What Stichting The Cornerstone Foundation does

Stichting The Cornerstone Foundation is a Dutch charitable foundation (ANBI-status Stichting) established in 1996 and headquartered in Vleuten, the Netherlands, that funds and partners on development projects in Rwanda. It operates with 1-10 staff and a volunteer board (Chairman Norman Halsall, Secretary Maya John, Treasurer Angel Ann Edison), and is registered under RSIN 8051.84.806 and KVK 41093954. The foundation's mission is to enable people in developing countries to earn their own incomes through vocational training, social enterprises, and microbusiness support.

The foundation delivers its work through three core programs, each implemented with local Rwandan partners. The Great Lakes Hospitality Institute (since 2017), run in partnership with Over The Moon and accredited by the Rwanda TVET Board and UK-based CTH, provides hospitality and cookery skills training in Kigali with a 75% graduate employment rate. GIFT (Ganza-Inema Fair Trade, formerly RWAFAT), a partnership active since 2020, operates Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) microfinance groups for women — supporting 510 beneficiaries across 17 cohorts. Inyenyeri, launched in 2019-2020, targets 30 single mothers in Rwanda with personal development, agricultural training, microfinance access, and entrepreneurship support.

The foundation has no commercial revenue model; it is funded entirely by donations from individuals and organizations, accepted via Dutch bank transfer (IBAN NL40INGB0007458309) with the option for donors to direct funds to specific projects. Marketing and donor engagement occur through the cornerstone-foundation.org website, email newsletter, beneficiary testimonials, and direct appeals. There is no proprietary technology stack; the foundation functions as a grant-making and partner-coordinating entity rather than a software or services company.

Name

Stichting The Cornerstone Foundation

Legal name

Stichting The Cornerstone Foundation

Website

https://cornerstone-foundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Stichting The Cornerstone Foundation is a Dutch ANBI-status non-profit, founded 1996, that funds and partners on vocational training and microfinance programs in Rwanda — including the Great Lakes Hospitality Institute, GIFT women's savings groups, and the Inyenyeri single-mothers empowerment project — supported by individual donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Development and Humanitarian Aid

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB)

Keywords

• Vocational training programs
• Community microfinance
• Women empowerment programs
• Humanitarian development aid
• International charity foundation

Headquarters

HQ city

Vleuten

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: The foundation operates as a public benefit institution (ANBI) in the Netherlands, relying on donations from individuals and organizations to fund its projects in Rwanda. Donations can be directed to specific projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Stichting The Cornerstone Foundation is a Dutch ANBI-registered charitable foundation that funds and supports three core development programs in Rwanda: the Great Lakes Hospitality Institute (a TVET hospitality training program for vulnerable youth), GIFT (a VSLA-based microfinance and entrepreneurship program for women), and Inyenyeri (an empowerment program for single mothers providing agricultural skills and personal development training). The foundation raises donations in the Netherlands and channels funds through local partner organizations operating the programs on the ground in Rwanda.

Product overview

Stichting The Cornerstone Foundation is a Dutch charitable foundation (ANBI) that operates three core programs in Rwanda: Great Lakes Hospitality Institute (a TVET hospitality training institution), GIFT (a microfinance program supporting women through savings and loan groups), and Inyenyeri (an empowerment project for single mothers). These interconnected programs work toward the foundation's vision of enabling people to earn their own incomes and escape poverty.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Great Lakes Hospitality Institute: A TVET (Technical Vocational Education and Training) institution in Rwanda providing hospitality and cookery skills training, supported by the Cornerstone Foundation since 2017.
• GIFT (Ganza Inema Fair Trade)
• Inyenyeri

Products and services

• Great Lakes Hospitality Institute A TVET (Technical Vocational Education and Training) institution located in Kigali, Rwanda, offering a diploma program (Hospitality Practice and Cookery Skills / HPCS) accredited by the Confederation of Tourism and Hospitality (CTH, UK) and the Rwanda TVET Board. The program trains young people in hospitality skills including food & beverage service, basic food production, culinary arts, front office operations, entrepreneurship, and English speaking for the hospitality industry, including a Bridge Program (2 months) and HPCS diploma (1 year). Students receive four internationally accepted certificates upon completion.
• GIFT (Ganza-Inema Fair Trade) Formerly RWAFAT (Rwanda Forum for Alternative Trade), a microfinance and economic empowerment program that supports women in Rwanda through the Village Savings & Loan Association (VSLA) methodology, entrepreneurship training, and income-generating activities. The program supports groups of 30 women each, selected by local government based on socio-economic situation; since 2020, 17 groups of 30 women (510 women total) have been supported.
• Inyenyeri An inclusion and empowerment project supporting 30 single mothers in Rwanda through personal development training, agricultural skills, microfinance participation (VSLA), entrepreneurship skills, community building activities, and economic independence support. Single mothers are selected based on socio-economic vulnerability and often bear full responsibility for raising children without family support.

