RISA CHARITABLE TRUST
email:info@risafund.org
web: www.risafund.org
TEL: 774.276.0202
9120 173rd Ave SE
Snohomish, WA 98290 USA
Board Co-President
Taya Weiss is a policy researcher and community advocate based in Johannesburg. Although she is an American citizen, Taya has been living in South Africa since 2002. Taya graduated from Harvard University in 1999 with a BA in African History and Development. Taya has worked for the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, investigating the flow and demand of small arms throughout Africa. Under the Institute's Peace Missions Program, Taya helped assemble an initiative aimed at heightening police sensitivity towards gender-based violence. Taya began her work for the Institute in 2002.
Taya also donates a considerable amount of time to community-based projects in and around Johannesburg. Specifically, she founded IMPACT Africa, a full-impact, emotionally self-aware self-defense program aimed at empowering women and youth in disadvantaged areas. She also sits on the Management Board of the Pastoral Center in Kliptown, Soweto, serving as a fundraiser and financial advisor. Her ongoing presence in Kliptown has earned her the role of general advocate for this extremely impoverished community. Taya played a key role in helping the Pastoral Center develop a grant proposal to RISA during the summer of 2004. Taya continues to provide RISA with regular updates as to the ongoing impact of our business skills grant to the Center.
Taya has also authored a number of monographs and articles relating to timely problems facing Africa.
Overall, Taya's work - both paid and volunteer - reveals her deep commitment to enhancing the lives of those who live at the economic and social margins of African societies.