history

Early Concept

AYDA's origins trace back to 2015, when Andrew Stephenson, while living and teaching in Saint-Louis, Senegal, formed a connection with the local community and identified a need for better educational infrastructure. In 2016, Andrew organised a civil engineering design team through Washington State University (WSU), with students from WSU and the University of Florence responding to a community request to design a kindergarten and nursery in one of the poorer suburbs of Saint-Louis. The project, initially called Foundations for Senegal (FFS), completed its design phase in May 2017, with construction following in 2018.

Mission: Senegal, a Swedish charitable initiative founded by Anna Norberg and Frida Johansson, provided early inspiration and moral support during this period, helping to build awareness and momentum around the need for educational support in Saint-Louis.

We partnered with Mission: Senegal - a project in Sweden led by Anna Norberg and friends.

Founding and Early Stages 

Seeing what a structured effort could achieve, Andrew moved to formalise the work. FFS was renamed the Alliance for Youth Development in Africa, and AYDA Foundation was registered in the United States as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in December 2018. From 2019, AYDA began receiving charitable donations as a legally recognised organisation.

That same year, El Hadj Ndiaye — known locally as Magueye Fall, and a long-standing friend and contact of Andrew's in Saint-Louis — registered AYDA as an independent NGO in Senegal. The AYDA Centre was established near Saint-Louis, offering free education, health support, skills training, and youth activities to the local community. A small-scale poultry farming programme, le poulailler (the chicken coop), was also launched as part of AYDA's SAFT initiative to generate income and support the Centre's operational sustainability.

Pandemic Era

The Covid-19 pandemic significantly disrupted AYDA's activities. The AYDA Centre closed in 2020 and reopened in 2021 at reduced capacity. Remote learning was not a viable option in the Saint-Louis context, so the focus shifted to immediate community need: distributing medical supplies including antiseptics and masks, continuing les goutés (food distributions for Talibé children), providing first-aid support, and maintaining the poulailler. AYDA also assisted local public schools, including Ecole Justin Ndiaye and Ecole Nalla Ndiaye, with desks and blackboards during this period.

In 2023, Andrew stepped down as President of AYDA. With no remaining US-based leadership, the American 501(c)(3) registration was formally closed. AYDA Senegal, already independently registered under El Hadj's management, continued without interruption. Hugh Anderson was appointed Co-President alongside El Hadj, marking a shift in AYDA's international footing from the United States to the United Kingdom.

Present

AYDA today operates as a Senegal-registered NGO, with El Hadj and Hugh serving as Co-Presidents. African Strategic Outreach Alliance (ASOA), a UK-registered charity and AYDA's primary funding partner, provides the financial structure through which donors now contribute. This arrangement maintains compliance with the regulatory requirements of each organisation's home jurisdiction and ensures transparent fund management.

The partnership between AYDA and ASOA is formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding built around three shared pillars: Educate, Alleviate, and Elevate. AYDA's current activities span free education at the AYDA Centre, first-aid and medical support for Talibé children, construction and renovation projects in the Ngallele neighbourhood, and an organised football programme including registered youth teams and open training sessions for Talibé children.

© 2026 AYDA Foundation