AfCoFo was founded because we realized that WorkForce for Africans needed to become a separate organization: one that partners with New York companies, agencies, and community organizations to give Africans real access to New York opportunities. Africans contribute fully to New York, yet reinvestment back into African communities remains too limited. Africans seldom hold positions of power in New York, which means key decisions are often made on their behalf. AfCoFo exists to change that by building access, voice, reinvestment, and power.
On February 25, 2025, AfCoFo began volunteering at Afrikana in Harlem, launching a weekly WorkForce development initiative serving African immigrants and refugees. Over fourteen months, the program provided resume assistance, job-search support, WorkForce navigation, entrepreneurship guidance, and referrals to critical services.
To deepen its understanding of the communities it serves, AfCoFo traveled through Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Ethiopia, Congo, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, and Lesotho. That fieldwork helps shape culturally competent support for African immigrant and refugee communities in New York.
The proof is practical: job retention, app mediation, employer mediation, English practice, referrals, and the confidence to keep moving. AfCoFo's model grew from direct service, not theory.
AfCoFo's fieldwork across Africa helps shape culturally competent strategies for African immigrant and refugee populations in New York.
With AfCoFo's support, Laurette Mulumba received nearly four weeks of wages she was owed while keeping her job.
Laurette Mulumba, Congo DRCAfCoFo helped Mamadou navigate the complexities of DoorDash gig work after months without app access, a failed French-language version, and no clear explanation or resolution process.
Mamadou Bah, DoorDash supportEmployer mediation that moved from a salary misunderstanding to a trusted employment relationship.
Mr. Evans, Employer MediationAfCoFo connects work, language, business, family stability, referrals, and dignity so Africans in New York can build themselves up.
WorkForce support includes job navigation, resume referral, workplace mediation, labor-rights guidance, training pathways, and trusted connections to employers and New York opportunities.
The ESOL Room is a place for English conversations, workplace vocabulary, forms, interviews, and daily navigation, with support rooted in the languages and cultures participants already carry.
The Ideas & Creativity Room gives African entrepreneurs space to dream, test ideas, and formalize African businesses in New York—from licenses and EINs to pricing and sustainable ownership.
Fourteen months of direct community engagement revealed recurring needs across African communities in New York. The following initiatives are AfCoFo's response: practical spaces, guidance, and connections shaped by what people told us they need.
What good is a job if you cannot communicate in a language where you can be heard? The ESOL Room is a necessary walk-in space where people can build confidence, practice English, and get support throughout the day as needed.
A private, culturally grounded space where African men can address the challenges they face in New York while managing responsibilities, relationships, and lives that stretch between New York and Africa.
Some shelters and public spaces do not provide room to be still or honor cultural practices. This dedicated space for prayer, meditation, grounding, and dignity helps people steady themselves while working toward better solutions for each day.
Africans are seldom afforded the right to dream and do. At AfCoFo, ideas are gold. This initiative helps entrepreneurs shape ideas, formalize businesses, and understand licenses, EINs, pricing, and practical next steps.
Access to information should come easily. Africans in New York deserve guidance through resources and referrals, along with the freedom to ask any question, especially the difficult ones.
AfCoFo centralizes trusted resources and opportunities so Africans do not have to wander while connecting the dots across New York. Community partnerships bring useful services and pathways into one clearer network.
Partner, volunteer, or donate to give Africans in New York the right to build for a better Africa.
Employers, funders, public institutions, and community organizations.
Bring opportunity closer to the people ready for it.
AfCoFo partners with educational institutions whose interns bring focused skills and sustained support alongside community volunteers.
Interns and neighbors turn specialized skills into consistent community support.
Your donation can help change the future of an African in New York and help build a better future for Africa.
Help someone move from uncertainty to a plan.
AfCoFo is a New York-based nonprofit connecting African immigrants and communities to WorkForce development, English learning, entrepreneurship, and economic mobility.
501(c)(3) nonprofit | EIN: 33-4625768
Through Partnerships for Africans, NYC, one of Africa Lab's campaigns, AfCoFo builds pathways to jobs, training, resources, and community support while strengthening the social and economic well-being of Africans in New York.
We serve as a bridge between African communities, public institutions, employers, and partners to advance inclusion, opportunity, and long-term success.
These values guide how AfCoFo shows up for every neighbor, partner, and community member.
Every person is met with respect, not as a case to manage but as a neighbor with experience, goals, and the right to be heard, supported, and treated with care.
Every African is welcome here, regardless of nationality, language, immigration status, education, or background. This is a place where everyone has a voice and belongs.
Opportunity means more than information. AfCoFo builds practical pathways to jobs, education, entrepreneurship, ownership, and the confidence to shape a lasting future.
