What Tostan does

Tostan is a Senegal-headquartered nonprofit organization, founded in 1991, that delivers community-led human rights education and social transformation programs across five West African countries: Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, and Nigeria. Its core offering is the Community Empowerment Program (CEP), a non-formal education methodology built on grassroots mobilization, participatory training, and public declarations, through which rural communities abandon harmful traditional practices such as female genital cutting and child marriage. Following CEP completion, communities access a portfolio of specialized modules: Prison Project (hygiene and reintegration support for female inmates in Senegalese prisons, in partnership with the Senegalese government), Peace and Security (conflict prevention in Mali and The Gambia), Child Protection, Reinforcement of Parental Practices, Community Development Grants, and Strengthening Democracy and Civic Engagement. A Mobile Phone for Literacy and Development Module extends delivery to basic mobile channels.

The organization is funded entirely through donations and grants, with all programs delivered free of charge to participants. Go-to-market is community-based and field-led, relying on trained facilitators rather than commercial channels; marketing and stakeholder engagement occur through a blog, email newsletter, earned media, and in-person events. Tostan operates a physical training facility — the Tostan Training Center in Brikama, The Gambia — which serves as a capacity-building hub. The organization employs 51–100 staff and in 2024 transitioned leadership from founder Molly Melching to new CEO Sobel Aziz Ngom. No financial disclosures, funding rounds, or technology platform details beyond the mobile module are present in the available data.

Name

Tostan

Legal name

Tostan International

Website

https://tostan.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Tostan is a Senegal-based nonprofit, founded in 1991, that delivers community-led human rights education across five West African countries through its Community Empowerment Program and specialized post-CEP modules, serving rural communities, women, children, and female inmates.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Education & Human Rights Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Educational Services (611), Child and Youth Services (62411)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations (BPAGAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

NGO/Nonprofit Education Programs & Service Delivery (EDADALAC)

Keywords

• Community empowerment education
• Human rights programs
• Gender equality advocacy
• Social transformation
• Non-formal education

Headquarters

HQ city

Dakar

HQ country

Senegal

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: Tostan is a nonprofit organization funded through donations and grants from various donors and partners to support its community empowerment programs across West Africa.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Tostan is a nonprofit that delivers a 30-month non-formal Community Empowerment Program (CEP) and Post-CEP modules covering human rights, health, democracy, and economic well-being to rural West African communities. Programs are provided free of charge to participants, with additional initiatives including a Prison Project in partnership with the Senegal Prison System, a facilitator Training Program, a Mobile Phone for Literacy and Development Module, and a Tostan Training Center in Brikama, The Gambia.

Product overview

Tostan is a non-profit organization operating a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on the Community Empowerment Program (CEP), a core human rights-based education initiative. Following CEP completion, communities access Post-CEP specialized modules including Prison Project, Peace and Security, Child Protection, Reinforcement of Parental Practices, Community Development Grants, and Strengthening Democracy. Additional offerings include Training Programs delivered through the Tostan Training Center in Brikama, The Gambia, and the Mobile Phone for Literacy and Development Module. Tostan International provides social impact programs rather than technology products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Community Empowerment Program (CEP) A 30-month non-formal education program in human rights, health, hygiene, and democracy delivered to rural West African communities; participants typically join a Community Management Committee to lead post-program community development and public declarations against FGC and child marriage.
• Prison Project Prisons Project delivered in partnership with the Senegal Prison System, applying Tostan's empowerment and human-rights education to incarcerated populations (with a focus on female inmates).
• Training Program Training Program offering structured facilitation training to participants and partners in Tostan's community-led education methodology.
• Tostan Training Center (Brikama, The Gambia) Tostan Training Center in Brikama, The Gambia — a dedicated facility inaugurated on 4 October 2019 — used to anchor training, capacity-building, and community engagement across the region.
• Mobile Phone for Literacy and Development Module An instructional module leveraging mobile-phone technology to support literacy and development learning as part of Tostan's education portfolio.

Quantifiable outcome

• Public declarations leading to community abandonment of FGC and child marriage
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Senegal GovernmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTostan collaborates with the Senegalese government on prison reform initiatives, working to address conditions for female inmates through hygiene distribution, skills training, and reintegration support programs.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Plan International: Global NGO focused on children's rights, girls' empowerment, and ending harmful traditional practices including child marriage and FGC. Directly comparable mission overlap, particularly on child protection and gender-based programming in West Africa.
• Equality Now: International human rights organization specifically focused on ending FGC, child marriage, and gender-based violence through legal advocacy and community engagement. Highly comparable mission focus on harmful traditional practices.
• BRAC: One of the world's largest development NGOs, operating community empowerment, education, and human rights programs across Africa and South Asia. Directly comparable to Tostan in its community-led, non-formal education model and multi-country NGO footprint.
• World Education: US-based international development nonprofit delivering community education, literacy, and social transformation programs across Africa and Asia. Comparable methodology (non-formal community education) and beneficiary base.
• Population Council: Global research and programs nonprofit working on adolescent girls, FGC, child marriage, and gender-based violence in Africa and globally. Comparable programmatic focus and evidence-based community interventions.
• Pact: International development nonprofit working on community empowerment, governance, and health in Africa and globally. Comparable in running community-led empowerment programs and capacity-building across multiple African countries.
• CAMFED (Campaign for Female Education): Pan-African nonprofit focused on girls' education and women's empowerment in rural sub-Saharan Africa. Closely comparable target population (rural girls and women), regional focus (sub-Saharan Africa), and outcomes (education, gender equality).

Emerging players

• 28 Too Many: UK-based NGO specifically dedicated to ending FGC across Africa. Direct thematic peer to Tostan's FGC-abolition work, though smaller in geographic reach and focused on research and advocacy rather than field delivery.

Broad incumbents

• Save the Children: Large global NGO running child protection, education, and rights programs including in West Africa. Overlaps with Tostan on child protection, education access, and community-based programming but at vastly greater scale.
• CARE International: Large international humanitarian NGO running women's empowerment, education, and community development programs globally. Overlaps with Tostan on gender equality and community-led social change but operates at far greater scale and scope.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tostan
• Facebookfacebook.com/21482158469
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tostan

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tostan