About us

How Umoja was founded in June 2021 by Junior Baka Wa Bana Sumaili and Umutoni Tessy Mercy, and the values that guide every scholarship today.

Learn more about Umoja

Born in the heart of Congo

How a volunteer mission in the DRC and a former educational-grant beneficiary became Umoja, founded in June 2021 with no resources and a shared belief in education.

Programs

Holistic scholarships, dedicated mentorship, and community partnerships, with a transparent seven-step selection process behind every scholar we support.

Learn more about our programs

Featured program: Scholarships

Holistic scholarships that cover school fees, learning materials, clothing, and pocket money, with a dedicated mentor for every scholar.

Get Involved

Umoja is a movement, and movements need partners. Donate, mentor, tutor, run a workshop, or partner as a school, business, or institution.

Become a monthly donor

Recurring gifts fund scholarships, learning materials, and the mentorship program. Every donor receives a yearly impact report.

Blog

Field notes, impact stories, and transparency posts, written by the founders and the small core team that runs Umoja day to day.

What it takes to keep a scholarship past year three

Funding is the easy part. The hard part is the relationship that keeps a scholar in school when life gets in the way.

How Umoja was founded in June 2021 by Junior Baka Wa Bana Sumaili and Umutoni Tessy Mercy, and the values that guide every scholarship today.
Learn more about Umoja
Holistic scholarships, dedicated mentorship, and community partnerships, with a transparent seven-step selection process behind every scholar we support.
Learn more about our programs
Umoja is a movement, and movements need partners. Donate, mentor, tutor, run a workshop, or partner as a school, business, or institution.
See all paths
Field notes, impact stories, and transparency posts, written by the founders and the small core team that runs Umoja day to day.
Read all posts

Blog

Insights & stories

Field notes, impact stories, and transparency posts, written by the people doing the work, on a steady cadence.

Featured

Two students walking together along a school path at dusk

Field Notes

What it takes to keep a scholarship past year three

Funding is the easy part. The hard part is the relationship that keeps a scholar in school when life gets in the way.

Junior Baka Wa Bana Sumaili · 15 April 2026 · 6 min read

More posts

Latest from the team

An open notebook on a wooden desk in a classroom

Field Notes

Five things we learned from our 2025 site visits

Trip notes from a year of partner schools. What worked, what didn’t, and what we changed afterward.

5 March 2026 · 7 min read

A spread of audit documents and pens on a wooden table

Transparency

How we count what counts: our impact framework

The metrics we publish aren’t the only ones we track. Here’s the full framework, what each number means, and why we chose it.

18 February 2026 · 8 min read

Two community partners reviewing documents at a wooden table

Programs

Why partnership outlasts a grant cycle

We don’t run programs. We invest in the people running them. The difference shows up in year five, not year one.

1 February 2026 · 5 min read

Stay close to the work

New posts publish on a steady cadence. Become a donor or volunteer to follow the cohorts behind every story.

Donate Get Involved