The following blog was written by Sarah Backstrand, who served as Golub Capital Nonprofit Board Fellow with The Tandana Foundation during the 2025-26 academic year through the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.
Continue reading “What I learned during my year as a Tandana Board Fellow”
Claudia Fuerez, founder and owner of Kawsaymi Cocina and longtime partner of The Tandana Foundation, has received a well-deserved recognition from the National Tourism Forum of Ecuador for helping revitalize the country’s tourism industry through dedication, innovation, and leadership.
Continue reading “20 Years of Friendship: Longtime Tandana partner Claudia Fuerez honored by Ecuador tourism forum”
At Whitman College, the Transnational NGOs workshop brought students together to explore how NGOs work across cultures and borders. The workshop featured three guest speakers who are actively working in the NGO sector to share real-world experiences alongside case studies and discussion. Topics examined ethical partnership, inclusion, and sustainable impact while building a clearer picture of what it means to engage in nonprofit and development work.
Continue reading “Whitman workshop engages students in how to effectively start and operate a global NGO”
Even though a month has passed since the panel at Whitman College, I still find myself thinking about the moment I first saw Anna Taft, Madjalia Seynou, and Khai Zar Oo walk into the room. Their calm, unhurried presence left me with a quiet, settled feeling—the kind that comes after listening to people who don’t just talk about justice, but live it: steady, honest, and, in its own way, gently demanding.
Continue reading “A panel that ignited my desire to make a positive impact on communities”
Denise Roell is a friend I just met, but her sincerity in offering her friendship makes her feel like a longtime friend. My friend Denise told me how, despite being older, she does not believe it has been an obstacle to combine academic work and agricultural work. At one point, she told me that she has a farm where they have many cows and the way they maintain it.
Continue reading “The experience of travel and friendships”
Last fall, members of The Tandana Foundation led a workshop exploring the Andean worldview and philosophy as well as the Kichwa Otavalo culture and language at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington.
My journey with The Tandana Foundation began in 2014 when I led students on a 20-day cross-cultural experience in Ecuador as Director of the REACH Program, a youth development nonprofit providing college-track lifeskills for underserved, first-generation youth. It is a daunting task to combine youth development and international programming, to create an experience that is authentic, impactful, and safe.
Continue reading “My path to becoming Tandana’s new Board of Trustees President”
The Tandana Foundation’s mission is to support the achievement of community goals and address global inequalities through caring intercultural relationships that embody mutual respect and responsibility.
But what does Tandana – the global nonprofit I launched 18 years ago – really do? Or, perhaps more importantly, how does the organization do what it does?
Continue reading “Tandana’s Founding Director shares lessons learned in new book”
In November, members of The Tandana Foundation engaged audiences at several multilingual book readings and conversations around Ohio. The events were centered around two storybooks based on indigenous folklore – Juanita, the Colorful Butterfly and The Hyena, the Hare and the Baobab – that Tandana recently helped to publish and are now available for purchase.
Continue reading “Tandana book events showcase indigenous culture and language”
The following story was written by University of Dayton students who attended the roundtable event featuring members of Tandana.
As a nonprofit, The Tandana Foundation isn’t putting all of its successes on structures built or money raised. Collaboration and relationships are what powers the organization, and that approach has paid off in Ecuador and Mali.
Continue reading “Tandana makes a world of difference with a novel approach”
On Nov. 13, more than 300 students of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, filled the large Heritage Room in the Shriver Center. These were students enrolled in classes offered by the department of Global and Intercultural Studies and they were gathered to attend a talk titled “Transforming Gender Norms: Opening Small Spaces for Big Change in Rural Mali and Ecuador”. But what followed was much more than a regular talk, it was a multi-perspectival panorama shedding light on the deep-rooted challenges faced by grassroots workers of The Tandana Foundation, and more importantly an inspiring account of the engaged methods, ethical negotiations, and big wins the foundation strives to accomplish everyday through small spaces of change.
Continue reading “Hundreds of Miami University students engage with Tandana during campus events”
Sometimes, the most life-changing opportunities come when you least expect them.
My most recent collaboration with The Tandana Foundation happened entirely by chance. In mid-October, Anna Taft, the Founding Director, reached out to me with an email asking if I might be available to work with them. Her trust and the opportunity she extended set in motion an experience that would touch my soul in profound and unexpected ways. My recent opportunity to work with The Tandana Foundation was one of those moments.
