History
Future Builder Scouts was founded in 2014 by Kofi Anaman after he spent fifteen years in the United States working as a District Director for the Northeast Illinois Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Kofi was so inspired by his Scouting experience, he started Future Builder Scouts after returning home to Ghana. His goal was to start a program to help instill the virtues of citizenship and service, and develop leadership skills in the youth of Ghana.
Friends of Future Builder Scouts provides direct support to Future Builder Scouts in Ghana through fundraising and supplying materials to facilitate programs and activities. Scouts from Boy Scout Troop 20 in Winnetka, Illinois and the Northeast Illinois Council will prepare instructional videos and materials that can be used in the FBS after-school enrichment programs. As part of their Eagle Scout service projects, U.S. scouts will develop programs to benefit and assist Future Builder Scouts in Ghana.
Friends of Future Builder Scouts aims to foster respect for the freedoms U.S. scouts enjoy, and to help these scouts recognize how these freedoms have led to the U.S.’s prosperity. Friends of Future Builder Scouts hopes that our scouts will better understand how the virtues articulated in the Scout Oath and Scout Law have powered U.S. society, and how these virtues can lead to similar benefits for the future of Ghana.
Leadership
Kofi Anaman, Founder
Kofi is the Director and founder of Future Builder Scouts. Kofi believes that for Ghana to become a global competitor, it must invest heavily in its youth. He believes that Ghana must first develop its youth mentally, spiritually, physically, and morally so that they will be properly equipped to lead.
Kofi holds a Master of Science Degree in Management from the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois. He has previously served on the boards of several non-profit organizations, including the Rotary Club of Evanston (Illinois) and Books & Breakfast, a program that provides reading assistance and breakfast for hundreds of students in Evanston, Illinois.
In 2013, Kofi worked with students attending Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois) to create one of the largest STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) events for high school offered in Illinois.
Warren James
Warren is the Director of Friends of Future Builder Scouts, and is an Assistant Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 20 in Winnetka, Illinois.
In 2010, Warren and Kofi struck up a friendship working together on the Friends of Scouting fundraising campaign. When Kofi returned to the U.S. in 2017, he described his success in starting Future Builder Scouts, and Warren enthusiastically agreed to support his efforts. Kofi and Warren began meeting regularly to further define the vision and potential of the program. It was through those meetings and the engagement of others that Friends of Future Builder Scouts was formally chartered as a not-for-profit corporation in the State of Illinois.
Warren lead a delegation of U.S. scouts to Ghana in June of 2019. The trip was a remarkable cultural exchange which culminated in the first Future Builder Scouts “Jamboree” hosting over 300 participants. As part of their Eagle Scout service project, some of the U.S. scouts led programs and activities to benefit the Future Builder Scouts in Ghana.
Why Ghana?
Friends of Future Builder Scouts want to develop leaders in a country that is poised to lead. Ghana is a peaceful country that conducts national elections every four years, and is one of the few politically stable countries in Africa. Ghana is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, and enjoys a strong relationship with the United States.
Facts About Ghana
- Population: 25,758,108
- Average Number of Kids in Family: 4
- Languages: English (official). Twi is most widely spoken.
- Independence: March 6, 1957 from Great Britian
- Products: Cocoa, Oil & Gas, Diamonds, Gold, Silver, Rubber, Salt, Fish
- Geography: Ghana is about the size of the state of Oregon. Lake Volta is the largest man-made lake in the world.
- Religions: Christianity (71%), Muslim (17%), Traditional Religion (5%), Non-Religous (5%)