Ann Cotton
Encyclopedia
Ann Lesley Cotton is an entrepreneur
and philanthropist
who was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE)
in the 2006 Queen’s New Year Honours List. The honour was in recognition of her services to education of young women in rural Africa as the founder of CAMFED
.
In 1992, Ann Cotton traveled to rural Zimbabwe to investigate why girls' access to education in rural areas was so low. What she found surprised her. Contrary to the broadly-held notion that cultural resistance was the main reason so few girls were going to school, Ann discovered that family poverty was a more significant constraining factor. Could an economic solution unlock opportunities for addressing the widespread exclusion of girls from education? Could it lead to economic, social and cultural benefits for rural Africa?
In 1993, Ann started the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED
) by fund-raising at her kitchen table and the first 32 girls were supported into school in two of the most impoverished districts of Zimbabwe. The high attendance and retention rates of supported girls quickly proved parents’ commitment to their daughters’ education when direct costs were met. This is a pattern that has since been repeated in hundreds of communities in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana and Tanzania.
As the first group of girls supported by CAMFED
was due to complete secondary education, there was an urgent need to create post-school economic opportunities in their communities. Without such opportunities, educated young women would migrate to the cities and become vulnerable to economic and sexual exploitation and moreover, take the benefits of their education away from their rural communities. Against this background, the Camfed Alumni (Cama) was established in 1998 to connect young female school leavers and offer post-secondary school training opportunities, most crucially, in owning and managing money. Cama provides a structure through which its members can develop their activism and leadership to achieve positive social change. Today, Cama has a membership of almost 5,000 with structures that extend from village to district, national and pan-African levels and is one demonstration of the sustainability and efficacy of Camfed’s work.
In 2000 Ann went on to study at the School for Social Entrepreneurs. She has an MA in Human Rights and Education, is an honorary Master of the Open University, sits on the Board of the African Studies Centre and is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Cambridge University. In 2004 Ann was named UK Social Entrepreneur of the Year, and in 2005 was awarded both the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and a Beacon Fellowship. In 2006, Ann received an OBE in honor of her services to girls’ education in Africa and in 2007 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Cambridge.
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
who was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE)
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in the 2006 Queen’s New Year Honours List. The honour was in recognition of her services to education of young women in rural Africa as the founder of CAMFED
CAMFED
Camfed - the Campaign for Female Education - is an international non-governmental, non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating poverty in Africa through the education of girls and the empowerment of young women...
.
Cotton and CAMFED
Young people and education have been the focus of Ann Cotton’s life and she has a passionate belief in the power of education to transform lives. In her early career, she established and led an education center for girls excluded from mainstream education in London. Ann went on to work as an Educational Assessor and advocate for children in care in Lancashire, UK. Whilst at Boston University in the US, she studied the multi-cultural education system of Massachusetts before returning to the UK to study Human Rights & Education at the London Institute of Education.In 1992, Ann Cotton traveled to rural Zimbabwe to investigate why girls' access to education in rural areas was so low. What she found surprised her. Contrary to the broadly-held notion that cultural resistance was the main reason so few girls were going to school, Ann discovered that family poverty was a more significant constraining factor. Could an economic solution unlock opportunities for addressing the widespread exclusion of girls from education? Could it lead to economic, social and cultural benefits for rural Africa?
In 1993, Ann started the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED
CAMFED
Camfed - the Campaign for Female Education - is an international non-governmental, non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating poverty in Africa through the education of girls and the empowerment of young women...
) by fund-raising at her kitchen table and the first 32 girls were supported into school in two of the most impoverished districts of Zimbabwe. The high attendance and retention rates of supported girls quickly proved parents’ commitment to their daughters’ education when direct costs were met. This is a pattern that has since been repeated in hundreds of communities in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana and Tanzania.
As the first group of girls supported by CAMFED
CAMFED
Camfed - the Campaign for Female Education - is an international non-governmental, non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating poverty in Africa through the education of girls and the empowerment of young women...
was due to complete secondary education, there was an urgent need to create post-school economic opportunities in their communities. Without such opportunities, educated young women would migrate to the cities and become vulnerable to economic and sexual exploitation and moreover, take the benefits of their education away from their rural communities. Against this background, the Camfed Alumni (Cama) was established in 1998 to connect young female school leavers and offer post-secondary school training opportunities, most crucially, in owning and managing money. Cama provides a structure through which its members can develop their activism and leadership to achieve positive social change. Today, Cama has a membership of almost 5,000 with structures that extend from village to district, national and pan-African levels and is one demonstration of the sustainability and efficacy of Camfed’s work.
In 2000 Ann went on to study at the School for Social Entrepreneurs. She has an MA in Human Rights and Education, is an honorary Master of the Open University, sits on the Board of the African Studies Centre and is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Cambridge University. In 2004 Ann was named UK Social Entrepreneur of the Year, and in 2005 was awarded both the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and a Beacon Fellowship. In 2006, Ann received an OBE in honor of her services to girls’ education in Africa and in 2007 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Cambridge.
Notable awards
In addition to being the recipient of the Order of the British Empire award, Cotton has received several other awards including:- 2009 Women of the Year http://www.womenoftheyear.co.uk/window-to-the-world.htm
- 2005 Ernst and Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year
- 2005 Beacon Fellowship Judges’ Special Prize (alongside Bob GeldofBob GeldofRobert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...
and Jamie OliverJamie OliverJames "Jamie" Trevor Oliver, MBE , sometimes known as The Naked Chef, is an English chef, restaurateur and media personality, known for his food-focused television shows, cookbooks and more recently his campaign against the use of processed foods in national schools...
) - 2004 SkollSkollIn Norse mythology, Sköll is a wolf that chases the horses Árvakr and Alsviðr, that drag the chariot which contains the sun through the sky every day, trying to eat her. Sköll has a brother, Hati, who chases Máni, the moon...
Award for Social Entrepreneurship (awarded by eBayEBayeBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
founder Jeff Skoll) - 2004 UK Social Entrepreneur of the Year
- 2003 International Development Charity of the Year (award received on behalf of CAMFED)