Freely in Hope
2025 Annual Report
Anniversary
Edition
Explore the Report
Who We Are
The Problem
More than 370 million girls and women alive today – or 1 in 8 – experienced rape or sexual assault before the age of 18. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of victims, with 79 million girls and women affected – UNICEF
Our Solution
Freely in Hope equips survivors to lead in ending the cycle of sexual violence so that we can see a world free of sexual violence. We empower girls and women in Sub-Saharan Africa to lead with their lived experiences as they work to care for survivors and prevent sexual abuse worldwide.
Our Strategic Priorities
Survivor Leadership
Develop and platform survivor-leaders that transform systems across global communities
Thought Leadership
Be known for proven best practices in anti-sexual violence initiatives designed by survivors of sexual violence
Sustainability
Transition to sustainable Afrocentric survivor-leadership model
Letter to Our Community
Dear friends,
Fifteen years ago, I started Freely in Hope from a little spark of hope that our mission could somehow support survivors to find their own sense of hope after facing unspeakable violence. I knew that our mission of ending sexual violence would not happen overnight—still, my dream was to make healing, liberation, and opportunity possible for one survivor at a time.
15 Years
At A Glance: Then vs. Now!
Fifteen years ago, our work began with a commitment to walk alongside two survivors with belief in her potential. Over time, we listened, we learned, and we strengthened our practices that center survivor-leadership.
Today, our work reflects not only where we began but what we have learned through consistent presence and allowing the experiences, wisdom, and voices of survivors in our communities to shape our mission.
2 scholars provided with access to education.
50 girls provided with holistic education, health care, counseling, leadership development, and career pathways.
2 scholars provided with access to education.
50 girls provided with holistic education, health care, counseling, leadership development, and career pathways.
Fifteen years in, our work remains rooted in the same truth: that survivors do not just rebuild their own lives, they lead communities that create safe spaces for all.
Our Impact in 2025
In 2025, your partnership enabled us to reach 7,074 people as we deepened our work across four core program areas:
Holistic Education
We believe education prevents sexual abuse and reabuse, and must go beyond access; it must equip survivors to lead. The Arise Scholarship Program provides holistic academic high school and university scholarships to survivors of sexual abuse.
Your investment this year helped us support 14 scholars with academic tuition, counseling, safe housing, upkeep, health care, and leadership development, equipping them to be leaders in their communities.
2025 Arise Scholarship Highlights
100% retention rates at both high school and University. No scholar dropped out of school.
100% transition rate from high school to university. All the 3 high school graduates successfully transitioned to university.
scholar graduated with a diploma in beauty therapy!
4 scholars were co-facilitators in our Girls & Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection programs as part of their leadership development journeys.
What Changed this Year?
With over 30 counseling sessions & structured check-in sessions, 23 scholars and alumni demonstrated increased confidence in communication, boundary-setting, and leadership capacity due to the consistent support they received from social workers and the leadership development training.
Alumni engagement grew!
660 community members were impacted by 9 alumni signaling readiness for structured alumni pathways.
2025 Highlights Include
425 children through Pendo’s Power workshops
5,090 adults reached through training workshops
17 disclosures safely supported
What Changed this Year?
Our Pendo’s Power Child Protection workshops have proven to strengthen prevention, disclosure, and response systems in the communities that we serve across Kenya, Zambia, and beyond!
Leadership is a constant dance of balancing tensions between strength and vulnerability, accountability and compassion. Healing, growth, and resilience are nurtured collectively through humility, trust, and shared community.” 2
Lydia Matioli
Programs & Partnerships Director
Leadership is a constant dance of balancing tensions between strength and vulnerability, accountability and compassion. Healing, growth, and resilience are nurtured collectively through humility, trust, and shared community.”
Lydia Matioli
Programs & Partnerships Director
Leadership is a constant dance of balancing tensions between strength and vulnerability, accountability and compassion. Healing, growth, and resilience are nurtured collectively through humility, trust, and shared community.”
Lydia Matioli
Programs & Partnerships Director
Being a Freely in Hope Fellow has been a blessing; I have been able to facilitate sessions on child protection and sexual abuse prevention with professionals and caregivers.”
Arise Scholar
Velma, an Arise Scholar pursuing a BA in Education, is a third-year university student in Kenya, specializing in Maths and Physics. In her second year, she desired to do more in her community and applied to be a fellow at Freely in Hope. Fellows are scholars who want to study part-time while working part-time to create an impact in the communities that we serve. She joined our child protection program, where she is being mentored in real time on creating safe spaces for children in schools. As a key trainer for educators, Velma is strengthening our child protection program!
Being a Freely in Hope Fellow has been a blessing; I have been able to facilitate sessions on child protection and sexual abuse prevention with professionals and caregivers.”
Arise Scholar
Velma, an Arise Scholar pursuing a BA in Education, is a third-year university student in Kenya, specializing in Maths and Physics. In her second year, she desired to do more in her community and applied to be a fellow at Freely in Hope. Fellows are scholars who want to study part-time while working part-time to create an impact in the communities that we serve. She joined our child protection program, where she is being mentored in real time on creating safe spaces for children in schools. As a key trainer for educators, Velma is strengthening our child protection program!
