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Our Mission

AJA Foundation seeks to help those who have done everything society asks of them, yet for whom access to essential resources and the probability for advancement that comes from them remain elusive at best and structurally impossible at worst.

We know that the “playing field” of opportunity tilts substantially and unfairly towards those coming from advantage and that nobody succeeds on their own. AJA Foundation is dedicated to leveling the playing field by investing globally in organizations addressing what we see as fundamental human rights with a focus on equal access to clean water, quality education and essential healthcare.

Guinea – Unicef
Zambia – Makolekole
Italy – Engera
Haiti – Three Angels
Geneva Switzerland – Doctors Without Borders, UN Refugee Agency
London, England – Save the Children
Kenya – AMREF, Nashulai Masai Conservancy
Ethiopia – Engera
California – Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, Fulfillment Fund, Prostate Cancer Foundation, Special Olympics (Los Angeles), Miracle League San Diego (San Diego), Wheelchairs for Humanity (San Rafael)
Nevada – Fulfillment Fund Las Vegas, Leader’s in Training, The ShadeTree, Make a Wish (Las Vegas), Dean’s Future Scholars (Reno)
New York – Unicef, Tikum Olam Makers, Innocence Project, Trident Swim Foundation, Planned Parenthood, ACLU, Harlem Grown, RED, V Day (New York, NY)
Connecticut – Pathfinder (New Haven)
Massachusetts – Steppingstone (Boston)
Texas – Mercy Ships
Pennsylvania – University of Pennsylvania Scholarship
Alabama – Southern Poverty Law
Washington, D.C. – Red Cross International Virginia – Partnership for the Future
Missouri – Pianos for People

From Local Mentorship to Global Impact

Three events in Andy Astrachan‘s life informed the three pillars of philanthropy of the charitable foundation bearing his initials. 

The first was an invitation by the principal of the 112th Street Elementary School in South Central Los Angeles to mentor a group of students and help the school obtain resources. The second was a trip to Africa  to participate in the digging of a water well in a remote rural village. The third was his own cancer diagnosis. 

Driven by the steadfast belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to reach their fullest potential, the AJA Foundation’s primary focus is providing access globally to clean water, affordable healthcare, and quality childhood education. 

We invest in these areas because we believe them to be essential human rights fundamental to human development that must be equitably distributed, not skewed towards wealth and privilege.

Recognizing that nobody achieves success on their own and believing that all of us have a moral obligation to help lift up those less fortunate, the AJA Foundation is the result of Andy‘s hands-on life experiences and desire to pay forward the immeasurable help and support he received. 

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Our Team

Board Members

Andy Astrachan

Founder, Benefactor, Chairman

Cathy Daniels

Chief Financial Officer, Secretary

Ana de Diego

Board Member

Blanca de Diego

Board Member

Bob Ezrin

Board Member

Sandra Kanengiser

Board Member

Hannes Streeck

Board Member

Valentina Vinante

Board Member

Amy Wood

Board Member

Staff

Colleen McKenna

Executive Director

Karen Jarrett

Operations Director

Mariluz Garcia

Consultant

AJA Foundation invests globally in organizations that promote equal access to clean water, quality education, and fundamental healthcare.

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Education
Andy’s journey into active philanthropy began with his “adoption” of the 112th St. Elementary School in South Central Los Angeles in 1990, mentoring some of its students and forming decades-long friendships with many students, parents, and grandparents. He says “I was gifted a hands-on front row seat to the massive gap between the resources available to students and their families where I lived versus those available in Watts. The most disturbing thing was that the gap in resources had no correlation to the potential of the children in elementary school. The only thing it correlated to was the gap in affluence.”

Water
In 2009, Andy traveled deep into the Zambian bush to participate with a team of Zambians in digging a water well located at a school. He witnessed life before the well which required women and girls to walk miles every day to fetch dirty water from a water hole in a dried out river; and he also saw firsthand the profound impact ready access to clean water has on health, education, gender equality, and the economy. He says “The sheer joy on the faces of the children when the first clean water came out of the spout is a moment and a feeling that is seared into my memory. I am unaware of any investment in people at any cost with the power to change people’s lives as greatly. And this investment costs only $20 a person – far less when you consider the many generations that will benefit too.”

Healthcare
In 2004, Andy was diagnosed with metastatic cancer. This led to deeply personal contemplation of the importance of preventative healthcare and reflection on the inequitable availability of quality health care.

AJAF has and will continue to invest in the democratization of cancer treatment in the United States and the search for new cancer drugs. The Foundation is also focused on providing basic healthcare in the developing world where people often die from conditions that are routinely treated elsewhere and are preventable with basic precautions. AJAF invests primarily in volunteer clinics where treatments can average as little as $1 per patient visit. Andy says “It is hard to wrap your head around the fact that people can be successfully treated for a wide variety of conditions for $1. But thanks to the generosity of so many doctors, nurses and other health professionals who volunteer their time and money, they can be.”

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