20 Years of Enriching Lives

Our Aim

In 2004, Shared Interest Foundation was established to provide business and financial training to less-established organisations, those of whom were vulnerable to shocks and too small to access financial support. The purpose of the charity has now extended and we address future sustainability challenges, such as improving climate resilience and gender equality.

Our Impact

Because of our interventions, businesses are stronger and have improved the health and well-being of their workers. In addition to providing economic opportunities for households, they generate seasonal and year-round employment, building more sustainable communities.

In Burkina Faso, we facilitated the installation of solar panels to enable a group of female beekeepers to process honey after dark. This not only marked the community's first access to electricity, but also empowered the group to significantly increase their honey processing capacity, subsequently boosting their income. You can read more about our 'Bees for Business: Burkina Faso' project here.

In Peru, we worked with a coffee co-operative to develop an eco-friendly way of controlling the borer beetle at their Centre for Innovation in the Amazonas region of the Andes. The project also supported the co-operative to establish their own infrastructure for the production of organic compost, enabling farmers to mitigate against the impacts of climate change and improve their coffee yields. You can read more about our 'Improving Farming Methods: Peru' project here.

In February 2024, our charitable arm Shared Interest Foundation celebrated its 20th anniversary, marking two decades of transformative impact around the globe.

Join us for our 20th Anniversary Celebrations!

Over the past 20 years, Shared Interest Foundation has supported thousands of farmers and artisans in 15 countries across Africa and Latin America. To celebrate this milestone anniversary, we will be hosting a series of online events during 2024.

Thank you to those who attended our first event to mark this special occasion in February.

Stay tuned to our social media and website for updates on the upcoming events you can take part in.

On Wednesday, 28th February, we held a virtual video event to explore our projects with members and discuss our exciting plans for the future. Patricia Alexander, the Managing Director of Shared Interest Foundation, and Manager of the Foundation, Kodzo Korkortsi, also joined us from Ghana to provide an overview of the Foundation's impact over the course of it's inspiring 20-year history.

We also presented our anniversary film, which took guests on a short journey around the globe, featuring interviews and impact insights from the various projects the Foundation has implemented. We were then be joined by a very special guest speaker, Issaka Sommandé.

Issaka is a founding member and the Chair of Burkina Faso Fair Trade Country Network (PNCE-B). Issaka is a trainer in children’s rights and a specialist in the management of community-based organisations. In March 2021, Issaka was a panel member at the Fair Trade Conference in Paris organised by Commerce Équitable France (CEF). He is a member of the steering committee of the Equity Programme and the current coordinator of Association TON, a certified organic and fair trade co-operative specialising in mangoes and cashews based in Burkina Faso.

Learn more about PNCE-B: https://pnce-burkina.com/

Get in touch with us: foundation@shared-interest.com