Being a Freely in Hope Fellow has been a blessing; I have been able to facilitate sessions on child protection and sexual abuse prevention with professionals and caregivers.”
Arise Scholar
Velma, an Arise Scholar pursuing a BA in Education, is a third-year university student in Kenya, specializing in Maths and Physics. In her second year, she desired to do more in her community and applied to be a fellow at Freely in Hope. Fellows are scholars who want to study part-time while working part-time to create an impact in the communities that we serve. She joined our child protection program, where she is being mentored in real time on creating safe spaces for children in schools. As a key trainer for educators, Velma is strengthening our child protection program!
Coming Full Circle:
Survivor Leadership in Action
At the heart of Freely in Hope is a vision that has guided us for the past 15 years: that survivors are not only capable of rebuilding their lives, but of leading change within their communities. For 15 years, we witnessed this vision come full circle. Across our programs, young women who once entered our spaces seeking support are now stepping forward as mentors, facilitators, and leaders, shaping the very programs that once supported them. This is what sustained impact looks like: not just transformation at an individual level, but leadership that multiplies, influences, and creates new pathways for others.
In this section, we invite you to see the power of accompaniment over time, and what becomes possible when survivors are trusted, invested in, and given space to lead.
Then
Now
In 2010, Eunice became our first scholar in Kenya and was awarded the first scholarship from Freely in Hope—achieving a bachelors degree in Counseling Psychology.
After working with Freely in Hope as our first social worker, Eunice founded Wounded Healers International, an organization empowering survivors of all forms of sexual violence through skills training, safe housing for child survivors, and community engagement in Kenya. She is a Kenyan counseling psychologist, cultural strategist, mindfulness practitioner, empowerment educator, and advocate for justice—bringing lived experience, deep presence, and genuine warmth into every room she enters.
In 2010, Eunice became our first scholar in Kenya and was awarded the first scholarship from Freely in Hope—achieving a bachelors degree in Counseling Psychology.
After working with Freely in Hope as our first social worker, Eunice founded Wounded Healers International, an organization empowering survivors of all forms of sexual violence through skills training, safe housing for child survivors, and community engagement in Kenya. She is a Kenyan counseling psychologist, cultural strategist, mindfulness practitioner, empowerment educator, and advocate for justice—bringing lived experience, deep presence, and genuine warmth into every room she enters.
As we reflect on these full-circle moments, we are reminded that the true measure of impact is not only in what is received, but in what is carried forward. When survivors step into leadership, the work extends far beyond our programs, into communities, systems, and future generations. This is the kind of change that lasts. And it is made possible through consistent investment, trust, and the belief that those closest to the work are best positioned to lead it.
Voices From Our Team
15 years of impact through those who carry Freely in Hope’s vision.
Behind every program, every milestone, and every story of transformation is a team deeply committed to walking alongside survivors with care, consistency, and belief in what is possible. As we mark 15 years of Freely in Hope, we pause to reflect not only on the impact of our work but on our team who carry it forward each day.
What has 15 years of Freely in
Hope taught you?
Lasting impact is not just about creating programs, it is about building pathways where survivors are supported, empowered, and trusted to become leaders within their own communities.”
Lydia Matioli
Programs & Partnerships Director
Lasting impact is not just about creating programs, it is about building pathways where survivors are supported, empowered, and trusted to become leaders within their own communities.”
Lydia Matioli
Programs & Partnerships Director
Lasting impact is not just about creating programs, it is about building pathways where survivors are supported, empowered, and trusted to become leaders within their own communities.”
Lydia Matioli
Programs & Partnerships Director
Our Financials
*Income figure varies from out filed 990 to reflect income received in Africa
**Asset figure includes ending bank balance in the US and Kenya
Donor Reflection:
Why I partner with FIH
For the past 15 years, we’ve supported Freely in Hope—this ministry has been close to my heart since its beginning. On a recent trip to Kenya, I witnessed the fruit of this work firsthand. I met scholars who were once survivors—now thriving as confident, compassionate leaders. They are boldly using their voices and platforms to prevent sexual abuse and bring healing to thousands of women, children, and families in their communities.
THE TRANSFORMATION IS NOTHING SHORT OF MIRACULOUS. WE ARE GRATEFUL TO PLAY A SMALL PART IN SEEING THE DREAMS OF WOMEN AND GIRLS BECOME A REALITY!”
Kim and John
San Fransisco. California
Our Future
Building the Next 15 years
As we step into a new chapter under Afrocentric survivor leadership, we move forward grounded in what we have achieved and learned, and open and hopeful to what is next. We invite you, our community of donors, partners, mentors, educators, advocates, and friends, to help shape what comes next.
Holistic Education
We envision the Arise Scholarship Program continuing to grow into a leadership pipeline that supports scholars holistically as emerging leaders in their communities.
How You Can Partner with us:
Become a Hope Circle member. Support the intake of 10 new scholars in Kenya.
Mentor a scholar or an alumnus
Provide internship or job opportunities for our graduate scholars.
The work ahead is both urgent and deeply hopeful. As we build on 15 years of impact, we remain committed to walking alongside survivors with dignity, consistency, and belief in what is possible. Whether through partnership, mentorship, advocacy, or financial support, there is a place for you in this story.
Thank You!
Asante Sana!
Zikomo Kwambiri!
