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Demand for the GSGC model continues to grow in Southern Africa. More parents are asking Mentors to open more doors for their daughters and sons. The need and demand for such leadership speak to our model’s effectiveness and the trust GSGC has earned in the region.

The success also has meant our volunteer Board and supporters are stretched thin. To leverage our investment and amplify our impact, the Board decided last year that the time was right to ask for help.

During many of the lockdown months, GSGC’s US-based team scoured the country looking for a philanthropic organization that would appreciate our unique approach, our deep history and our scrappy spirit. When the research was done, we submitted our first-ever grant application to the Vancouver, Washington-based MJ Murdock Charitable Trust, a hometown organization whose philosophy and values align closely with ours.

Early this year, Murdock awarded GSGC a three-year, $145,000 grant to hire an executive director. Needless to say, we’re thrilled and grateful for the faith and confidence the Trust has put in us.

We are equally delighted to announce that Paul G. Ventura of Vancouver has recently agreed to be our first executive director. Paul comes to GSGC with 40 years experience as an executive director, board member, consultant and volunteer with nonprofits and international nongovernmental organizations. He has managed budgets up to $5 million and grants of more than $300,000, and he is an experienced fundraiser. He has worked in nine countries in Africa, Asia and South and Central America. He will report to the Board.

For the past several months, Paul has volunteered his time working with GSGC Mentors. “At this stage of my career, building the capacity of others is paramount for me,” he told the search committee.

We are thankful Paul will be helping us build our capacity.

While the pandemic ravaged the world — and deepened challenges of poverty, health care access and racism — our GSGC community thrived. Supporters became an even stronger bulwark for Mentors leading GSGC-sponsored clubs, and Mentors met each day with strength, creativity and perseverance, providing stability and hope to the young people we serve in Southern Africa.

The upheaval of the year brought into even sharper focus what GSGC is all about. Our organization has endured this tough time because our network and donors continued to adhere to our long-held values of community, justice and empowerment. Mentors, donors and volunteers have supported one another year after year, whether down the road or across oceans, and continued to grow our impact. Learn more in our 2020 Annual Report.

At once curious, creative and compassionate, Dr. Tabitha Finch is a Wunderkind when it comes to sizing up the bigger picture, identifying needs and working collaboratively to meet those needs. Throughout her life, she has been firmly grounded in community, including our GSGC community.

In A Conversation with Dr. Tabitha Finch: Part 2, learn how Tabitha blended her love of science, education and Africa during her stint as Manager of Conservation Education at the Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust in northern Zambia.

Mentor Fwilane Janery (left) of Project Luangwa, Mfuwe, Zambia, and Mentor Racheal Musonda Ng’andu (right) of Believe Club, Livingstone, Zambia, recently scored their vaccinations against COVID-19. Hope and health are returning.