Executive Director/Founder

Tamara Horton
FIT graduate, Women’s Campaign International Global Ambassador to Ethiopia and Board Member of Ethiopia Healthcare Network, Tamara founded Studio Samuel following the international adoption of her son, Samuel.
She saw firsthand that safe options were stripped from a girl when she is born into poverty and is denied an education. Her goal was to create a 'teach a woman to fish' platform which would result in opportunity and safe options, steering girls away from the all too common pathways of child marriage, trafficking, and child labor, which deny them education and voice.
Learn more about Training for Tomorrow
(our after-school + weekend life skills program)
Studio Samuel opened its training center doors to the first class of 25 girls in January 2015 after being granted its NGO license by the Charities and Societies Agency in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Today, Studio Samuel is a registered CSO under local NGO requirements and a 501c3 in the US.
Studio Samuel’s mission is to create pathways for girls to reach their potential through education and employable skills with Training for Tomorrow, the organization’s trademarked life skills program. Programming has reached over 14,000 girls (9-18 years old) in Ethiopia and its vocational arm has been accredited as a college. Studio Samuel Institute of Art & Technology opened in October 2019 to 50 young women (18-24 years old). |
|
Training for Tomorrow is held after school and on weekends and impacts young Ethiopian women through mentoring, counseling, self-defense training, occupational training, healthcare and more. Studio Samuel graduates are enrolling in college, mentoring peers and using their voice for change in their communities.
Studio Samuel is grateful to have its mission supported and amplified by Global Ambassadors Julian Lennon and Izzy Bizu.
Studio Samuel is grateful to have its mission supported and amplified by Global Ambassadors Julian Lennon and Izzy Bizu.