Press Release: Camfed founder receives top award from Schwab Foundation

For Immediate Release

Contact: Kimberley Sevcik
Phone: 415-979-1556
Email: pr@camfed.org

Camfed founder Ann Cotton receives top award from the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship

Founder Heads Leading Organization Supporting Girls’ Education and Economic Empowerment in Africa

San Francisco, CA (January 10, 2008) — Camfed founder Ann Cotton has been selected from a pool of international candidates as one of five Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs for 2007 by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, a sister organization of the World Economic Forum.

“It is now common knowledge that investing in girl’s education is one of the most powerful antidotes to poverty,” said Dr. Pamela Hartigan, Managing Director of the Schwab Foundation. “However, very few organizations have been able to put in place a locally driven, integrated life-span approach that not only educates rural girls, but also, once they graduate, provides them with opportunities to apply their talents and education through full employment in their own communities. Camfed stands out as a beacon in that regard.”

Ann Cotton joins a community of the world’s most accomplished entrepreneurs whose work focuses on the creation of public good –a community that learns from and supports one another on global advancement.

“It is a great honor to receive the Schwab Foundation Award,” said Ann Cotton, founder and executive director of Camfed International. “It will give Camfed the opportunity to bring the injustice of girls’ exclusion from education in Africa to the attention of a global audience, and connect me to a new well of creativity and expertise among the Schwab social entrepreneurs.”

The Schwab Foundation was created for the purpose of promoting social innovation. The Foundation provides unparalleled platforms at the country, regional and global levels that highlight social entrepreneurship as a key element in advancing societies and addressing social problems in an innovative and sustainable way.

The rigorous selection process examines the candidate’s innovation and his or her interest in building a global network. Candidates’ initiatives are also evaluated for their sustainability, their direct positive social impact, and their potential to be adapted beyond their initial context.

About Camfed

Camfed is dedicated to fighting poverty and AIDS in rural communities in Africa by educating girls and creating professional and economic opportunities for young women. Camfed began in 1993 by supporting 32 girls in rural Zimbabwe. In 2006, 300,900 children benefited from Camfed’s program of educational support in some of the poorest regions of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana and Tanzania.