Media Coverage/Awards
Please browse all of the great coverage that AfricAid and its founder Ashley Shuyler have received in the local, national, and international media. AfricAid is proud to have received a number of awards, which are also highlighted here. Also, view videos of television interviews with Ashley and documentary pieces about her time in Africa!
Latest Media Coverage
AfricAid’s New Kisa Project Featured on Colorado Public Radio
Ashley Shuyler had the opportunity to talk today about AfricAid’s new Kisa Project on CPR’s Colorado Matters. The program can be heard online here.
The program also featured short segments from several of the digital stories created by 12 Coloradans about their various connections to Africa that were screened last month at AfricAid’s Kisa Film Festival at Denver’s Starz Film Center at the Tivoli. Videos like these will be an important aspect of the Kisa Project, helping to both better educate those in the U.S. with the realities of life in Africa, as well as create a meaningful and immediate connection between the Kisa Scholars in Tanzania and their American sponsors. The complete videos can be viewed here.
AfricAid is proud to announce that our “Teaching in Action” teacher training program has been voted as one of three winners by Ashoka Changemakers!
As one of three winners, the Teaching in Action program will receive a $5,000 grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, along with significant recognition across the country and within the Ashoka community.
We are grateful to each and every one of you who voted and helped to make this possible! There were over 400 entries in this competition, and 14 finalists – and it is because of you, our wonderful supporters, that we were chosen as a winner!
With this grant, the creator of the Teaching in Action program, Professor Frances Vavrus, will have the opportunity to expand the reach of the program in significant ways. This program has already greatly improved the educational experience of thousands of students and hundreds of teachers across Tanzania, and we look forward to this opportunity to further build upon this solid foundation. You can read more about TIA here.
Ashley Shuyler’s AfricAid Work Recognized by The Global Volunteer Network Foundation
The Global Volunteer Network (GVN) Foundation recently recognized Ashley Shuyler’s work with AfricAid as it added her to its “Change Makers” club. The GVN Foundation supports the work of charitable organizations around the world that assist children, women and the environment. Its Change Makers club is a group of individuals from all over the world who are committed to social change. As part of its recognition, GVN has added AfricAid to its “Eat So They Can 2009″ program, a campaign that invites volunteers to hold dinners to raise funds for food for impoverished children around the world. According to GVN, “Through Eat So They Can, we are looking forward to helping Ashley and AfricAid nurture the education and dreams of the young women who benefit from AfricAid initiatives, and ultimately, in helping to empower them to shape the futures they desire for themselves.” Click here to see the Change Makers story.
Ashley Shuyler’s Work with AfricAid and Her Film “Somebody Like Me” Featured on KUSA 9News
The Denver film screening of Ashley Shuyler’s ethnographic film “Somebody Like Me” was previewed by Denver’s KUSA 9News in a segment highlighting AfricAid’s work on behalf of girls’ education in Africa. Stressing that, “an education is one of the most precious and invaluable gifts,” the segment took note of the over $500,000 that AfricAid has raised to help train teachers, provide much-needed school supplies and textbooks, and support African women with scholarships. It also discusses Ashley’s film, which traces the village life of a young Maasai woman, the first in her remote village to attend secondary school, who is now hoping to attend college to be a teacher and share her lessons with both her fellow villagers and with future generations. Click here to view the segment.
Ashley Shuyler and AfricAid Featured on KUSA 9News: My Africa with Bazi Kanani
Ashley Shuyler’s work with AfricAid was featured in Bazi Kanani’s recent series on Africa that aired on Denver’s KUSA 9News. In this informative and moving piece, entitled “My Africa”, the 9News anchor and reporter explores her family history in Tanzania and deals with several of the issues facing Africa today. One of the segments highlights Tanzania’s educational needs and Ashley’s work there with AfricAid to help provide educational opportunities for Tanzanian youth.
Recent Interviews and More Media Coverage
Ashley was interviewed by Tamara Banks on Martini 101.5 about AfricAid’s work and the Art Show fundraiser!
You can see here Ashley’s recent interview on Denver’s KCNC, CBS Channel 4.
Click here to read the Denver Post’s story on Ashley and the Art Show.
Read the article in the Golden Transcript on Ashley’s work with AfricAid and the Art Show event.
In “Power of a Child Touches a World”, Ashley is interviewed by Claire Martin in the Denver Post.
Young Heroes Book on Ashley Shuyler Published
In June 2007, the KidHaven Press published Young Heroes: Ashley Shuyler, Founder of AfricAid, one of its continuing series of books for younger readers. According to KidHaven, these books are intended to “examine the lives of remarkable and heroic young people. Some have shown great personal courage in the face of difficult circumstances. Others have acted selflessly in an effort to improve other people’s lives. Each book presents a truly inspirational story that will appeal both to student researchers and casual readers.” Recounting the history of Ashley’s work with AfricAid, this inspiring book emphasizes the difference that young people can make in the lives of others, and how youth of all ages can get involved.
Ashley Shuyler Honored as 2007 Brick Awards Finalist
In spring 2007, AfricAid founder Ashley Shuyler was selected as a Finalist in the 2007 BRICK Awards. Called by CNN the “Oscars of youth service awards”, and presented each year since 1996 by Do Something, the BRICK Awards recognize young people who are making the world a better place. They hope to give children across the nation real role models to emulate; innovative young people who have done something positive to change their communities and the world. Ashley was selected from a group of over 1,000 youth under the age of 25, with 24 Finalists ultimately honored by the Brick Award judges as young people who are making an impact on the world for the better. The ultimate goal of the BRICK Awards is to motivate and inspire the next generation into becoming a generation dedicated to helping the world and creating positive change.
