About Us
The Australian African Foundation for Retention and Opportunity (AAFRO) exists primarily to build a bridge between children, young people, and families of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, especially those of African descent and the wider Australian community.
Our vision is that all Africans and other CALD communities within Australia will feel welcomed, trusted, and understood.
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AAFRO was founded in 2010 by Mamadou Diamanka, who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director of the company.
The idea of AAFRO first emerged in 2009 when, after migrating to Australia, Mamadou noticed that a vast amount of young people, particularly those of African descent and other Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds, required support to integrate into wider Australian society harmoniously. To support these young people and families, he commenced a youth work practice, providing them with a variety of programs that were tailored to meet their well-being needs. This program then led to forming AAFRO in 2011. Mamadou dedicates his time to volunteering to help others and at the same time building the charity mission and vision, building the Organisation.
AAFRO is a registered charity and a deductible gift recipient (DGR).
Our mission is to provide and ensure sustainable access to opportunities for immigrants, refugees, and vulnerable young people, particularly those of African and other ethnic backgrounds.
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To achieve our mission, we strive towards meeting three key objectives for these people and their families:
To assist with their integration into wider society by providing them with education, counselling, self-development skills, housing assistance, and cultural advice to re-establish their economic and emotional independence.
To develop and run programs to improve their livelihoods, including those that focus on preventing poverty and distress and providing educational opportunities to improve economic and social circumstances for at-risk individuals.
To promote greater awareness – in schools, government and non-government agencies, and service providers – of the circumstances of young people of African and other descent, as well as members of their families living in Australia.
AAFRO will meet these objectives by creating partnerships with not-for-profits, private enterprises, government, individuals, and wider service providers to build a strong community.
The philosophy of the Ubuntu Framework is built on the concepts of humanity, traditional African moral values, respect, integrity, togetherness, compassion, fairness and dignity.
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The AAFRO way of working is in combination of the Ubuntu framework and Restorative. This allows us to respond to the complex needs of individuals, families, communities and the wider society issues in an effective and timely manner.
Our Theory of Change
Meet the AAFRO Family
Our Team
Mamadou Diamanka
AAFRO CEO & Managing Director
The founder of AAFRO, Mamadou has worked widely in council, youth justice services, non-for-profit organisations, and flexible school education.
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He has extensive experience working with disadvantaged and incarcerated young people and families. Having grown up in Africa, he is active in promoting permaculture and sustainability across diverse communities. In 2015 he was awarded the Ethnic Community Council of Victoria (EECV) Scholarship to enter Leadership Victoria’s Williamson Community Leadership Program. In 2016, he was the recipient of a Westpac Social Change Fellowship to travel to Baltimore for group community conferencing training. On his time off, Mamadou volunteers as a boundary umpire at his local girls’ junior football club, and enjoys running, walking, and swimming.
Jiress Musafiri
General Manager — Children, Youth & Family Program
Jiress is a Congolese-born Australian who migrated to Australia at a young age after fleeing Africa’s Great War. A qualified Community Services professional, he is passionate about empowering young people through education and employment pathways.
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Having grown up in regional Victoria, Jiress understands the balance between cultural identity and adapting to a new society. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with family and friends and has a strong interest in sports.
Dr Ebrima Sarr
Senior Manager - Organisational Development, Operations, Compliance & Child Safety
Sarr is a Senior Manager at AAFRO and a Leadership Victoria Williamson Fellow. He is also an accredited social worker with several years’ experience in local government and not-for-profit organisations.
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He believes in the safety and empowerment of children, young people, and families. He is committed to social justice, advocacy and has served as a democracy ambassador. Sarr likes spending time with his family and sports. He enjoys learning and speaking different languages.
Jennifer Coster
Jennifer Coster is an education leader, strategist and equity advocate with more than 20 years’ experience across secondary, tertiary and international education. She works in senior leadership at Monash College and Monash University, leading programs that support diverse and international students to transition successfully into higher education.
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Jennifer has a strong track record in designing culturally responsive learning environments, improving student retention, and creating pathways for learners from underrepresented communities. Much of her work has focused on supporting young people navigating migration, language acquisition and systemic disadvantage, aligning closely with AAFRO’s mission.
With expertise in curriculum design, leadership development and organisational change, Jennifer advises institutions on how to move beyond compliance toward meaningful inclusion. As a member of the African Australian for Retention and Opportunity (AAFRO) Advisory Board, she brings strategic insight, governance experience and a deep commitment to social justice, contributing to systems that enable African Australian young people and families to thrive.
Eloisa Evangelista
Masters of Public Health, Masters of Health and Human Services Management, B. Orth & Ophthal. Sciences
Eloisa has a proven track record of challenging the status quo, driven by her passion to create positive social change through improved health and wellbeing outcomes.
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A qualified Orthoptist, she has a unique skillset of program evaluation, stakeholder consultation, strategic planning, project management, public policy and analytics accumulated over a decade of community and health service experience.
Eloisa is currently a Managing Consultant at Impact Co., a boutique start-up consultancy firm specialising in health, mental health, disability and Indigenous Affairs. Prior to Impact Co., Eloisa worked at Bupa where she consulted and provided strategic insights to corporate and tertiary education consumers to initiate positive ways of thinking and doing business through improved employee health and productivity. Prior to this, she held roles at South Eastern Melbourne PHN (SEMPHN), RACGP, Victorian Healthcare Association and Bayside Medicare Local.
Eloisa is also a member of the Australian Evaluation Society and Co-Chair of the Australasian College of Health Service Management's Emerging Health Managers' group.
Dr Diana Johns
Diana Johns is Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Melbourne, where she researches and teaches about prisons and punishment, young people and the justice system.
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Her research is focused on the effects of criminalisation, the impacts of imprisonment, the possibilities of restorative, relational, reintegrative justice practices, and working in an Ubuntu way with African Australian communities. Her book ‘Being and Becoming an Ex-Prisoner’ was published in 2018. Two more recent books, written with colleagues, include 'Place, Race and Politics: The Anatomy of a Law and Order Crisis' (published in 2021) and 'Coproduction and Criminal Justice' (published in 2022). She has three daughters, a husband, a dog and a guinea pig.
Dr Ian Coller
A founding member of AAFRO, Dr Ian Coller is Professor of History at the University of California, Irvine. He volunteered for five years teaching English and Humanities classes in the AAFRO tutoring program at Flemington Primary School and helped to shape programs such as the Wheel Project.
Kirra Greaves
Kirra is a teacher and career practitioner who has worked in the education sector for a decade, mostly in flexible and inclusive education settings. She has volunteered as an AAFRO Live 2 Learn tutor since 2021 and enjoys working alongside the young people in the program each Saturday morning.
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In her own work and study, Kirra is interested in making sure that education and career development opportunities are inclusive and accessible for everyone. She currently works as the Education Sector Lead at Orygen, Australia’s centre of excellence in youth mental health.
Tara Crowe
Tara has extensive strategic marketing, communications and partnerships experience and is currently the Partnerships and Business Development Lead with Leadership Victoria, a NFP that builds the adaptive leadership capacity and networks of Victoria's leaders.
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As part of her eclectic and diverse experience, Tara spent nine years living and working in Tanzania, East Africa leading a luxury adventure safari company. It is here she reconnected with her Mother's Kenyan roots, learnt Swahili and was forever changed from the experience of living in a collective culture.
Tara proudly resides on Boon wurrung Country in Melbourne’s Inner West, spends a lot of time watching women’s sports, throwing a ball for her dog, Chica and cooking delicious vegan recipes but plays her most important role as mother and partner.