Continue reading “Discovering the heart and spirit of Tandana”
At The Tandana Foundation’s recent Legacy of Hope Celebration, Hope Taft, President Emerita of the Board of Trustees, shared an unforgettable speech about the power and great good that can come from having hope and serving others.
Continue reading “A message of hope from Hope: ‘Start your own tidal wave’”
While growing up in Belgium and spending time in several parts of the world, soccer (“football”) has always had a special place in my heart. I see soccer as a universal language that transcends barriers thanks to its simplicity, passion, emotions and global appeal. The game’s basic rules tend to be easily understood in any part of the world.
Continue reading “Lessons from soccer: How team spirit can develop professional skills and lead to success”
Twenty years have passed since I first climbed up the bumpy roads into the colinas surrounding Otavalo with my Traveling School classmates and teachers, including Anna Taft, in whom ideas of what would become Tandana were beginning. Though it was many years past now, I still remember the community spirit of the minga in which we participated to improve the water purification system and the hospitality of Don Vicente in welcoming us to the community of Panecillo. I am certain that in those moments I had no thought that in 20 years, I would be in the same community with my husband and two children.
Continue reading “Tandana reunions and new beginnings”
Members of The Tandana Foundation’s team recently shared messages of thanks to the organization’s Board of Trustees for their support of the team’s work and professional development.
Continue reading “Tandana’s Mali team shares an important source of inspiration for their work”
International news outlets have recently covered stories of startling developments in Ecuador. A TV station in the coastal city of Guayaquil was broken into and abruptly interrupted live on air with troubling images of men with guns and bombs. A notorious criminal/gang leader escaped from prison in that city as well.
Continue reading “My latest trip to Ecuador with my family was another special, sweet, and safe experience”
Meaningful conversation and intercultural learning underpinned the Gender and Change in Rural Mali workshop that Anna Taft, The Tandana Foundation’s Founding Director, along with members of Tandana’s Mali team – Kessia Kouriba, Hawa Yalcouyé, and Moussa Tembiné – offered students at Whitman College this fall.
Continue reading “Tandana leaders host engaging workshop on gender dynamics in rural Mali at Whitman College”
“This dance is called the Sandyeli. It is used to show joy. We’re dancing to show that we’re so glad to meet you!”
Continue reading “Never too young for intercultural friendships”
In the following, literacy instructor Fatouma Kouriba shares an inspiring anecdote about meeting Tandana’s Founding Director.
Continue reading “Following in the footsteps of Tandana’s Founding Director”
How do you encourage young Ecuadorians to use their indigenous language more often?
That was the question Santiago Gualapuro, a member of The Tandana Foundation’s Board of Trustees, was seeking to solve when he thought of a creative idea: A fun, science-based, buzzer-beating competition for high school students – all in Kichwa. Dubbed the Kichwa Science Bee, Gualapuro’s event debuted to great success last year, with 110 students from across Ecuador participating in the competition.
Continue reading “The winning solution to help revitalize an indigenous language in Ecuador”
In recognition of The Tandana Foundation’s 15th anniversary, we are creating 15 videos featuring cherished members of the organization’s global family. Published in a series of 15 posts on this blog, these videos will highlight key aspects of Tandana’s philosophy, community partnerships, and impactful work that has been done, along with projects still in progress. The videos will serve as a meaningful way to reflect back on what has been accomplished in 15 years as well as provide insight into the Tandana’s future in the next 15 years.
Continue reading “Celebrating 15 Years of Intercultural Friendship: Numɔ Digu Toru”
As the calendar turns to 2023, so do thoughts on what the new year will bring. There are certainly many projects in process or on the horizon for The Tandana Foundation and its community partners in Ecuador and Mali.
Continue reading “Members of the Tandana community discuss desires and goals for next year”From providing access to clean water in Ecuador to building a new health center in Mali, The Tandana Foundation and its partner communities have accomplished a lot together in 2022.
Continue reading “Members of the Tandana community reflect on a meaningful year”
Rick O’Hara is no stranger to The Tandana Foundation, having served as a board member since the organization’s inception 15 years ago. But, in May, O’Hara stepped down from the Tandana board to take on a new, more public-facing role as its first Development Director.