Ashley and AfricAid were subsequently featured on a nationwide campaign on selected bags of Doritos chips, with the following text:
“How good do you have it? When she was 11, Ashley traveled to Tanzania and saw children her own age begging for food and realized how fortunate she was. Determined to make a difference, she created AfricAid, Inc., to offer scholarships and other educational opportunities to Tanzanian girls. Already she has raised more than $350,000 for her cause, giving hundreds of girls a chance that many of us take for granted.”
Ashley Shuyler Selected as National Honoree of the Prudential Spirit of Community Award
In 2003, Ashley Shuyler was honored as one of the 10 National Honorees for the Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Awards honor young people in middle level and high school grades for outstanding volunteer service to their communities. Created in 1995 by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), the awards constitute the United States’ largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteering. Over the past 12 years, the program has honored more than 75,000 young volunteers at the local, state, and national level.
Applications are solicited each fall through more than 40,000 public and private middle-level and high schools, with Local Honorees selected by participating schools and organizations. From these winners, two State Honorees are chosen in each state and the District of Columbia. Finally, 10 National Honorees are picked by a panel of prominent judges, and announced at a special ceremony in Washington, D.C. Ashley was honored to have Colorado Academy place her name in nomination as a Local Honoree and to subsequently become one of the two State Honorees selected to represent Colorado, before her selection as one of the 10 National Honorees for her work with AfricAid.
Ashley Shuyler Receives the etown e-chievement Award
In 2006, Ashley Shuyler was honored by etown with its e-chievement Award. etown is a weekly radio broadcast, heard from coast to coast on NPR/public, commercial, and community stations. etown’s mission is to educate, entertain and inspire a diverse audience, through music and conversation, to create a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable world. Every etown show is taped in front of a live audience and features performances from many of today’s top musical artists, as well as conversation and information about our communities and our environment.
One of the show’s most popular segments is the e-chievement award. Listeners from around the country send in tales of remarkable individuals who are working hard to make a positive difference in their communities and beyond. Each winner is nominated by a listener and joins the show live, by phone or in person, to tell their personal story on the air. Ashley was honored to be a recipient of the award for her work with AfricAid.
The Sharon Osbourne Show
In March 2004, Ashley had a unique opportunity to appear on the nationally-syndicated Sharon Osbourne TV talk show, where she was given the opportunity to tell AfricAid’s story to a national audience. Thanks to Sharon, the work of AfricAid was introduced to many new viewers and resulted in expanded awareness and additional support! View a video of the show here!
eBags supports AfricAid!
eBags is an internet-based retailer that specializes in fashion and school accessories. It also helps support selected worthy causes by highlighting their work in its promotional materials. AfricAid, and its founder Ashley Shuyler, were featured in eBags 2005 Back 2 School catalog. Click here to see the full page dedicated to AfricAid and the various products in the eBags catalog!
The full text of the eBags feature reads: “eBags takes pride in customers like 19-year-old Ashley Shuyler, founder of AfricAid, who carries her North Face backpack on her journeys to Kenya and Tanzania. It was here that she witnessed poverty for the first time and saw a need for educational opportunities for the people of Africa. AfricAid seeks to help young African women by collecting funds to provide educational materials and supplies. The organization will then ship the supplies and money to Africa for distribution through other nonprofit organizations and individuals on the African continent. Since inception, AfricAid has raised more than $200,000 and contributed much more in supplies. Please check out www.AfricAid.com to read more about Ashley and her efforts to empower African women through education.”
Starz Encore and WAM!
The WAM kids’ channel of Starz Encore produced and aired an outstanding segment on the work of AfricAid, which included clips from the Denver Art Museum Event, the AfricAid Club, and great footage from one of Ashley’s trips to Africa. It was a truly touching program that captured the beauty of Tanzania and its people, while demonstrating the importance of the work of AfricAid.
Due to the repeated airing of the WAM segment, Ashley received hundreds of e-mails from kids across the country who want to become involved in supporting education in Tanzania! What an amazing gift to AfricAid…thank you, Starz Encore!
AfricAid Featured on Channel One
On May 21, 2003, AfricAid and its founder, Ashley Shuyler, were featured on Channel One, a news and education TV station seen by high school students across the country, in its “Power of One” segment.
View the Power of One video here.
AfricAid Founder Celebrated as “Young Entrepreneur”
Ashley Shuyler, founder of AfricAid, was selected as one of four winners of the “Celebration for Young Entrepreneurs,” an exciting and inspiring event sponsored by the Young Americans Center for Financial Education in September 2002.
Ashley was honored to be selected as a winner and to have the opportunity to introduce the mission of AfricAid to the 600 people in attendance.
Each winner was paired with an adult entrepreneur sponsor, and Ashley was fortunate to have assigned as her mentor Sharon Magness, a well-known and respected Denver philanthropist.
Ashley Shuyler Receives Gloria Barron Young Heroes Prize
Ashley Shuyler was named a recipient of the Gloria Barron Young Heroes Prize for her work with AfricAid. Ashley, one of ten honorees for the year, received a $2,000 award on October 2, 2001 at a ceremony in the Denver Public Library 
hosted by author and Barron Prize founder, Tom Barron. Ashley donated the award proceeds to AfricAid, making it possible for each of five Maasai girls to attend secondary school for one year.
The Gloria Barron Young Heroes Prize recognizes young people in Colorado whose service projects have greatly benefited their communities or the world at large.