AfCoFo exists because Africans in New York contribute fully to the city and deserve access, voice, reinvestment, and power. Our work is to open doors, build trust, and give Africans in New York the right to build for a better Africa.
AfCoFo is led by a growing team building practical pathways for Africans in New York.
Director of Operations
Director of Programs
Manager of Programs
Resources, Referrals & Questions Partner
Outreach & Translations Manager
Adjo B. / Haroun B. / Ameth D.
Experienced leaders guiding AfCoFo with accountability, community knowledge, and a shared commitment to opportunity.
Executive Director
Yolande Makha leads AfCoFo’s WorkForce, entrepreneurship, partnership, and organizational development initiatives. She brings more than two decades of experience in community engagement, nonprofit leadership, media, housing services, WorkForce development, and Africa–New York partnerships.
President
Catherine Weinstock is an interior designer and art dealer with more than 30 years of professional experience. She brings expertise in design, cultural development, relationship-building, strategic leadership, and organizational presentation.
Vice President
Muru Khamisi is the founder of The Africa Centre in Canada. He brings experience in nonprofit leadership, African community development, governance, strategic partnerships, and international collaboration.
Treasurer
Binta Diagana is a pharmacist and professor of pharmacy. She leads AfCoFo's government relations and public-sector partnership efforts, helping the organization build relationships with government agencies, educational institutions, and community stakeholders.
Director-at-Large
Sen-Pei Hsia is a nonprofit specialist and consultant in the film and minerals industries. She contributes expertise in nonprofit strategy, organizational growth, business development, cross-sector partnerships, and international industries.
Director of African Community & Government Relations
Nkumu Katalay is a native of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and a respected artist, cultural leader, and social activist. A multi-instrumentalist, speaker, and cultural curator, he has dedicated his career to promoting Congolese culture and strengthening connections among African communities, the African diaspora, and the broader global community.
AfCoFo connects fieldwork, advocacy, and language access across the continent to help African ideas travel farther and African communities participate fully.
Nkosana Makate conceived the idea behind Vodacom's “Please Call Me” service while working for the company. His pursuit of recognition and fair compensation lasted more than two decades before the parties reached an out-of-court settlement in November 2025.
The case has become a powerful lesson in ownership, written agreements, and the protection of African innovation.
For too long, Francophone and many other African countries have been excluded from global conversations, reinforcing divisions across the continent. In partnership with Teaching House and African governments, AfCoFo is committed to breaking down these barriers and fostering greater inclusion, collaboration, and representation.
AfCoFo is developing ESOL in Africa as culturally responsive English learning through conversation practice, workplace vocabulary, and cross-border participation, while honoring the languages people already carry.
Our work runs on interns and neighbors who coach, teach, mentor, translate, and build alongside African immigrants, including through partnerships with educational institutions.
Welcome participants, build trust, support outreach first, and help run community gatherings.
Job navigation, mock interviews, and practical WorkForce support.
Build English confidence through conversation, WorkForce vocabulary, and daily navigation.
Help founders transform ideas into formal, sustainable businesses that can move from generation to generation.
Legal and labor advocates help employees and employers resolve workplace challenges with fairness and clarity, promoting healthy work environments rather than taking one side against the other.
Help facilitate a confidential, culturally grounded space where African men can speak honestly about family, relationships, work, pressure, and possible solutions.
Tell us your interests and availability.
Get oriented, matched, and ready to start.
Show up, build relationships, change lives.
Tell us how you would like to support AfCoFo. The form captures the details needed to follow up with a clear next step.
A clear, trusted bridge between African immigrant communities and the employers, institutions, and funders who can open real doors.
Hire job-ready talent and build a pipeline of motivated candidates.
Extend credentials and skills programs to a community eager to grow.
Reach African immigrant New Yorkers with culturally competent navigation.
Invest in a proven, community-led model with more than three years of results.
Co-create programs and share trusted referrals so people can move between services with clear, coordinated support.
Partner with mosques, churches, and cultural spaces to reach people through trusted places of worship, culture, and community.
Shared goals, clear roles, hiring events, training cohorts, entrepreneurship showcases, and cultural-competency insight drawn from fieldwork across Africa and NYC.
Tell us about your organization and how you would like to work with AfCoFo.
Funds AfCoFo programs, weekly support, ESOL conversations, WorkForce coaching, referrals, and daily operations.
Helps African entrepreneurs and business owners formalize, test, and grow ideas with practical guidance, modest capital, and trusted support.
iPads or tablets, professional clothing, and practical gift cards can support participants directly.
AfCoFo is building volunteer relationships with Fordham, Columbia, NYU, CUNY, and skilled community members.
Companies can sponsor WorkForce programming, match employee gifts, host volunteer days, support hiring pathways, and help build the Fund for Ideas.
Questions, referrals, volunteer interest, partnership ideas, and giving conversations can begin here.
