EMPOWER - THE EMERGING MARKETS FOUNDATION LIMITED

Registered charity 1118916 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The objectives of the charity are to promote education and good health and to relieve poverty among children, young people, women and the disadvantaged in emerging and developing countries.The charity carries out its objectives by raising funds and distributing them to local, community-based organisations seeking to empower youth, especially girls and young women.

Causes: Education/training · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Economic/community Development/employment · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity reported total incoming resources of $5,021,254 against total expenditure of $4,302,936, resulting in a net surplus for the year. The charity holds unrestricted funds of $1,117,490, which includes a designated reserve of $500,000 set aside for operational expenses, and the trustees confirm that the reserve policy has been met. The auditors confirmed that the use of the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate with no material uncertainties identified.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Lubbock Fine LLP. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

What the charity says about itself (2025)

From its own voluntary annual review / impact report — the charity’s account of its work, distinct from the statutory accounts analysed above.

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — EMpower - The Emerging Markets Foundation (matched by registered charity number).

Leadership, per the charity’s website

• Lauren Glenmere Furmanek — Director – Programmes, Strategy & Impact (source)
• Henna Hemnani — Director, Partnerships (Asia) & Global FI Strategy (source)
• Robin Barnes — Director, Partnerships (US) & Global Communications (source)
• Adam Heuman — Executive Vice President (source)
• Suvidha Hughes — Vice President, People, Governance & Operations (source)

Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.

Funders the charity credits

Named as funders/supporters on the charity’s own website (the charity’s claim, distinct from accounts-verified grants).

• Quantedge Advancement Initiative — “Quantedge Advancement Initiative support the work and the capacity of 8 community-based organisations across Vietnam, Indonesia and the Phil…” (source page)
• VR Capital Group — “VR Cares, the charitable initiative of VR Capital Group, has been generously supporting EMpower since 2019. VR Cares was a critical supporte…” (source page)
• The Tides Foundation — “We are grateful to have the support of the Tides Foundation for our work with marginalised girls and young women. We have a shared vision of…” (source page)
• The Global Impact Fund for Women and Girls by Hauwa Ojeifo — “The Global Impact Fund for Women and Girls by Hauwa Ojeifo, advised by the National Philanthropic Trust, supports EMpower’s work to advance …” (source page)
• Seaport Global — “Seaport Global is an EMpower corporate Underwriter and event sponsor. Seaport Global (formerly Liquidity Finance) has held annual trading da…” (source page)
• PIMCO — “The PIMCO Foundation is a long-standing partner in EMpower’s work to unlock opportunities for young people in emerging markets. Currently, t…” (source page)
• Pictet Asset Management — “Pictet’s partnership with EMpower focuses on developing an ESG model for asset management firms. While supporting EMpower’s global work, Pic…” (source page)
• MarketAxess — “MarketAxess is our first ever Global Leadership Council member, providing long-term support of our operating costs across the US, UK, Hong K…” (source page)
• MFS — “MFS has been a long-time corporate supporter of EMpower, donating via event sponsorship and grantmaking support. With a focus on employee en…” (source page)
• JPMorganChase Foundation — “Since December 2022, JPMorganChase Foundation has partnered with EMpower to equip marginalised young people in Argentina with the skills to …” (source page)
• ICONIQ — “ICONIQ Impact’s Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab generously supports our work in strengthening the mental health and wellbeing of young people …” (source page)
• Ford Foundation — “Ford is a founding supporter of our Empowering Her Voice initiative, lifting the voices of young women and girls, to help them recover and p…” (source page)
• Dodge & Cox — “Dodge & Cox became generous supporters of EMpower in 2025. Their unrestricted gift provides crucial flexible funding, allowing EMpower to st…” (source page)
• Co-Impact — “Co-Impact, a global philanthropic collaborative, is committed to systems change and driving equitable progress in health, education, and eco…” (source page)
• Ares Foundation — “Ares Charitable Foundation generously supports our work empowering young women in India to develop skills for achieving economic independenc…” (source page)

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 30/06/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~1.4 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (52% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 5.7% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Finbar Cooke
• James Michael Ellery
• Jonathan Neva Bell
• Liliana Castillo Dearth
• Marc Christopher Balston
• Mary-Therese Barton
• Nicolette Naylor
• Nisha Dhawan
• OZAN TARMAN
• PARVOLETA SHTEREVA
• Rachel Andrews
• Susan Regina Dodge
• Swatee Deepak
• Toby Joseph Alan West

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Argentina · Brazil · China · Colombia · Ghana · India · Indonesia · Mexico · Nigeria · Peru · Philippines · Russia

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE EMET FOUNDATION.

• THE EMET FOUNDATION income £140k
• THE POINT FOUNDATION income £102k
• EMAAN RELIEF income £1.9m
• THE JAMEEL EDUCATION FOUNDATION UK income £2.0m
• EMPOWERMENT CHARITY LANCASHIRE income £2.5m
• ISSA FOUNDATION income £9.9m

Side by side with its peers

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.