“We work every day to invest in people and strive to build thriving communities, one person at a time.”

Who We Are

Higherlife Foundation is a social impact organization that invests in human capital to build thriving individuals, communities and sustainable livelihoods. Founded by Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa in 1996 out of their deep Christian faith, heartfelt compassion as well as their personal experiences of orphan-hood, we are contemporary Africans moving the African continent forward through opportunities.
Vision
“To provide a platform for people to fulfill their God-given purpose.”
Mission
“To invest in Africa’s human capital in order to build thriving individuals, communities, and sustainable livelihoods.”

Our Values

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Faith in God.

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Love, Integrity, Knowledge.

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Accountability, Collaboration, Responsive Leadership.

Who We Are

Higherlife Foundation is a social impact organization that invests in human capital to build thriving individuals, communities and sustainable livelihoods. Founded by Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa in 1996 out of their deep Christian faith, heartfelt compassion as well as their personal experiences of orphan-hood, we are contemporary Africans moving the African continent forward through opportunities.

Vision

“To provide a platform for people to fulfill their God-given purpose.”

We envision a thriving Africa in which every person finds their vocation and is empowered to develop their communities for economic prosperity.

Mission

“To invest in Africa’s human capital in order to build thriving individuals, communities, and sustainable livelihoods.”

Our Founders

Mrs Tsitsi MasiyiwaTsitsi Masiyiwa | Co- Founder

Tsitsi Masiyiwa is an African philanthropist and social entrepreneur. She is Executive Chair and Co-Founder of the Higherlife Foundation, whose primary goal is to invest in human capital development to build thriving communities and sustainable livelihoods. To that end, Higherlife Foundation’s portfolio encompasses impact investments in education and leadership development, healthcare and sanitation, job creation, and rural transformation. As a result of her work and experience establishing and growing Higherlife Foundation over the last twenty years, Tsitsi has become an advisor and thought partner to universities, national leaders, and social entrepreneurs on issues of education, leadership development, and youth empowerment. Tsitsi is a founding board member of the African Philanthropy Forum, and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Legatum Institute, the END Fund and UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited initiative.

strive masiyiwaStrive Masiyiwa | Co-Founder

An entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist, Strive Masiyiwa is Founder and Chairman of Econet Group, a telecommunications and technology group with operations and investments in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, the UK, and the USA. In 1996, he and his wife Tsitsi Masiyiwa co-founded a small organisation to support orphaned children in Zimbabwe that is now known as Higherlife Foundation. Strive serves on several international boards including Netflix Inc., Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and National Geographic Society, and sits on several Global Advisory boards including Bank of America, Bloomberg New Economy Forum, and Stanford University. He is a former board member of Unilever PLC, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Chairman Emeritus of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. He previously served on the Africa Progress Panel and juror on the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize amongst many other pan-African and international roles over the years.

 

Our Founders

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Tsitsi Masiyiwa- Co- Founder

Tsitsi Masiyiwa is an African philanthropist and social entrepreneur.  She is co-founder and co-chair of the Higherlife Foundation, whose primary goal is to invest in human capital development to build thriving communities and sustainable livelihoods.To that end, Higherlife Foundation’s portfolio encompasses impact investments in education and leadership development, healthcare and sanitation, job creation, and rural transformation.As a result of her work and experience establishing and growing Higherlife Foundation over the last twenty years, Tsitsi has become an advisor and thought partner to universities, national leaders, and social entrepreneurs on issues of education, leadership development, and youth empowerment.Tsitsi is a founding board member of the African Philanthropy Forum, and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Legatum Institute, and the END Fund. She is also a member of the Sesame Workshop Global Advisory Group, the Digital PATH Advisory Board, and a Champion for UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited initiative.
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Strive Masiyiwa- Co-Founder

An entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist, Strive Masiyiwa is Founder and Chairman of Econet Group, a telecommunications and technology group with operations and investments in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, the UK, and the USA. In 1996, he and his wife Tsitsi Masiyiwa co-founded a small organisation to support orphaned children in Zimbabwe that is now known as Higherlife Foundation.

Strive serves on several international boards including Netflix Inc., Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and National Geographic Society, and sits on several Global Advisory boards including Bank of America, Bloomberg New Economy Forum, and Stanford University. He is a former board member of Unilever PLC, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Chairman Emeritus of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. He previously served on the Africa Progress Panel and juror on the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize amongst many other pan-African and international roles over the years.

Our Footprint

We are an operating and grant making foundation which embeds its staff in the communities it serves and 80% of our programs are in the field. We have programming offices in 5 African countries: Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Burundi, Kenya, and Rwanda. Zimbabwe hosts our biggest operations with an operating office in every one of the country’s 10 provinces.

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