Richard Leakey founded WildlifeDirect in 2005 (originally named Africa Conservation Fund) to address the chronic shortfall of funds for conservation in Africa, by devising an innovative mechanism to generate global concern and deliver technical support and sustainable funding for protection of Africa’s key conservation areas. This would enable conservation managers to be effective, while also responding quickly to conservation emergencies, thus ensuring that the wildlife assets in these places to survive despite economic challenges. WildlifeDirect prioritizes key ecosystems and habitats for example important centers of biodiversity where protected areas cannot depend on tourism revenues alone for the conservation of this heritage in Africa such as the Masai Mara,  the Albertine Rift and species like mountain gorillas, elephants and lions.

Blogs on wildlifedirect written by mainly African conservationists brings the voice from the field to a global platform where it raises awareness, gets picked up by media, and gives these heroes the recognition they deserve. 

Our proposal is to develop a website, which houses all the programs available in the community to youth ages 13-24 as they prepare or experience a transition from childhood to adulthood. The website will provide information for programs, services, grants, volunteer opportunities, etc and their location using a google map mashup. The youth or provider using the website would answer a questionnaire regarding the youth and be provided with a list of programs/services he or she is eligible along with the information and location for the agency providing the service. This website will be updated monthly to reflecting the constantly changing programming within the community. This pilot program can then be duplicated in communities all over the world.

Transportation and communication are major barriers for residents to connect to services offered. If we could provide this one-stop website with the services and locations and promote it city-wide, then these two barriers may be resolved.

Locally we have a collaboration of over 16 organizations committed to improving services for youth to ensure we are developing well-rounded and supported individuals.