Red Sweater Project
Apr 07, 2021
Ashley Holmer
Red Sweater Project

   Ashley Holmer
Founding Executive Director, Red Sweater Project CEO, Red Rhino Tours
Red Sweater Project is a non-profit organization that collaborates with developing communities in rural Tanzania to create affordable, accessible, and innovative opportunities for secondary education where it currently doesn’t exist for the majority of children.
Providing world-class tours to East Africa’s vast renowned wildlife destinations, Red Rhino Tours, LLC operates to provide visitors with both a unique view into life in rural Tanzania and as a sustainable solution in support of the organization’s mission.
Despite recent economic growth in Tanzania, the country remains economically depressed as rural areas continue to suffer from a lack of access to sustainable income-generating opportunities. Only a small fraction of families are able to afford to send their children to public secondary school (U.S. middle and high school equivalent), with private school out of reach for all but the wealthiest families. Partnering with local leaders, Red Sweater Project adopts a holistic approach to addressing the diverse needs of at- risk children. In 2012, Red Sweater Project broke ground in Mungere Village on the community's first secondary school, which has grown in a few short years to support more than 200 students and families. The school offers basic health services with health-based education, access to safe water and sanitation, sustainably-designed infrastructure and an organic school garden.
Founded by Ashley Holmer in 2011, the organization and investing safari tour company have become a model for other international development programs seeking to create partnerships that honor tradition and local leadership, encourage sustainability, and recognize education as a crucial step in interrupting the cycle of generational poverty. Having lived and worked in Africa since 2005 and fluent in Swahili, Holmer speaks about life in the land of Serengeti, education in the developing world, the rights of women and girls, and how tribes like the vibrant Maasai and its staunch traditions are heading toward an unknown future.
Ms. Holmer holds a BA in Psychology from Willamette University. She is a recipient of the university’s Distinguished Alumni Citation and was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame for Women’s Soccer. Ashley has been featured on Voice of America, Zero to Travel, has garnered the support of the Portland Timbers Football Club of Major League Soccer (MLS), and has been featured in The Rotary Magazine.
     
Also see Page 17 Rotary Magazine March 2021 issue.