The year 2024 marked the five-year anniversary of the World Education Services (WES) Mariam Assefa Fund. WES launched the Fund in 2019 with $US30 million in seed funding and a desire to deepen the organization’s impact through meaningful investment and philanthropy. The goal was to direct capital to often underfunded refugee- and immigrant-serving and -led organizations, to shift power, and to drive systems change through catalytic investment.
The Fund has spent the last five years growing a community of over 200 grantee partners in the U.S. and Canada that are building power for workers, advancing economic opportunity for individuals, and directing wealth to communities that are traditionally overlooked by investors and grant-makers.
This report shares the progress made in the last five years, highlighting the impact of the Fund’s grantee partners and the lessons learned in building a trust-based philanthropy that seeks to advance inclusive workplaces and communities, equitable economies, and opportunities for all.
