Introducing the Charlottesville-Winneba Foundation

The Charlottesville-Winneba Foundation is a new organization created to support Sister City activities and exchanges between Charlottesville, VA, USA and Winneba, Central Region, Ghana.  The Foundation has been incorporated as a non-profit organization by the Commonwealth of Virginia and has submitted its 501(c)3 application to the IRS so that it can receive tax-deductible contributions.  

The Foundation's Board of Directors will include community leaders from both Charlottesville and Winneba.  The initial Board includes Dave Norris, Nana Ghartey and J.J. Baiden-Amissah.   Additional Board members will be added during 2013 and beyond.  Charlottesville attorney Peter McIntosh has generously provided pro-bono legal services to help get the Foundation established.

The biggest obstacle to pursuing mutually-beneficial projects and partnerships between Charlottesville and Winneba -- be it a new Public Library in Winneba, a new West African Artist-in-Residence Program in the Charlottesville City Schools, or any number of other collaborations -- is not political or cultural or logistical in nature.  It is financial.  Accordingly, the Charlottesville-Winneba Foundation will focus much of its energy on raising critically-needed funds in support of these collaborations.  

With Charlottesville planning to send its third official delegation to Winneba in May of 2013, the Foundation will hit the ground running in early 2013 to help generate financial donations toward this trip.  You can expect to hear more from the Charlottesville-Winneba Foundation in the very near future!