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ā€œthat The Ikoku Trusts may endeavor to seek out children of all ages in need of sustenance, support, and guidance, and collectively do our best to help a wider cross-section of the worldā€™s youth and their communities reach their full potentialā€

The Trust in Youth and Community

Overview

The Trust in Development of Youth Communities was established to provide essential investment so that societies may endeavor to seek out children of all ages in need of sustenance, support, and guidance, and collectively do their best to help a wider cross-section of the worldā€™s youth and their communities reach their full potential.

Inspiration from Shared Joy and Pain

The Trust arose from three sources of inspiration. First, the joy shared by many when seeing children flourish physically, psychologically, and intellectually; and the attendant pain felt by most when encountering those suffering and possibly left to languish.

Shared Desire to Protect from Politics

Second, the fundamental desire that political debate, disagreement, and impasses within and across national and international communities not have deleterious effects on their youth.

Evidence of Youth as Essential to Societal Betterment

And third, the continual evidence that youth communities are able to foster and articulate new and productive avenues for the betterment of society, and so should be nurtured for their active contributions to our shared futures.

A Commitment to Youth That Extends

With these ends in mind, the Trust makes a sustained commitment of yearly support for pertinent work with youth in Africa and its global diasporas, in the worldā€™s most underserved, disenfranchised, and marginalized communities, and in a range of interconnected societies.

View from Below of Bridge Cables
Lekki Ikoyi Bridge, Lagos, Nigeria, February 2019 (Babatunde Olajide)

The Trustā€™s Finances

Overview

The Trust in Development ofĀ Youth Communities was established as part of the Declaration of Trust of the Chinyere and Chinelo Ikoku Charitable Trusts. It is therefore subject to the general fiduciary responsibilities outlined in the founding Declaration.

Annual Spending

These responsibilities include stipulations that limit appropriated spending in any given year to no more than 5% of the three-year average market value of the Trustā€™s current principal.

Appropriated Spending I

The Declaration also stipulates that no less than half of such annual spending be dedicated to work on continental Africa.

Appropriated Spending II

It is also expected that such annual spending be overwhelmingly dedicated (greater than 75%) to being of direct benefit to low-income communities and individuals.

To Fund in Perpetuity

Such stipulations are in line with best practices to ensure that the Trust continues to exist in perpetuity and that it continues to have assets to carry out its charitable purposes during that time.

Reports: In Charts and Numbers

Reports: In Charts and Numbers

Actor in Macbeth Costume
Macbeth, Undated (New York Public Library)
Schoolgirl in Uniform at Doorway Looking Above
In Uniform, Liberia, March 2019 (Adrianna Van Groningen)
Girl Kneeling in Busy Street
Tibetan Girl, 2017 (Journey Yang)

The Trustā€™s Works

Overview

Provided below is access to further information regarding good works conceived and funded under the rubric of this Trust. Note that the operations of said projects are typically the purview of The Ikoku Foundations, and so the links will often guide you to their sites.

The Database on Youth Communities

The Distribution in Youth Communities

The Report for Youth Communities

The Report for Youth Communities

The Fellowship for the Development of Youth Communities

The Fellowship for the Development of Youth Communities

The Grant for the Development of Youth Communities

The Grant for the Development of Youth Communities

The Newsletter on Developments in Youth Communities

The Newsletter on Developments in Youth Communities

Woman Bending Down to Tend Crops
Sierra Leone, 2017 (Annie Spratt)
Child in Costume Looking at Camera
NiƱo, Cusco, Peru, 2018 (Ben Ostrower)
Woman Seated on Mat on Floor, Holding Fan
Seated, Kpone Katamanso District Assembly Office, Tema, Ghana, 2017 (Nathaniel Tetteh)
People Holding Peace Banner and Respect Sign
Women's March, Boston, USA, 2017, (Alice Donovan Rouse)

Also at The Trusts

As stated earlier, The Ikoku Charitable Trusts is dedicated to fostering philanthropy and good works concerning Africa, its global diasporas and a range of shared societies ā€” toward the betterment of lives across the globe. And so in accordance with the above, The Trusts provides the following:

I.

A Nonprofit Dedicated to Africa

An independent, private, non-profit organization that serves the public interest in Africa and its global diasporas ā€” by advancing education and research and by also supporting creative ideas, civic endeavors and emerging communities, organizations and societies.

II.

Support for a Global and Just Future

A founding mission and ongoing emphases of support for good works that help the public understand Africaā€™s essential place in a global future, one that is to be more knowledgeable, environmentally sustainable, equitable and of benefit across communities in just societies.

III.

A Vision of the Public Good

A vision of the public good that accounts for the past while ensuring a just and shared future. That draws inspiration from peoples who, despite a history of systemic difficulties, maintain an unyielding belief that the betterment of their human condition will foster the betterment of those living around them and will enhance the present and futures of the regularly disenfranchised, marginalized and underserved.

More About Us

The Ikoku Trusts

About Us ā€¢ Governance ā€¢ Policies