Officially organized in 2012, members of Empower Mali have been working to empower Malians since 2004, building schools and teacher housing, installing water systems and solar power, transforming farming practices, and providing educational materials for the poor rural villagers of Mali. Their success has been founded on the principle that they don’t give anything away. The beneficiaries of their humanitarian efforts pay 20% of the cost, provide land and labor where needed, and in the case of the tractor, pay for it completely as their income grows. Board members of Empower Mali are proud of the fact that between 90-100% of every dollar donated to their foundation goes directly to the end goal of helping Malians. The leverage the American dollar has to do good in Mali is incomparably great. To date the foundation has built 45 schools, installed 45 water systems with deep wells up to 600 feet deep, provided 7 tractors, and donated educational materials to dozens of their schools.