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Working with local contacts in Uganda, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, Sara Dunkley set up the Beautiful World Canada Foundation in 2011 to provide financial assistance for young women who want to attend university or technical schoolsnata_vkusidey/Getty Images/iStockphoto

The donor: Sara Dunkley

The gift: Creating the Beautiful World Canada Foundation

The reason: To provide scholarships to women in Africa

Sara Dunkley and her husband, Brad Dunkley, have made several donations to support education in Canada, including funding a variety of scholarships. But a few years ago, Ms. Dunkley decided to broaden her focus and concentrate on helping women in Africa who have fewer educational opportunities.

Working with local contacts in Uganda, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, Ms. Dunkley set up the Beautiful World Canada Foundation in 2011 to provide financial assistance for young women who want to attend university or technical schools. Students are carefully selected and the foundation offers funding for tuition, housing and mentorship for as long as it takes the women to graduate. So far, 450 scholarships have been granted and 74 students have graduated.

The foundation also runs workshops on how to write résumés and business plans. About half of the $800,000 annual budget comes from the couple's family foundation and the remainder is raised through donations.

Ms. Dunkley has met some of the students and marvelled at their perseverance. "The more we learn about them and their families, it's unbelievable," said Ms. Dunkley, who runs a Toronto-based billboard company called Stellar Outdoor Advertising. "It's very humbling what they've accomplished."

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