Esther's Echo Star Trek Fundraiser

Welcome to the Esther's Echo 2022 Fundraiser, in partnership with Team Star Trek! We hope that Star Trek fans around the globe participate in supporting our goals to help Esther Kanu - community leader, educator, and woman of action.

Esther's Echo - Women in Action Profile Video

Esther is the founder of the Women in Action Development Project, an initiative she launched in 1996 to aid Sierra Leone's women and girls during the Blood Diamond Civil War. Women in Action as many as 50 students every year, offering vocational training and promoting English literacy, computer literacy, financial literacy, and business management. Many graduates have gone on to start their own businesses or work for international non-profit organizations.

Esther discusses the success stories of the Women in Action Development Project

Esther's Echo is just that - a way to amplify Esther’s message so that the school’s work can reach a wider audience in search of financial support. So far, EE has assisted in times of crisis, such as the 2014 Ebola outbreak and the severe flooding of 2016, relocated the school twice, opened a second location, and purchased a five-acre plot of farmland to aid in revenue generation to fund an orphanage and daycare center.

Women in Action ran entirely on local fundraising support and catering contracts until astronomer and activist Matthew Cimone met Esther in 2004 while studying International Development in Sierra Leone. In 2011, Esther’s Echo was officially founded as a Canadian Non-Profit organization to support Women in Action. You can visit the Esther's Echo website for more of Esther's story, videos, and how Esther's Echo strives to tell a different, inclusive story of Africa.

Esther & Matthew in Vancouver

Star Trek inspired Matthew from a young age by providing a vision of what is possible when humanity works together to solve problems and reach for the stars. Currently, Matthew works as an astronomer and science educator with both the Trottier Observatory and the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver. He is a host on the Trek Geeks Podcast Network. You may have also spotted him at Star Trek: Las Vegas in 2019 filming interviews for his documentary "Chasing Atlantis" a film about reconnecting with a childhood passion for space exploration inspired by the space shuttle's retirement.

By coming together with the Trek Geeks Network, media director Amy Imhoff, numerous actors, creatives, and prominent fans of the Star Trek community Matthew and Esther encourage you to support education in Sierra Leone, lifting women's voices and providing opportunities in a region rebuilding after severe conflict.

Questions? Want to do more to help? Please reach out on Twitter to Matthew (@BeWonder_Full) and Amy (@amyimhoff1701) for more info. Thank you for your support!