About the Foundation
The Joseph and Elizabeth Quansah (JEQ) foundation was founded in 2019 as a registered 501 (c) (3) IRS Tax Exempt nonprofit in the USA. The foundation provides tuition, residential scholarships, and laptops to excellent but needy college and university students in Ghana.
For Drs. Joseph and Elizabeth Quansah, helping poor students go to college in Ghana is a way of life. Once established as college professors in America, the couple began assisting deserving students in Ghana -- long before they started the nonprofit JEQ Foundation.
Paying It Forward
On the streets of Ghana, Joseph and Elizabeth have seen many students in need of assistance. Exercising their value of empathy, they started helping students on their own. Joseph and Elizabeth began to put some money aside each month to distribute on their visits to Ghana. Later, Elizabeth decided to add laptops to their mission, buying them on Black Friday and then bringing them to Ghana. The requests from contacts in Ghana increased, momentum built towards creating a foundation. When Joseph’s mother passed, she left him a little money, so they used it as seed money to establish the Joseph and Elizabeth Quansah (JEQ) Foundation. “We decided to start a foundation in memory of our parents,” Joseph remembers, “and also to formalize what we do to get more support.”
Because Joseph and Elizabeth believe in paying it forward, they apply the same condition to the students. Each scholarship recipient must promise to assist a future exceptional but needy Ghanaian college student in Ghana before they receive the JEQ Foundation's scholarship. Paying it forward is the only condition for receiving a scholarship from the Foundation.
Our decision-making process is informed by our past experiences, passion for education, and a strong desire to impact the next generation by giving back. We strive to empower, mentor, build productive relationships, and make a positive impact on all of our pursuits.
Scholarship recipients are required to:
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Perform at least 15 hours of community service each year.
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Give back, after gainful employment, to the JEQ Foundation in the form of donation and or "adopting" a non-family member entering a college/university in the recipient's local community or any community in Ghana, West Africa.
These conditions are mandatory for all the JEQ Foundation Scholarship Recipients.
Conditions For Receiving Scholarships
Our Founders
We are education professionals who are passionate about educating the next generation and giving back. The founders, Drs. Joseph & Elizabeth Quansah, are husband and wife who are Ghanaian-Americans.
Dr. Joseph Emmanuel Quansah earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural & Biological Engineering and MSE in Civil Engineering from Purdue University in Indiana. He is currently an Associate Professor at Tuskegee University in Alabama.
Dr. Elizabeth Ivy Quansah earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Auburn University in Alabama and MBA from Indiana University. She currently serves as the Director of Auburn University’s Outreach Global.
A trusted team of board members in the USA and representatives in Ghana advise and assist Joseph and Elizabeth.