About Us
Partnering to build a world where all Women, and girls are cared for not abandoned.
At Ashake Foundation, we believe that when women rise, communities rise with them. We are a women-led nonprofit dedicated to giving underserved women, widows, and girls across Nigeria the chance to dream bigger, live with dignity, and create brighter futures for themselves and their families.
Founded on the simple but powerful belief that every woman deserves the opportunity to thrive, we provide skills, support, and safe spaces that help women and girls break free from cycles of poverty. Through our programs, they gain confidence, learn practical skills, access micro-support to grow businesses, and find the strength to lead change within their communities.
Why We Exist
Our mission is clear: to open doors of opportunity for women and girls through education, vocational training, mentorship, and economic empowerment. Alongside this, we champion women’s rights, gender equality, and inclusive development—because lasting change happens when women’s voices are heard and valued.
Since our beginning, we have touched the lives of widows, single mothers, young girls, and vulnerable families. From skill acquisition programs and interest-free microloans, to menstrual health interventions, leadership development, and community advocacy, our impact continues to grow. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 1: No Poverty and SDG 5: Gender Equality), we work to ensure that no woman or girl is left behind.
Partnering to build a world where all Women, and girls are cared for not abandoned.
At Ashake Foundation, we believe that when women rise, communities rise with them. We are a women-led nonprofit dedicated to giving underserved women, widows, and girls across Nigeria the chance to dream bigger, live with dignity, and create brighter futures for themselves and their families.
Founded on the simple but powerful belief that every woman deserves the opportunity to thrive, we provide skills, support, and safe spaces that help women and girls break free from cycles of poverty. Through our programs, they gain confidence, learn practical skills, access micro-support to grow businesses, and find the strength to lead change within their communities.
Why We Exist
Our mission is clear: to open doors of opportunity for women and girls through education, vocational training, mentorship, and economic empowerment. Alongside this, we champion women’s rights, gender equality, and inclusive development—because lasting change happens when women’s voices are heard and valued.
Since our beginning, we have touched the lives of widows, single mothers, young girls, and vulnerable families. From skill acquisition programs and interest-free microloans, to menstrual health interventions, leadership development, and community advocacy, our impact continues to grow. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 1: No Poverty and SDG 5: Gender Equality), we work to ensure that no woman or girl is left behind.
It was against this backdrop that Ashake Foundation was founded on December 15, 2013—a response of compassion and action. We exist to empower widows and protect their children, offering skills training, financial literacy, mentorship, and access to microcredit so families can rebuild their lives with dignity and hope.
We are a non-governmental, non-religious, non-political organization, registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria. Our commitment is simple: to create opportunities, not pity, and to stand as a support system where society has often failed.
So far, through field work and deep community engagement, we have directly impacted over 2,500 widows and 5,000 children across Nigeria—each story a testament to resilience, each life a reminder of why we must keep going.
Our Focus Areas
01.
— Practical and financial literacy —
Research has shown that more women are always quick to invest a higher proportion of their income back to their families than men and so we strive to teach them managerial, interpersonal and other practical skills like hygiene, nutrition and health. It will build confidence in their decision-making process and realise that the household decisions are equally as important as the decisions they make about their business. .
02.
— Mentorship —
The network of widows who have graduated from Ashake’s programs provides support, and a sense of belonging to new widowed women. Women are more likely to help other women with loans and advice often through cooperatives, associations and savings group. When a woman is supported, it has a multiplier effect, both the children, community and society are beneficiaries.
03.
— Use of Fin-Tech, Micro-Credit, Market entry Support —
We provide micro-credit extension to widows who wish to start micro enterprises after the skill acquisition programs, we also tend to scale up existing businesses of widows and we leverage on our relationships with local businesses, social media platforms and other e-commerceplatforms for the selling of products made during either during the skills acqusition trainings or general merchandise.
Mission
Provide support, empowerment, mentorship and friendship to women and girls thereby alleviating their pains and facilitating their total well-being.
Vision
To become a frontier center for total help for underserved woman and girls.
Our Core Values
Empowerment
We believe true change begins when people are given the tools and confidence to take charge of their own lives. By empowering women and children, we help them discover solutions, unlock opportunities, and shape brighter futures—where no child is forced to drop out of school.
Accountability
Trust is the heart of our work. We are open and transparent with our finances, programs, and actions—always ensuring that every resource is used wisely and for the good of those we serve. Excellence guides us, and we hold ourselves responsible to our communities, partners, and supporters.
Inclusiveness
Everyone deserves a seat at the table. We celebrate diversity and create spaces where every voice is heard, every talent is valued, and no one feels the need to hide who they are. Together, we thrive as a stronger, united family.