Continue reading “Building trusting relationships to advance the mission: Meet Tandana’s new Development Director”
In recognition of The Tandana Foundation’s 15th anniversary, we are creating 15 videos featuring cherished members of the organization’s global family. Published in a series of 15 posts on this blog, these videos will highlight key aspects of Tandana’s philosophy, community partnerships, and impactful work that has been done, along with projects still in progress. The videos will serve as a meaningful way to reflect back on what has been accomplished in 15 years as well as provide insight into the Tandana’s future in the next 15 years.
Continue reading “Celebrating 15 Years of Intercultural Friendship: Weaving Friendships”
In recognition of The Tandana Foundation’s 15th anniversary, we are creating 15 videos featuring cherished members of the organization’s global family. Published in a series of 15 posts on this blog, these videos will highlight key aspects of Tandana’s philosophy, community partnerships, and impactful work that has been done, along with projects still in progress. The videos will serve as a meaningful way to reflect back on what has been accomplished in 15 years as well as provide insight into the Tandana’s future in the next 15 years.
Continue reading “Celebrating 15 Years of Intercultural Friendship: Tandana Tantanakuymanta”
To say that connecting with the students at the Ulpiano Navarro School in Quichinche, Ecuador, was a privilege would be an understatement. The experience taught us sophomores at Sharon High School to look at life from a new perspective and pave a path of awareness about the people in this diverse world.
Continue reading “Forming multicultural friendships between North American and Ecuadorian students”
In November 2021, Tandana finished creating a mural with and for the students at the La Joya Special Education School in Otavalo, Ecuador.
Continue reading “All about the new “mural of my dreams” at the La Joya Special Education School”
The mission has always been at the heart of each and every role Aaron DiMartino, who is entering his sixth year as operations director of The Tandana Foundation, has held.
Continue reading “Aaron DiMartino: the man quietly leading Tandana by ensuring everything goes right”
In recognition of National Nonprofit Day on Aug. 17, Hope Taft, president of The Tandana Foundation’s Board of Trustees, shared her thoughts on a variety of topics related to her involvement in the social impact sector, the challenges facing nonprofits today, and what makes Tandana different from other organizations.
Continue reading “National Nonprofit Day Q&A with Tandana’s board president”
The Tandana Foundation is immensely grateful to the many individuals who support its efforts in a myriad of ways. The following post tells the story of Dr. Ash B. Varma, M.D., one of Tandana’s earliest supporters, who has given his time, ideas, and financial resources to assist the organization in achieving its goals in Ecuador and Mali. Education is a topic Ash is passionate about. His contributions include supporting the creation of a new scholarship program to help more students pursue educational opportunities and setting up an endowment to help fund an existing scholarship program.
Continue reading “Ash Varma: A passionate Tandana supporter and patron of education”
As The Tandana Foundation approaches its 15th anniversary, I’m taking a look back at the experience that planted the seeds for its creation so long ago—my first visit to Ecuador in 1998. Twenty-three years ago, I traveled to Otavalo as a volunteer with Global Routes and spent four months in the community of Panecillo. Many of the people I met then have become important members and partners of Tandana, while experiences with community work then led to future projects that Tandana has been involved in with many communities. And, I was introduced to some traditions that I continue to enjoy. In honor of this anniversary, I decided to pull out some photos from that time and reflect on how those special connections have developed over the years.
Continue reading “Looking back on 23 years of special connections”
Despite the pandemic restricting the ability to see one another in person, students at Sharon High School in Massachusetts in the United States and the Jaime Roldos Aguilera Intercultural Bilingual school in Urkusiki, Ecuador, have still become friends – sharing their cultures, favorite activities, and pets with one another by sending each other videos and participating in regular Zoom calls.
Continue reading “How friendship saves cultures”
In 2019, Emily Piwowarski participated in a volunteer trip to Ecuador organized by The Tandana Foundation with her high school classmates from Arendell Parrott Academy. Now a sophomore studying chemistry and marine science at North Carolina State University, she took time to reflect on her memorable experience with Tandana in Ecuador.
Continue reading “Looking back on my unforgettable volunteer trip with Tandana – two years later”