THE ACADEMY
Our history, DNA, impact and relationships
How it all began.
The East Preston Empowerment Academy (EPEA) now rebranded as "The Africadian Empowerment Academy (TAEA)" was founded in 2014 by Pastor LeQuita Porter, Dr. Wayne Adams, William Porter, and Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard.
The program began as a ministry of the East Preston United Baptist Church when Dr. Thomas Bernard and Pastor Porter spoke at a men’s brotherhood event. Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard was asked to speak about her research around Black and African Nova Scotian men’s survival and thrival and the men were extremely engaged.
When asked “What is holding you back?”, the majority replied that it was a lack of education or lack of literacy. It was then that Dr. Thomas Bernard and Pastor Porter realized an opportunity was presenting itself and they founded EPEA with the goal of investing in minds and empowering lives through education and training. EPEA has grown over the years to now include 14 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff and a strong board of directors.
Our vision & mission.
OUR VISION
People of African descent become full participants and recognized in the fabric of Nova Scotia’s vibrant economy.
THE MISSION
To inspire and help people of African descent achieve their educational and development goals as a pathway to individual and collective empowerment.
Our values.
People
A commitment to empowering people of African descent, through education, to realize their economic potential and improve their overall quality of life.
Community
A commitment to encouraging individuals who benefit from our programs to pay it forward to help strengthen African Nova Scotian Communities and foster greater participation in the broader Nova Scotian economy.
Partnerships
A commitment to building mutually beneficial alliances with individuals and organizations that share our values – striving for economic and social inclusion for people of African descent.
Africadian generates significant socioeconomic benefits to the broader local and provincial economies
Our impact.
AEA has grown over the years to now include 14 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff and a strong board of directors. Programs provided include Trades programs such as the following:
- Red Seal Certification Preparation
- Irving Shipbuilding Cohort
- Youth mentorship program in the trades
- Direct entry into the trades
In 2021, AEA released an Economic and Social Impact Study (Deloitte, 2021) that demonstrated AEA graduates contribute more than $1 million to the province’s gross domestic product (GDP) over a four-year period, and more than 70% of EPEA graduates reported an increase in income after graduating the program.
Our partners.
Our partners are our secret. Well, an open secret. With their support, we've gotten to where we are today. As a non-profit organization with a big vision and mission like ours, it is typical that we utilize a huge amount of diverse resources in the fulfillment of our daily obligations.
Certainly, this bestows upon us a huge sense of responsibility in how we source, harness and maintain the vast amount of resources that come our way. These resources include but are not limited to financial resources, human resources, physical resources, information technology resources, networks and partnerships. By leveraging these resources, we are able to continually create meaningful impacts, achieve our strategic objectives, amplify our success and produce the kind of community growth that we yearn for on a daily basis.
This is why we treasure our partners and continue to seek meaningful ways to expand these networks. If you are not currently supporting us, we know you probably already support other visions and have a ton of options but we want you to still consider us. Let's talk about how we can form a partnership. It pays to support Africadian.