Integrity & Ethics
We are committed to always doing what is right—fairly, honestly, and responsibly. Our actions are guided by strong principles and a deep respect for the people and communities we serve. For us, integrity isn’t just a word; it’s how we live and lead every day.
Be a part of the change
Your support can empower women and girls in our community. By volunteering, donating, or attending our events, you can help us create a brighter future together.
THEMATIC AREAS
At Ashake Foundation, our work is guided by five core focus areas. Each one is designed to break cycles of poverty, restore dignity, and open doors of opportunity for widows, vulnerable women, and their children.
01.
— Women’s Economic Empowerment —
We believe that when a woman is empowered, an entire family and community thrive. Many widows and vulnerable women are left without income, opportunities, or support. At Ashake Foundation, we help them rebuild their lives through skills training, entrepreneurship development, and access to microcredit and interest-free loans.
From vocational training in tailoring, soap-making, and catering, to business literacy programs on financial management, branding, and marketing, our goal is to help women stand on their feet again. For those ready to grow their small businesses, we provide startup grants and loan schemes—without the heavy burden of collateral or unfair interest rates.
So far, hundreds of women have launched or scaled their businesses through our programs. They are now able to feed their families, send their children to school, and contribute positively to their communities.
02.
— Education for Children & Youth —
Every child deserves the right to learn, dream, and succeed—regardless of their background. Sadly, many children of widows are forced out of school because of poverty. Ashake Foundation bridges this gap through scholarships, back-to-school drives, school supplies donations, and mentorship programs.
We provide essentials such as uniforms, books, lunch boxes, and writing materials so no child is left behind. Beyond classrooms, we also invest in mentoring young people—building their confidence, leadership skills, and resilience for the future.
Over the years, we’ve supported thousands of children across Nigeria, helping them remain in school and equipping them with the resources they need to succeed. With your support, we can keep more children in classrooms and off the streets.
03.
— Health, Hygiene & Wellbeing —
Widows and their children are often the most affected by poor healthcare access and unsafe living conditions. At Ashake Foundation, we respond with health awareness campaigns, hygiene support, and emergency relief programs.
From distributing sanitary kits and food palliatives to organizing malaria prevention awareness and access to clean water initiatives, we work to protect vulnerable families from preventable illnesses. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we reached over 2,000 families across 14 communities with food, masks, and hygiene supplies to help them stay safe.
We also focus on women’s reproductive health and teenage girls’ menstrual hygiene education, ensuring they grow with dignity and knowledge of self-care. Because good health is the foundation of a thriving life, we place it at the center of our work.
04.
— Leadership & Rights Awareness —
Many widows face not only financial hardship but also cultural stigma and harmful traditional practices that strip them of dignity and rights. At Ashake Foundation, we raise awareness, advocate for change, and equip women and youth to become leaders in their communities.
Through our Community Change Makers Initiative, we engage teenage girls and young women in leadership development, self-esteem building, and rights awareness. We also educate widows on their legal rights, financial independence, and the power of using their voices to challenge injustice.
By building a network of empowered women and youth leaders, we are creating a society where widows are no longer sidelined, but respected as valuable contributors to development.
05.
— Humanitarian & Social Support —
Beyond long-term empowerment, we recognize the immediate needs of widows and their children. Many go through seasons where survival is difficult. Our humanitarian efforts provide essential relief, social support, and a sense of belonging during such times.
Through programs like “Christmas in a Goodybag”, we celebrate widows and their children with food, gifts, and community bonding during festive seasons. We also run year-round initiatives that provide clothing, household items, and food supplies—made possible through donations, yard sales, and partnerships.
These moments of care remind widows that they are not forgotten, and their children that they are loved. For us, it’s not just about meeting needs—it’s about restoring joy, dignity, and hope.
OUR IMPACT
Since our founding in 2013, Ashake Foundation has worked passionately to restore dignity, open doors of opportunity, and bring hope to widows, women, and children across Nigeria. What began as a small effort to meet urgent needs has grown into a movement touching thousands of lives.
Here’s how your support has helped us make a difference:
Empowering Widows
More than 2,500 widows have received life-changing support through our programs—ranging from business startup kits and accommodation aid to microcredit loans and essential welfare packages. These women are no longer defined by loss; they are business owners, community leaders, and role models to their children.
Educating Children & Youth
We have reached over 5,000 children with scholarships, school supplies, and mentorship opportunities. For many, this meant the difference between dropping out and staying in school. By renovating libraries and distributing textbooks, uniforms, and writing materials, we’re ensuring that the children of widows are not left behind.
Building Skills for Women
Over 2,000 women have been trained in vocational and business skills through our Ashake Skill & Knowledge Acquisition Program (ASKAP). From fashion design to digital skills, many of these women are now running their own businesses, earning stable incomes, and breaking the cycle of poverty in their families.