Quantifiable outcome

• 75% employment rate among graduates, with 25% pursuing further education
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• GIFT (Ganza-Inema Fair Trade)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020GIFT (formerly RWAFAT - Rwanda Forum for Alternative Trade) is the primary partner for women's empowerment projects in Rwanda. The Cornerstone Foundation provides financial support and helps find funds for GIFT's work with women in savings and loan groups. Since 2020, they have supported 17 groups of 30 women each.
• Over The MooncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Over The Moon initiated the Great Lakes Hospitality Institute. The Cornerstone Foundation has been supporting the institute since its inception in 2017. Over The Moon manages the day-to-day operations of the training institution in Rwanda.
• Compassion InternationalminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Original referral partner for the Great Lakes Hospitality Institute program, which was initially set up to train young women from the Compassion International program.
• CARSA (Christian Action for Reconciliation and Social Awakening)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1994Cornerstone Foundation financially supported CARSA in the purchase of the first 50 cows for the Cows for Peace reconciliation project, which brings genocide perpetrators and victims together for trauma healing and reconciliation in Rwanda.
• CTH (Confederation of Tourism and Hospitality)coreOthersUK-based accrediting body for the Hospitality Practice and Cookery Skills (HPCS) program at Great Lakes Hospitality Institute, providing international certification value to graduates.
• Rwanda TVET Board (RTB)coreOthersGovernment body that provides curriculum oversight and accreditation for the Great Lakes Hospitality Institute as a Technical Vocational Education and Training institution.
• BoomgaardminorOthersPartner organization with logo displayed on the Cornerstone Foundation website, nature of partnership not detailed.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Aqua for All: Dutch foundation financing small-scale water and income-generating projects in developing countries. Similar funding-and-capacity-building style applied to WASH-related livelihoods, alongside comparable governance and donor structure.

Broad incumbents

• Cordaid: Large Dutch Catholic development organization active in fragile states including Rwanda, combining direct implementation with partner funding. Comparable Rwanda footprint and partner-funded delivery model, but substantially larger and institutionalized.
• Hivos: Dutch international development organization funding and implementing programs in developing countries across multiple sectors. Operates the same Dutch-anchored development-foundation model but at broader programmatic and geographic scale.
• Simavi: Larger Dutch ANBI foundation running multiple global development programs with strong partnerships model. Shares Dutch-registered, partner-delivered, donation-funded development approach but operates at meaningfully greater scale.

Direct peers

• Stichting DOEN: Dutch ANBI-registered foundation providing grants to innovative initiatives, social enterprises and entrepreneurship in developing countries. Comparable grantmaking-through-partners model with strong focus on economic self-sufficiency similar to Cornerstone's mission.
• Stichting Kinderpostzegels: Dutch ANBI foundation funding child-focused development projects through local partners internationally. Shares small-Dutch-Stichting grantmaking model targeting vulnerable youth with livelihoods focus, similar to Cornerstone's GLHI.
• Mama Cash: Amsterdam-based international women's rights foundation funding women's empowerment initiatives globally. Comparable grantmaking model focused specifically on women's economic empowerment and inclusion, aligning closely with Cornerstone's GIFT and Inyenyeri programs.
• Liliane Fonds: Dutch ANBI foundation supporting vulnerable children in developing countries through local partner organizations. Matches the small Dutch foundation, partner-delivered, donor-funded model with a similar population focus in low-income countries.
• Stichting Wilde Ganzen: Dutch charitable foundation that co-finances small-scale development projects initiated by local partners in developing countries. Closely mirrors Cornerstone's model of pooling Dutch donations and channeling them through local implementing partners for income-generation and community development.

Emerging players

• Karuna Trust: Dutch small-Anbi style foundation funding international grassroots projects. Closely matches Cornerstone's size and Stichting structure, applying Dutch donations to partner-led community development in the Global South.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-cornerstone-foundation

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Stichting The Cornerstone Foundation