Back in 2024, Mackenzie Scott’s Yield Giving donated $1.5 million to iACT, an award-winning international nonprofit organization. iACT’s mission is to resource and partner with people affected by war and conflict, to amplify their voices and create opportunities for them to thrive, according to a release.
Over the past 15 years, iACT has reached more than 43,381 children through its community-led and trauma-informed soccer and early childhood education programs (Refugees United Soccer Academy and Little Ripples) and trained more than 1,300 adults as teachers and soccer coaches. The organization currently employs 249 refugees and people affected by conflict to lead its programs in Armenia, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Tanzania, and Mexico.
The release went on to say that, at a time when over 110 million people — including 43.3 million children — are forcibly displaced in the world, investing in community-led and sustainable solutions like iACT’s Little Ripples and Refugees United Soccer Academy can have a deep and long-lasting impact.
My community says, “if you have one child at iACT’s education [program], you have a library of knowledge in the family and community.”
– Al Fateh Younous Haroun, iACT Board Member, Program Manager and Darfuri refugee living in Chad
iACT’s late founders, Gabriel Stauring and Katie-Jay Scott, built the organization with the insight that refugee and conflict-affected people are the ones with the answers. These same themes are reflected in Mackenzie Scott’s Yield Giving, which starts with “acknowledging that people working to build power from within communities are the agents of change. Their service supports and empowers people who go on to support and empower others.”
Mackenzie Scott’s innovative approach to philanthropy, investment without restrictions, is unique for iACT in that it creates an opportunity for strengthening our infrastructure, and with that, the ability to reach more children and families.
We are proud to receive recognition and support from Mackenzie Scott for how we do our work in partnership with refugee and conflict-affected people. For more than a decade, iACT has been demonstrating an alternative model of humanitarian action grounded in deep listening, putting people and relationships first, trusting and resourcing refugees to lead programs, and committing to communities for the long-term. Combined, these elements are what we’ve seen create meaningful and lasting impact in the lives of refugees. Mackenzie Scott’s unrestricted support enables us to dream big with the people and communities we work next to.
– Sara-Christine Dallain, Executive Director