Providing Essential Support
We have distributed thousands of educational, food, and hygiene items across different communities in Nigeria. From festive “Christmas in a Goodybag” packages to emergency COVID-19 palliatives, our welfare support has brought relief and joy to families during their most difficult times.
Our Partners
Who are we?
Partnering to build a world where all Widows are cared for not abandoned.
Who We Are
Partnering to build a world where all Widows are care for not abandoned.
Statistics show that we have over eight million disadvantaged widows and with an estimated 21 million children in Nigeria due to political unrest, poor health care, accidents, incidents and terrorist attacks, it is a huge epidemic that affects every cadre of our society. Widowhood in Nigeria is grossly undermined and the traumatic practices are seen without any form of ameliorative measures given to them such that after the loss of their spouses, they are made to go through psychological, health and financial hazards. Their children suffer from poor hygiene and insufficient funds and they are forced to drop out of school, and become street urchins. The boys can be used as a tool for any form of violence and their girls forced into early marriage as a result of the mother’s inability to fend for her family.
It is on this premise that Ashake Foundation is a non-governmental organization that seeks to empower widows with skill training, financial literacy, mentorship and access to microcredit was founded established on the 15th of December 2013. We respect everyone’s beliefs and share no specific religious or philosophical ideology. We are registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in Nigeria.
With the various on the field observation and
through community participatory efforts, we have been able to directly impact
over 2500 widows and 5000 children through our various intervention programs in
Nigeria.
SDG1(End Poverty in all forms everywhere)
SDG5(Achieve gender equality and empower all men and girls)
SDG4(Education)
Focus Areas
01.
— Practical and financial literacy.
Research has shown that more women are always quick to invest a higher proportion of their income back to their families than men and so we strive to teach them managerial, interpersonal and other practical skills like hygiene, nutrition and health.
It will build confidence in their decision-making process and realise that the household decisions are equally as important as the decisions they make about their business.
.
02.
— Mentorship
The network of widows who have graduated from Ashake’s programs provides support, and a sense of belonging to new widowed women.
Women are more likely to help other women with loans and advice often through cooperatives, associations and savings group. When a woman is supported, it has a multiplier effect, both the children, community and society are beneficiaries.
03.
—Use of Fin-Tech, Micro-Credit, Market entry Support
We provide micro-credit extension to widows who wish to start micro enterprises after the skill acquisition programs,
we also tend to scale up existing businesses of widows and we leverage on our relationships with local businesses,
social media platforms and other e-commerceplatforms for the selling of products made during either during the skills acqusition trainings or general merchandise.
Our Approach
01.
— Our Mission
Provide support, empowerment, mentorship and friendship to widows and their children thereby alleviating their pains and facilitating their total well-being.
02.
— Our Vision
To become a frontier center for total help for widows and their children.
03.
— Our Value
Empowerment: When people
are empowered, they find creative ways to resolve their own problems and better
contribute effectively to their society and ensure that no child is made to
drop out of school.
Accountability: We will be accountable to all stakeholders
and partners in the areas of open and accessible financial and project reports
and other actions as a team and an organization. We will pursue excellence and
do things that will further the goals of the organization.
Inclusiveness: We
consistently encourage that the potential of every individual is utilised at
peak performance. Every member of the team is made to feel comfortable and no
one feels the need to suppress who they are.
Integrity and Ethics|: We try to
do the right and most appropriate thing in an honest, fair and responsible way.
04.
— Our Story
Ashake Foundation was founded in 2013..We have Directly empowered over 2500 widows and 5000 kids
We Facilitate Safe Environment for women all over the word
THEMATIC AREAS
The organization runs various programs targeted at the different sub groups within our target audience of vulnerable women and girls in Norther Nigeria. These includes:
01.
— BACK TO SCHOOL PROJECT
At the beginning of every school session, the foundation facilitates a public donation drive for school fees and other essential school items for children of vulnerable women within the foundation’s network to enable the children stay in school and remove the burden from women with little or no means.
The donation drive is open to the general public through partner impact giving platforms, social media and partner physical locations where in-kind donations can be dropped. Howver, the foundation’s website has a permanent donation link where the public can make non-specific support donations at any time.
Back to school is a quarterly project by the organized to ensure that underserved children and children of widows in rural commensalities to in school. During the project, the organization distributes school bags, writing materials, and award scholarships to pupils in different schools across the FCT. Since inception, the organization has distributed over 800 school bags to eight hundred pupils,6000 writing materials, 400 lunchboxes and dental kits. We have also provided scholarships to over 200 pupils. Donated textbooks to over 2000 pupils in 5 communities, renovated a library that carters for 683 pupils and donated a school library that caters for another 200 pupils.
02.
