About ACCES

What is ACCES?

The African Canadian Continuing Education Society (ACCES) is a registered charity that has provided scholarships to underprivileged Post-Secondary students in Kenya since 1993. Most of our scholars join the ACCES Alumni Association (AAA) to support new students and some of our scholars have come back to work as staff in our Kakamega Kenya office where they run the office and award scholarships.

What is the ACCES Mission?

The mission of ACCES, to alleviate poverty through education, is founded on the following principles:

Respect for Another Culture: ACCES will not seek to impose Canadian cultural values in other countries.

Sustainability: ACCES strives to help other people to help themselves; Kenyanization.

Gender Equality: ACCES programs provide equal opportunity to people regardless of gender.

Efficient Administration: 100% of donations to ACCES for its programs are used for those programs.  Funds for administration are raised by the ACCES Board through other means.

What does ACCES do?

Since 1993 the Society has made significant impacts in Kenya including

Provide University and Technical School scholarships to promising and impoverished students

Provide the materials and infrastructure for five (5) communities to build their own schools and donated the established buildings to the government

Expanded two (2) schools by six (6) classrooms each

Founded seven (7) primary schools and enrolled more than 1300 children annually

Health initiatives that targeted hygiene behaviors, gender equality and HIV/AIDS awareness

Programs to improve farming and gardening practices, flea eradication, etc.

In alignment with our long term vision for Kenyanization ACCES has gifted schools to the government and transferred programs of support to local organizations and now focuses all of its resources on sponsoring needy and capable students to pursue post-secondary education  through scholarships.

Who is ACCES?

ACCES was founded in 1993 by Beth and George Scott as an organization dedicated to alleviating poverty in Kenya through education.  As part of our overall strategic plan ACCES has spent the past quarter  century building capacity and gradually releasing responsibility and oversight to our graduate scholars evolving towards greater levels of self-sustainability within Kenya. Over the years ACCES has evolved to a few staff in Canada and Kenya, voluntary board of directors and Kenyan Partner Groups.

Governance

ACCES is a duly incorporated and registered Canadian charity with Head Office in Surrey, British Columbia. The ACCES Board of Directors is committed to maximizing resources to alleviate poverty through education by funding post secondary students in Kenya so that they have the opportunity to improve their life circumstances. 

Board of Directors: The voluntary Board is comprised of a wide variety of professionals with complementary skill sets varying from communication, finance, business, education and international development.  The ACCES Foundation, a separate registered Canadian charity, acts as a charitable trust that provides funding and support to the ACCES Society.  The ACCES Foundation Board of Directors safeguards funds and carefully monitors investments to maximize resources to support the mission of ACCES.  

Staff: ACCES employs a part time Executive Director and part time Administrative Assistant in British Columbia, Canada and three full time staff in Kenya including a Program Director, a Scholarship Coordinator and an Accountant. 

Kenyan Partner Groups: ACCES has established strong partnerships and relationships with organizations in Canada and Kenya.  ACCES is particularly proud of its affiliation with three important organizations in Kenya.  The ACCES Alumni Association (AAA) made up of ACCES scholars who have completed their studies and remain connected to one another and ACCES while pursuing their careers, the Kenyan Advisory Committee (KAC) made up of local business owners and scholarship graduates who provide advice and support to ACCES and the African Scholars’ Education Foundation who seek to support future scholarship students.

ACCES Alumni Association: One of the most encouraging outcomes from the more than 3,000 graduates over the last 25 years is the AAA (ACCES Alumni Association). The AAA has become a strong organization that not only gives back to the communities that the members have come from by sponsoring students through primary and secondary school, but is now reaching out beyond their own communities to sponsor students they will likely never meet, just like what happened to them. The inspirational AAA has also started an endowment fund in Kenya (ACCES Scholars Fund) to continue sponsoring even more students. Currently, the endowment fund has raised more than 2 million shillings (approximately $28,000 CDN), which is being invested in secure, income generating investments to make it a sustainable fund, with plans to engage in further investment vehicles. This is truly sustainability in action.

Financial Accountability:

ACCES has an annual financial audit conducted by independent auditors in Canada and in Kenya. The most recent annual report and financial statements are available through the links below.

ACCES has established robust financial controls  that require official receipts, detailed expense tracking, monthly reporting and approval system for all expenses. Combined with real time online banking, ACCES tracks and manages expenses to the highest standards.

ACCES keeps administrative costs reasonable without compromising the quality of work, the fulfillment of the ACCES Mission, or the ability to manage the day-to-day operations efficiently and effectively.  ACCES pays fair wages to its staff, while holding them to high standards of accountability and performance.