Tostan
"The origins of Tostan date back to 1974, when an American student named Molly Melching came to Senegal as an exchange student from the University of Illinois. After completing her studies, Molly stayed to work as a Peace Corps volunteer in Dakar, creating the first radio program for children in national languages. Her work soon took her to rural villages, where she found that many development efforts were not addressing the true needs and realities of the communities." [1]
Tostan is featured in a full chapter of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide written by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Tostan received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship from the Skoll Foundation in 2010. [2]
Board
Accessed October 2011: [3]
- Gail Kaneb, Chair - President, Breakthrough Strategies
- Barbara Dunn - Retired Vice President of Human Resources, Colgate-Palmolive Company
- Michael Gibbons - Director, Children’s Rights Program, Wellspring Advisors
- Jim Greenbaum - Founder and Managing Director, The Greenbaum Foundation
- Cheikh Mbacke - Statistician/Demographer
- Molly Melching - Executive Director, Tostan
- Anne Charlotte Ringquist - Director, Tostan Sweden
