Dear Friends,
It is with deep sadness that we share news of Tashia Morgridge’s passing.
Tashia spent her career in schools, working as a primary special education teacher. She carried that commitment to children and young people through a lifetime of volunteering, philanthropy and board service. She championed early literacy, youth civic engagement, and access to higher education. These commitments ultimately manifested in the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars, which she started with her husband John, to expand access to college for promising students from around the world.
That same passion for the potential of young people drew Tashia and John to African Leadership Academy. Their connection began even before ALA was founded. John, at the time a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, taught ALA co-founders Fred Swaniker and Chris Bradford when they were formulating their vision for a new institution. When that vision came to life as ALA, the Morgridges were among its earliest supporters.
Over the years, John and Tashia have supported hundreds of ALA scholarships, enabling talented students from across Africa to access transformational opportunities. They also funded key capital projects on our campus and made transformative gifts to ALA’s endowment, securing the institution into the future.
In 2018, Tashia and John joined us in Johannesburg for ALA’s decennial celebration. After a decade of support from afar, they finally saw ALA in person. They spent two bright days learning alongside and celebrating with the very students they had championed, on the campus they helped build.
Hatim Eltayeb, our CEO shares:
I remember meeting Tashia at the Decennial and being struck by her warmth and joyous energy. On reflection, what stays with me is her humility. I had only an inkling at the time of how much a role she and John have played in making ALA possible. The work we are able to do here – as a result of support like theirs – has been the greatest gift of my life. For that, I am eternally grateful.
Alumni like Joel Baraka ‘15 show what that support has meant. Joel grew up in Uganda, as a refugee from DRC. While at ALA, he built the prototype of an educational board game for low-resource settings. After ALA he attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a King-Morgridge Scholar, a program John and Tashia helped fund. Today his organization, My HOME Stars, has brought the game to thousands of students in refugee camps across the continent.
Across Africa and beyond, ALA’s alumni carry forward what Tashia exemplified in her life: investing our energy and resources in a brighter future.
We are deeply grateful for Tashia’s friendship, and for the legacy she leaves at ALA. While most of our community members never had the pleasure of meeting her, every one of us has been touched by her generosity. Our thoughts are with John and the family. We hope that they are able to find peace in remembrance.
