About Us

We are a team that believes anyone deserves a fair chance in life

We're a highly motivated German-Ghanaian team with support from the Netherlands, South Africa and the UK who cares deeply about the work we do. We love to experiment with new ideas and are not afraid to try new ways. Also, we like to have a lot of fun while doing it.

The founding story

Back in 2006

Long before the actual founding, the idea of this initiative was already very much alive in the minds of Anna and Amin Zaaki. Together, they helped people in Ghana, home of Amin, privately. More and more frequently, they were supported by people from their family and friends who were happy to help with donations. This generous help motivated seven founding members at the beginning of 2006 to make the Aminu Initiative (until 2018 known as “NIMA”) a reality.

The name

Our former name “NIMA” read the other way round leads us to “Amin”, meaning “trustworthy”. At the same time, “Amin” is the name of our chairman Amin Zaaki, who as co-founder and Ghanaian plays a major role in our work. Actually, most people call him Aminu, with an “u”, which is a commonly used diminution of names in Ghana. And because it has all started as just a private initiative from Anna and Amin, we wanted to honor that. So, this is how we come up with “Aminu Initiative”.

Our core values

Transparency

Be transparent and truthful in everything you do.

Belief

Choose optimism on a daily basis and your conviction to pursue greatness.

Courage

Use courage to empower others, even when it is not easy.

... even when it's sometimes hard on you

Our beautiful team

Anna Zaaki

Co-Founder + CEO

Amin Zaaki

Co-Founder + Chairman

Monika Frey

Co-Founder + Vice Chairman

Günter Frey

Co-Founder

Jana Krawinkel

Co-Founder

Jörg Krawinkel

Co-Founder

Eva Klein

Co-Founder

Executive Board

Anna Zaaki

Executive Chairman

Amin Zaaki

Vice Chairman

Ulrike Oerter

Member of the Board

Mutawakilu Samori

Member of the Board

Project Partners Ghana

Monika Frey

Chairman

Günter Frey

Vice Chairman

Heidi Adena

Advisory Board Member

Stefan Roßkopf

Advisory Board Member

Katrin Köberle-Ehrhard

Management Assistant, Team weltwärts & Public Relations

Dr. Faisal Garba

Anti-Racism, Diversity & Post Colonialism

Albert Schiemann

Head of Brand & Marketing

Tamara Biwo

Project Management & PR

Andrea Göbel

Accounting

Sara Zimmermann

Head of Task Group weltwärts

Sarah Zeißig

Team weltwärts

Yvonne McGlothan

Event Management

Ruth Buchert

Photography

Doris Ottenritter

Back Office

Elke Oerter

Translation

“Sayida” Mariam Abdul Kadir

Mentor weltwärts

“Muda” Mamadu Mudasiru

CEO of Cin Gaban Nima & Founder of Günter Frey Int. School

Dr. Faisal Garba

Vice-Chairman Cin Gaban Nima & Anti-Racism Coach

Hickma Ibrahim

Board Member of Cin Gaban Nima & Head of One Love Children’s Home

Umar Muhammed

Board Member of Cin Gaban Nima & Project Coordinator

Mohammed “Ayuba” Mamadu

Management Board & Administrator of Günter Frey Int. School

Manaf Cheiba

Management Board & Head of Junior Program

Stella Ahuna

Head of One Love Children’s Home

Mohammed Dasmani

Headmaster Günter Frey Int. School

Mariam Abdul Kadir

Mentor of weltwärts Volunteers

Zubaida Abdul Karim

Team Junior Program

Mardiya Suleiman Cheiba

Some of our special supporters

Florence Brokowski-Shekete

Florence Brokowski-Shekete

School director, Author and Coach

Jörg Roßkopf

Jörg Roßkopf

Table Tennis World Champion and National coach

Dayan Kodua

Dayan Kodua

Actress, Author and Speaker

Prof. Dr. phil. Michael Vilain

Prof. Dr. phil. Michael Vilain

Vice President for Research and International Affairs, Managing Director of the Institute for Future Issues in the Health and Social Economy (IZGS)

Dr. Faisal Garba

Dr. Faisal Garba

Dr. Faisal Garba, Lecturer at the University of Cape Town, South Africa and Freiburg, Germany

Holger Zindt

Holger Zindt

Regional Head of Marketing, Deutsche Vermögensberatung

Our culture

“We value cross-cultural cooperation and diversity of thought. As a learning organisation we enjoy learning from and with each other as part of our day-to-day work.”
— Amin Zaaki
Chairman of Aminu Initiative

Change the world with us

We're on a mission to give children and young adults a real chance in life through feasible education. Join the team. We're always looking for enthusiastic people.

Donate

You can transform lives for these young children. Every single penny will help.

Mango Family

A community of monthly givers helping us to plan our programs with greater certainty and more sustainably.