Founding and Form
Trusts Founding
The Chinyere and Chinelo Ikoku Charitable Trusts were established in January 2017 by their sole Founder, President and Chair, Alvan Azinna Chibuzo Ikoku — as one part of ongoing work he has carried out for over two decades, leading also to his founding of The Ikoku Foundations. Where appropriate and approved by the Founder, these entities endeavor to coordinate their efforts and resultant benefit to the communities they serve.
Trusts Formation
The Chinyere and Chinelo Ikoku Charitable Trusts are formally organized as a private, independent, tax-exempt nonprofit organization, as provided for in the California State Code of the United States, and they are thus registered and headquartered in San Francisco, California. The Trusts are also officially known under the business names, The Ikoku Charitable Trusts and The Ikoku Trusts. All three names, as used in official The Ikoku Charitable Trusts documents, policies and statements, as well as products, services and sites, refer to the same aforementioned Trusts Corporation entity.
Trusts and Foundations Entities
As provided for under law for nonprofit entities and the Founder’s Declaration of Trust, The Ikoku Charitable Trusts administer, hold and manage the assets for two private charitable foundations, resulting in a three-entity structure that includes the following:
- The Chinyere and Chinelo Ikoku Charitable Trusts;
- The Chinyere and Chinelo Ikoku Foundation; and
- The Alvan Azinna Chibuzo Ikoku Foundation.
Trusts Areas
As further described in the General Page on Trusts Areas, The Ikoku Charitable Trusts administer, develop and fund philanthropic efforts under the auspices of the Trusts Areas of Public Benefit — which help focus attention, commitment, resources and assessment in the twelve (12) areas below:
Trusts Structure and Mission
The Ikoku Charitable Trusts, via their work with The Ikoku Foundations and through the Trusts Areas, are thus structured to support charitable efforts in the aforementioned areas, and to ultimately fulfill their originating mission to promote philanthropy concerned with Africa, its global diasporas and the betterment of lives across the globe, while, as always, accounting for the past and ensuring a just and shared future.
Governing Structure
Overview
The Ikoku Charitable Trusts and The Ikoku Foundations are governed respectively by a Board of Trustees and a set of Advisory Boards of Directors. The basic architecture of the three-board system is defined by the Founder’s Declaration of Trust of The Chinyere and Chinelo Ikoku Charitable Trusts and by the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws of The Ikoku Charitable Trusts and The Ikoku Foundations.
Below are a number of details pertaining to the boards’ relations:
Complementary Boards
Through a set of complementary roles, the three boards carry out the essential fiduciary duties normally associated with a board of trustees, while also ensuring that adequate attention is paid to the quality and progress of planning, policy and operations, and to core contributions toward the Trusts’ and Foundations’ complementary missions and charitable purposes.
Role of Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is primarily charged with receiving, holding and managing donated assets and other property for The Chinyere and Chinelo Ikoku Foundation and The Alvan Azinna Chibuzo Ikoku Foundation. The Board of Trustees is also tasked with developing and evaluating long-range strategy, planning and policy, and with approving major budgets and capital projects, overseeing plans for endowment spending and growth, and engaging other non-financial matters of significant and enduring importance. As ex-officio trustees, the President and Treasurer coordinate such affairs of the Board of Trustees with those of the Advisory Boards of Directors of The Ikoku Foundations.
Role of Advisory Board of Directors
Each of The Ikoku Foundations is guided by an Advisory Board of Directors, larger in membership than the Board of Trustees, tasked in part with providing counsel to leadership and trustees on medium-to-long-range strategic directions, priorities, planning and policy. Still, the primary fiduciary duties of each Advisory Board are to the ongoing operations of their respective Ikoku Foundation, and to the fulfillment of the Trusts’ specifying charitable purposes through each Foundation. The Advisory Boards carry out these responsibilities largely through the operation of several committees, chaired by and reporting to Advisory Board members.
Shared Objectives
Together, the three Boards work to ensure the health, vision and perpetuity of The Ikoku Charitable Trusts and The Ikoku Foundations — led by the President and Chair, Alvan Azinna Chibuzo Ikoku, the Treasurer, Ijeoma Chinwe Ikoku, and the Secretary, Chinyere Ukeagumo Ikoku Jr, who serve as ex-officio members on the three boards.
Founding and Governing Documents
Provision
Provided below is a listing of — and where applicable, access to — documents pertaining to The Ikoku Charitable Trusts’ founding and governance that are kept current in the Books and Records, including those of formation, licensing and governing codes and policies. All such documents are in the safekeeping of the Founder and President, Alvan Azinna Chibuzo Ikoku, who is the only person authorized to retain, amend, keep current and show originals and copies. Where appropriate, The Ikoku Charitable Trusts may provide the public with a link to access approved and downloadable copies of such documents.
Articles of Incorporation
ByLaws
2019 Amended and Restated ByLaws of The Ikoku Charitable Trusts
2018 Amended and Restated ByLaws of The Ikoku Charitable Trusts
2017 ByLaws of The Chinyere and Chinelo Ikoku Charitable Trusts
Codes and Policies
Codes and Policies (HTML and PDF)
Declaration of Trust
2019 Amended and Restated Declaration of Trust for The Chinyere and Chinelo Ikoku Charitable Trusts
2018 Amended and Restated Declaration of Trust for The Chinyere and Chinelo Ikoku Charitable Trusts
2017 Declaration of Trust for The Chinyere and Chinelo Ikoku Charitable Trusts
Letters of Tax Exemption
2018 CA State Tax-Exemption Letter for The Chinyere and Chinelo Ikoku Charitable Trusts
2018 US IRS Tax-Exemption Letter for The Chinyere and Chinelo Ikoku Charitable Trusts
Registration of Charity
Statement of Information
Tax Filings (Federal)
2019 US IRS Tax Filing 990 PF for The Chinyere and Chinelo Ikoku Charitable Trusts
2018 US IRS Tax Filing 990 PF for The Chinyere and Chinelo Ikoku Charitable Trusts
2017 US IRS Tax Filing 990 PF for The Chinyere and Chinelo Ikoku Charitable Trusts
Communities at The Trusts
The establishment of The Ikoku Charitable Trusts entails a set of core emphases that ensure and reflect the originating charitable mission and purposes. These emphases inform each instance of commitment, effort and work to achieve benefit, impact and success. And they furthermore produce three features evident in the resulting governance structure, operations and most importantly, communities:
Governace Suited to Local and Global Philanthropy
The governing structure of The Ikoku Charitable Trusts has been designed to be attentive to needs and operations at the local and global level, as well as across the complex states and societies where the served communities reside, living shared, interdependent lives.
With Respect Being Central to Ethics
At the core of the Founding and Governing Code of Ethics is a commitment to the most robust conceptions of respect, dignity and humanity, including and beyond what the law has protected and provided for, as The Ikoku Charitable Trusts fulfills its twin mottos: to serve the public interest in Africa and its global diasporas; and to account for the past while ensuring a shared and just future.
To Ensure a Just and Shared Future for Many
The Ikoku Charitable Trusts is inspired by peoples who have contributed to the foundations and development of their societies, despite a history of systemic difficulties. Who maintain an unyielding belief that the betterment of their human condition will foster the betterment of those living around them and will enhance the futures of the regularly disenfranchised, marginalized and underserved. . The Ikoku Charitable Trusts draws from these examples a vision of the public good and common community that is its hope and objective.
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