— ADOPT A WIDOW INITIATIVE
Widowhood remains a very delicate topic in the life of any woman and a sensitive area of impact as it regards socio-economic and political development because, the negative impact that goes with widowhood, trickles down to everyone in the society. an average Nigerian widow, is stripped of her husband’s belongings if any and treated as an outcast. This leads to limited access to essential of life for widows and their children such as education, healthcare and social prestige. In bid to restore hope to these widows, designed a project called:
ADOPT A WIDOW INITAITIVE. Four months into the program, four widows have benefited in areas of business startup, accommodation, and scholarships.
03.
— Ashake Skill and Knowledge Acquisition program
ASKAP is an accelerated skills acquisition and vocational education program that seeks to promote productive employment, financial independence, sustainable income and economic empowerment through technical and entrepreneurial skills training for disadvantaged women and girls in Nigeria. The vision of the project is to create and deliver limitless development opportunities for women and girls through hands-on training through an array of technical, vocational, and business development skills which are tailored to attract local labor market opportunities and to overcome specific local constraints towards sustainable livelihoods. Over the years, Ashake Foundation has trained over 800 women in business support trainings, Adire Tie and Dye, Bag making, Soap making, Wig making, Pastry and baking and Hand Sanitizers. We have partnered with the Abuja Enterprise Agency and the Adire bizhub.
Quarterly, the foundation organizes vocational skill training, mostly in fashion designing, manufacturing for products such as cleaning and hygiene products and pastries for select vulnerable women in target communities as designated on the yearly programme plan.
Entrepreneruship Training: Biannually, the organization organizes a business support training in areas such as marketing & sales, packaging & branding, financial management and value chain development amongst others for women-led micro businesses within our target communities
04.
— The Ashake Foundation Interest-Free Loan Scheme
The organization provides loan funds to vulnerable women to start and scale their micro businesses. Loan amount range from 10,000 – 50,000 NGN with 1-5% simple interest rates. To qualify for the loans, women are to have attended at least one of Ashake Foundation’s Skill Acquistion or Entrepreneurship Training Programs in the past 6 months and completed the enrollment form for the micro-loans. The loans require no collateral and processing takes between 3 and 5 days.
The Ashake Interest free Loan Scheme, is aimed at empowering women, widows and girls who have successfully graduated from our training programs by giving them startup capitals for their various skills and chosen businesses. We believe that financial freedom is the greatest challenge most of these widows are faced with. Giving them this loan, will enable them fend for themselves, their immediate and contribute to the society. The loan scheme is given to but not restricted to widows who are into petty business and widows willing to set up a business across the FCT. In Kubwa, we have 50 widows whom have benefited and 9 in Galadimawa.
05.
— Essential Support Package
On special occasions such as Christmas, Sallah, Easter, Lockdowns (like in the case of the Covid-19 pandemic) the foundation partners with private and corporate entities to provide food and essential items to vulnerable women within target communities.
Christmas in a Goodybag is an annual event organized by the organization to celebrate widows and their children. We believe that widows have the right to love, care and sense of belonging in the society and the Yuletide is usually a season best fit for showing love and care to those who have lost their spouses. This event is aimed at providing relaxation for the widows and giving them food items to help them enjoy the season without feeling the absence of their spouses. During the event, there are always lots of fun games, presentation of gifts, shopping for and raffle draw. The project kick started in 2015 with over 600 beneficiaries since inception.
06.
— COMMUNITY CHANGE MAKERS INITIATIVE
The community change makers initiative, was born out of a survey conducted by the organization during the lockdown in early March 2020, the whole idea is to ensure that girls who are mostly of the Teenage age, are positively and meaningfully engaged in community development and as a way of keeping them away from gender-based violence and Teenage pregnancy. Through this program, we have trained 228 girls on leadership development, self-esteem and menstrual hygiene management and gave five months’ supply of sanitary napkins to 178 girls in 5 communities.
07.
— Yard Sale
The Ashake Foundation Yard Sale Project is designed to Save a widow, save her child, save the world.
One of the basic human needs is a support system. With a little bit of benevolence, even the weakest of us becomes strong. .
Since 2015 Ashake Foundation has organized 4 Back to School Yard sales. We receive Clothes, shoes, bags, accessory’s, baby items, toys, other household items, kitchen appliances and similar items.
These items are collected and sold at busy local parks and organized yard sales. The proceeds from the yard sales are used to buy or schooling items for widow’s children.
Ashake Foundation is determined to be the support system that would heal these widows, their children and Nigeria.
How can you be involved?
- Give household items in perfect conditions that can be sold for cash.
- Volunteer to collect and send items to us.
- Donate Cash
- Send us good textbooks for all classes.
- Volunteer to share our campaign on your social pages