About Our Organization

Founded in 2008 by Kelle Terkla, Chris Bierbrier, and Joanne Bauer to continue the support fostered in the 6th grade classrooms of a private school in Cambridge, MA. Through the inspiration of the school’s sixth grade study of Africa, students began to raise funds to support a women’s cooperative in northern Ghana—POSCOM (Program to Strengthen Community Organization and Management). Under the direction of Donald Amuah, this organization supports women’s agricultural cooperatives.

The POSCOM women’s cooperatives were organized to ensure sustainable livelihoods for poor peasant families living in a difficult agricultural environment characterized by one short, rain dependent growing season lasting about four months. Most families had to grow all the food they needed for the entire year in just four months! This is the context in which the cooperatives emerged.

POSCOM has assisted the cooperatives to prioritize development needs by analyzing options for achieving sustainable livelihoods. This has often entailed concentrating on the needs of today: food on the table for the family. Over the years, the cooperatives have balanced and debated today’s survival vs. investing for the future of their children.

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Our Team

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Our Representatives in Africa