Mission & History

EFAC’s Mission

EFAC provides an education-to-employment program for bright, disadvantaged Kenyan youth to foster leadership, economic opportunity and social progress.

EFAC Founders’ Story

EFAC is founded by Professor Leah T. Marangu and Rod and Nancy Van Sciver. Together they created a sustainable and impactful organization. Here’s how it happened.

In 2008, Rod and Nancy Van Sciver made a conscious decision to identify a pressing social issue that they could help address. Having read Clinton’s book Giving, they identified an organization providing books to schools in Zimbabwe. They called Mark Grashaw, retired teacher and founder of USACF, and within a few days, they were sitting in his living room in Brooklyn, NY with a group of like-minded people running grassroots organizations in Africa. The need was overwhelming. Books, school tuitions, and orphanages were places to begin. This group was passionate and making a big difference and helped to create the way forward for Rod and Nancy’s developing vision for systemic change in a continent where more than 60% of children still have no access to secondary education.  

Based on their experience with USACF, Rod and Nancy went to Kenya and traveled the country with the local founder of the Hope Children’s orphanage. They witnessed poverty, lack of education, women’s rights, food and medical care, and the results were depression, listlessness, begging, FGM and crime. It was overwhelming as the Van Scivers tried to determine how they could make a difference.

After their introduction to the small towns and countryside of Kenya, they spent some time in Nairobi, where they reached out to a series of contacts to help them find a path forward for their philanthropy. On the day before they were leaving, they had breakfast with two local business people. One of them, Mutuma Marangu, asked if he might bring his mother, Professor Leah Marangu, to the meeting.

Nancy describes that meeting as a miracle. Nancy and Professor Marangu formed an immediate connection. Professor Marangu said, “I have met many people wanting to work in Kenya, and it has never materialized, but I have a good feeling about you.” Professor Marangu became the Van Scivers’ mentor in their philanthropic journey. Professor Marangu, commonly known as “Prof,” was the first woman to be a full professor, the first woman Vice Chancellor and the first woman to be a University Founder in Kenya. Professor Marangu was the founding Vice Chancellor of  Africa Nazarene University, whose campus was recently renamed the Leah T Marangu campus.

The Van Scivers and Professor Marangu signed an LOI, and EFAC was born. Operations were run out of Africa Nazarene University from 2008-2019. Professor Marangu authorized the ANU Staff, including Mary Kiguru, Director of Quality Assurance, Beth Wokabi, Chair of the Education Department, and John Opiyo, CFO to facilitate operations. The first year EFAC funded 44 scholarships.    

Today EFAC is located in the Nairobi Garage, an innovative shared office space, where Mary Kiguru is the Country Director, Beth Wokabi is Chair of the Kenya Board of Trustees and John Opiyo is Treasurer of the Kenya Board. Founders Nancy and Rod Sciver and Professor Leah Marangu are still intimately involved in furthering the mission of EFAC. With nearly 1,000 students having completed or in the process of completing 8 years of education, 8 workshops, multiple webinars and two years of employment guidance, training, and placement, EFAC is becoming a major force in the education-to-employment field.

LEAH MARANGU, Co-Founder

Professor Leah Marangu is an award-winning educator and humanitarian in Kenya. As the Co-Founder of EFAC, she has been instrumental in the design, implementation, and evolution of our organization. Prof. Marangu holds many “firsts” as a Kenyan woman, including being the first female Professor and Vice-Chancellor in E. Africa. She has been on the forefront of education policy in Kenya, particularly in the realm of higher education. Also considered to be one of Kenya’s leading humanitarians, Prof. Marangu has dedicated her life to educating Kenyan citizens out of poverty, and has won the country’s highest accolades for her work. She holds two U.S.-based Masters degrees and a PhD. from Iowa State University. More on Prof. Marangu here.

NANCY VAN SCIVER, Co-Founder

Nancy and her husband, Rod, are the heart and soul of EFAC. With a successful career in education and commercial real estate under her belt, Nancy channeled her entrepreneurial spirit and passion for making a difference to start EFAC in 2008. She wears many hats with the organization as a Founder and Trustee in the US and Kenya. Nancy studied at Lake Erie College and University of Virginia, graduating with a BA in English and Education. She later earned an MA in Education from the College of William and Mary.

ROD VAN SCIVER, Co-Founder

As co-Founder of EFAC, Rod joins his wife Nancy as the inspiration behind the organization. As an active board member, he currently sits on the Executive and Finance committees. Rod’s distinguished business career includes owning and operating the TimberTech Company for over 25 years. He received an MBA from Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Trinity College.