness and develops mechanisms to promote learning from its activities and the field. The Foundation is responsive to changes in its field of activity and is responsive to the needs of its constituencies.
Inclusiveness and Diversity
The Foundation has a policy of promoting inclusiveness and its staff, board and volunteers reflect diversity in order to enrich its programmatic effectiveness. The Foundation takes meaningful steps to promote inclusiveness in its hiring, retention, promotion, board recruitment and constituencies served.
Fundraising
The Foundation is truthful in their solicitation materials. The Foundation respects the privacy concerns of individual donors and expends funds consistent with donor intent. The Foundation discloses important and relevant information to potential donors.
In raising funds from the public, the Foundation respects the rights of donors, as follows:
- To be informed of the mission of the Foundation and their capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes;
- To be informed of the identity of those serving on the Foundation’s governing board and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities;
- To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given;
- To receive appropriate acknowledgement and recognition;
- To be assured that information about their donations is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by the law;
- To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature;
- To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the Foundation or hired solicitors;
- To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from lists that the Foundation may intend to share; and,
- To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.
Grantmaking Guidelines
In making grants, the Foundation respects the rights of grant seekers and grantees as follows:
- The Foundation has constructive relations with grant seekers based on mutual respect and shared goals;
- The Foundation communicates clearly and on a timely basis with potential grantees;
- The Foundation treats grant seekers and grantees fairly and with respect;
- The Foundation respects the expertise of grant seekers in their fields of knowledge;
- The Foundation seeks to understand and respect the organizational capacity and needs of grant seeking organizations; and,
- The Foundation respects the integrity of the mission of grant seeking organizations.