By Miller Bianucci, Executive Director 

Each year at our annual South of the Sahara Gala we award someone with the Kiongozi Award. Kiongozi means leadership in Kiswahili, and this TFFT award highlights the achievements of an individual or couple who have shown exceptional generosity to TFFT through direct involvement, support, and leadership for the past several years. The recipient is an individual whose outstanding civic and charitable responsibility in and outside of TFFT has encouraged, inspired, and motivated others to take philanthropic leadership roles within their community. This award goes to someone who demonstrates exemplary commitment to the advancement of philanthropy, fostering passion and vision for social change in the hearts of many.

This year we were proud to honor our Board of Directors Chairwoman, Lauren Bolshakov. Lauren first got involved when she hosted a pop-up event to benefit TFFT at her house in October 2019. Since then, she has run in marathons and half marathons with Team TFFT around the world including Kilimanjaro, Chicago, Berlin, and she will be taking on Tokyo in 2026.

She stepped up her involvement even more when she became a sponsor to TFFT scholar Joachim in 2021 and joined our board of directors in January 2023. Behind the scenes, she always makes herself available to the TFFT in every way imaginable, from offering to host various events throughout the year to making time to meet for coffee and brainstorm new ideas. Her support is unwavering and has made her an incredible asset to the TFFT family over the years. We feel immensely fortunate to have her in our family and are grateful for the countless ways she impacts our work. Asante sana, Lauren!

To help us continue making headlines, click here.