At Oliveseed, we believe that the most powerful weapon to uplift people and change our world is equal access to education and quality learning resources. Our approach is through close collaboration with teachers, elders, and other stakeholders; and to be part of the communities where we work.

We began in the deserts and mountains of rural Morocco in 2014, where we have developed high-quality curated libraries for public schools in the most marginalized regions throughout the country — primarily in indigenous Amazigh communities. Our program in Morocco has now evolved to the first nationwide short story competition for rural teenagers in English, with published books every year, as well as small village libraries for Amazigh children. We focus on places that had never had the richness of such resources before, and we continue to see the young generation here blossoming, especially benefitting girls. This program is also building a lasting bridge of friendship between North Africa and the U.S., befitting the peace origin of our name Oliveseed.

We expanded to rural southwestern Kenya in 2017, with the indigenous community of the Maasai Mara. Here, we develop libraries and science labs that transform the very poorest rural schools to vibrant learning centers, and we provide scholarships for motivated students who would otherwise not be able to attend high school. Our approach in this area is holistic, so we also tackle the greatest problems beyond education: we empower Maasai women through micro-enterprise, and we develop clean water systems for communities that were previously drinking contaminated water from open sources shared with wildlife and cattle. At our Women's Work Center, women engage in beadwork arts, sewing, and milk delivery by electric motorcycle, with training in business and vocational skills. Through this enterprise, they support their families, keep their kids in school by paying school fees, and develop their own strong skills and self-confidence. One of their initiatives is making reusable sanitary kits to keep teen girls in school, as without this support this region has the highest drop-out rate for girls in Kenya.

We are a small, efficient, hardworking team on the ground in Kenya and Morocco; and everything we do is through close collaboration with the communities and through deep trusted relationships. We're as close to the ground as can be, and at our scale, every donation makes a big difference. We thank you for your support and are happy to discuss any of our programs and approach with you.