Edward Nortei Nortey
Founder & Executive DirectorBorn in Jamestown, Accra. Raised up by a nonprofit's support. Now spends his life making sure the same second chance reaches others.
Our vision and mission
SREF was founded to close the gap between raw talent and real opportunity — providing the tools, training, and one-on-one mentorship that turn potential into a self-reliant future.
Vision
A world where potential meets opportunity
At SREF, we envision a world where education, skills development, and essential resources are accessible to vulnerable individuals — enabling them to achieve their full potential and create positive impact in society.
Mission
Building self-reliance through education and mentorship
We build self-reliance in Ghana through education and career mentorship — equipping young adults with a mentor, a documented plan, a marketable skill, and the digital tools to see it through to completion.
Our story
A brief history of SREF
SREF didn’t start with a business plan. It started with one boy in Jamestown, Accra, who was given a second chance — and decided to spend his life making sure others got theirs.
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Jamestown, Accra
Where the story begins
Edward Nortei Nortey — Eddie — was born in Jamestown, one of Accra's oldest pre-colonial neighbourhoods, a place of fishing canoes, lighthouses, and generations of resilience. It is fitting that a story about defying the odds would start there.
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Before age eight
A childhood interrupted
Before he turned eight, Eddie lost both of his parents. It is the kind of loss that could have closed a life down before it really began. Instead it became the first chapter of a story about what is possible when someone is given the support to keep going.
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A second chance
Carried by compassion
A nonprofit stepped in when Eddie needed it most — sustaining him, supporting him, and ultimately transforming the direction of his life. That planted something that never left: a conviction that every person's potential is worth investing in, and that aid given graciously can change the entire course of a life. It is the value at the centre of everything SREF does — not charity handed down, but potential invested in.
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BYU–Idaho
From student to scholar
That early support carried Eddie all the way to Brigham Young University–Idaho, where he earned a degree in Applied Business Management. He did not just benefit from what a nonprofit could do for one life — he became living proof of it.
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Full circle
The student who started serving
Eddie went to BYU–Idaho to learn, and came out the other side serving in ways that astonished the very people who taught him. Today he continues that circle as an instructor with BYU Pathway Worldwide, teaching the same kind of students he once was.
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Founded
Self Reliance Empowerment Foundation is born
Eddie founded SREF to turn his own story into a system — one where young adults in Ghana and Tanzania receive the same mentorship, education and belief that once carried him. He did not build it alone: David Adzadu, Robert Archibald and Carrie Archibald joined as co-founders, each bringing the structure, stewardship and steadiness a young organisation needs to keep a big promise.
The people behind SREF
Four people who decided one second chance was worth building an organisation around
David Adzadu
Co-Founder & Operations ManagerLeads SREF's day-to-day work in Ghana, turning the vision for self-reliance into programmes that reach students and entrepreneurs where they are.
Robert Archibald
Co-Founder & Board ChairmanBrings steady governance and financial stewardship to SREF, so every donor's gift is used with integrity and care.
Carrie Archibald
Co-FounderHas helped guide SREF's mission and values alongside Robert since the Foundation's earliest days.
The gap we exist to close
Why this work is needed
The obstacles are specific, and so are the responses. Each of these is something an SREF program directly addresses.
01No device
Many prospective students have no laptop, and no way to attend or complete an online programme without one.
02No pathway to work
Graduates struggle to find jobs because credentials alone do not connect them to employers.
03No digital literacy
Some do not know how to type or navigate the tools an online education assumes they already use.
Funds are routed from donors through the Board of Trustees to the Ghana financial and operations teams, with dedicated managers reporting back to a U.S.-based board.
Governance and reportsWhere we work
Three countries, one programme
SREF is registered and operating in the United States, Ghana and Tanzania, with field operations run by in-country teams.
Ghana
Ghana Satellite Office
Accra & Kasoa — field operations, mentorship, and student support.
+233 530 548 201
United States
Idaho Satellite Office
Pocatello, Idaho — headquarters, Board of Trustees, and donor relations.
+1 208 241 0977
Tanzania
Tanzania Office
Field operations extending SREF's mentoring and education programs.
+255 688 901 572Leadership
Governance built for accountability
SREF is led by Executive Director Edward Nortei Nortey, with Operations, Finance and Communications managers in Ghana reporting to a U.S.-based Board of Trustees.