• I was 20 when I first came to Tanzania, inspired by Jane Goodall. I fell in love with the country & after completing my Masters of Social Work from Columbia University, lived there for 10 years. Leaving was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done & I miss it everyday.

• All three of my children were born in Tanzania & each of their first language was Kiswahili.

• I remember cringing when I saw volunteers roll up to NGOs to ‘educate the community’ & thought this could be so much better. When I came to Tanzania I designed my own program because I couldn’t find the right one for me.

•  I love gift giving so here’s a free 30 minute call to help you plan an impact project that aligns your unique story, skill & passion!

Do you also love pushing the boundaries, exploring new places & partnering with women changing the world? Awesome. We’ll get along great.   

A little birdie told me that you may have some Qs. Let’s see how I can help to get you going.  

What exactly is a Volunteer Fellowship?

We don’t want to give you an experience where you jump into a generic project that is unrelated to your skills and goals with hundreds of other volunteers. We select a small group of accomplished changemakers to work with in our 1-month virtual program.

 Fellows build knowledge on international development, social entrepreneurship, Tanzanian culture, and project development. Additionally, Fellows measure their project impact, present to international stakeholders and learn how to best share their projects in college applications, interviews & essays.

Fellows are then invited to a one-week Volunteer Residency in Tanzania where you’ll take part in a Global Impact Conference while exploring Tanzania or South Africa. Check out more about the program details!

So Lauren, what’s up with the tree? What are we trying to grow?

So I’m not gonna lie, I shamelessly love trees (especially the Baobab in Tanzania). But on the real my answer has always been the same: we are growing ourselves.  

The roots are where you find what you’re passionate about

The trunk is where you grow your unique skills

&  the branches are where your share that gift with others

So that you can your unique strengths can transform the world for the better

I want to do something meaningful but am afraid of ‘spammy’ projects that are fake or unethical.  How do you prevent those?

Ohhhh do we hear you. We don’t run unsustainable & minimal impact projects that make the NGOs dependent on us or the volunteers, because that’s not our style (& it’s unethical).

 We pay women led NGOs to work with you and house each of the impact projects in an online library so that even after your Fellowship, the impact project can be used to make a difference in our partner network.

Curious about our impact model? Check out Our Impact

What experience do you have running ethical impact projects?

Instead of operating in a lot of countries, we’re proud that we work exclusively in Tanzania and offer 10 years personally living and volunteering there. Our team has a unique combination of skills and background in international development, social work & disability activism in Tanzania. We know the country as our own and design everything with that in mind.

So What’s Next?

I don’t want you to have a once in a lifetime experience. I want you to have a great experience that you can take with you, for the rest of your life.

You don’t want to wait and ask yourself…Who could I have been if I had lived life on my own terms?  What would I have done? Where would I have gone?

I want you to look back and say…yea I did that.

I can’t wait to meet you as we begin this adventure together.

With love,

Lauren 

Ps. You can also get more insider moments from us on the gram