About Us

Mission & Goals

Anakazi Center for Women’s Empowerment and Development (Anakazi Center) facilitates the economic and social empowerment of African women by increasing knowledge of global issues, advocating for human rights and supporting the equal participation of women and men in addressing development issues. Anakazi Center accomplishes this mission through two core areas: advocacy and business development.

Utilizing dynamic and culturally-relevant approaches to empower and propel African women toward success, Anakazi Center endeavors to achieve the following goals:

  • Connect women globally
  • Harness the power of women to create meaningful change in the family, community and local economy
  • Raise awareness of women’s issues and causes by leveraging media and partnerships
  • Center African women in programming and processes to avoid reinforcement of imbalanced power structures
  • Increase professional and business opportunities for women

 

Founder and President

Yareka Mhango, MS

Yareka Mhango has over 15 years working experience in healthcare and non-governmental organization management in the United States and Africa. She spent part of her career working in Zambia at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines. At UNHCR, she audited implementing partners such as The Red Cross, YMCA, Lutheran World Federation and Care International to ensure compliance with UNHCR project goals and objectives. She has effectively coordinated HIV/AIDS and tobacco control programs funded by the State of California and the County of Los Angeles under a refugee resettlement project. In addition, Yareka has extensive accounting and legal compliance experience in several industries and has managed the accounting of nine international healthcare subsidiaries spread across Europe and South America. Her legal experience includes resolution of complex tax and real estate issues for individuals and small businesses in bankruptcy or distressed financial conditions. She holds Master of Science degrees in Accountancy and Healthcare Management from California State University, Los Angeles.

Throughout her life and during these varied professional experiences, Yareka encountered African women entrepreneurs, professionals and others seeking to advance economically and politically. This motivated her to conduct in-depth research into resources available to advance the cause of African women. From her exploration, she recognized a great need for networking, professional training, advocacy and business development support. Yareka established the Anakazi Center to fulfill this need. She was also inspired to start the organization to honor the women who played a role in her upbringing through their various humble means.

Since the founding of Anakazi Center, Yareka has been a vocal and committed advocate of improving the plight of African women on the continent and the Diaspora. This has resulted in her presenting at various conferences including the UCLA African Activist Association and the Corporate Council for Africa African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program Conference attended by U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. She looks forward to the continued growth of the organization and helping to propel women to higher heights.

 

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