The Trust was registered as a PVO in 1986 and the organization pivoted into a grant seeking implementer of programs to benefit Zimbabwe’s most vulnerable children.
The J.F. Kapnek Trust now JF Kapnek Zimbabwe was founded in 1966, when James Kapnek left his fortune to a trust dedicated to the causes that concerned him most, thus furthering his dream to build a better Zimbabwe through education and his commitment to essential medical research.
James Kapnek
Founder
Our Milestone
1945
JF Kapnek offered a founding grant of £20 000 for the establishment of a University College. This grant funded the Development Office which established a challenge to the local business community and thus engendered the support necessary for the eventual establishment of the University. This is today the University of Zimbabwe.
1945
JF Kapnek offered a founding grant of £20 000 for the establishment of a University College. This grant funded the Development Office which established a challenge to the local business community and thus engendered the support necessary for the eventual establishment of the University. This is today the University of Zimbabwe.
1951James Kapnek, a native of Philadelphia who had spent the last forty-eight years in Southern Africa, found his way to the President's office of the Adam Scheidt Brewing Company in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He wanted a brewery in Rhodesia with the latest equipment and run on the latest methods. This is the current National Brewery in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
1953The University project advanced rapidly through a £1,250,000 grant from the British Government. The Kapnek Wing at the Mt Pleasant site, the Botany-Zoology of the university was opened in recognition of Mr Kapnek's services in the founding of the college.
1986 - 1991The JF Kapnek Trust supported the journal while it made the transition from private ownership to a juried publication under university direction. The University of Zimbabwe then had a basis for publication exchanges with institutions worldwide and thus strengthened its medical library.
1986The JF Kapnek Trust gave a 5-year grant to the journal, a key publication due to the then recent growth of the school of Veterinary Medicine, serving the nine nation SADCC region. The publication was named "Zimbabwean Journal of Veterinary Medicine.
1993The JF Kapnek Trust and the Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation in Developing Countries (SAREC) provided the initial funding for a planning study to establish an Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of Zimbabwe. , Kapnek Trust provided funding to the tune of ZWD 800,000 to support the initial 3 year phase of establishing the Institute . The purpose of the Institute is to encourage research on environmental issues, offer advice for government planners and policy makers, and develop environmental education programmes for the public.
JF Kapnek Zimbabwe works to improve family health, reduce child mortality, provide a protective environment and create educational opportunity for the children of Zimbabwe through the implementation of scalable, sustainable programs.
JF Kapnek Zimbabwe is a locally registered Private Voluntary Organisation which was established in 1955 and has been a registered PVO since 1986. It has a senior management structure headed by a Executive Director who reports to the Chairman of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is comprised of seven members, all of whom are either citizens or permanent residents of Zimbabwe and have strong backgrounds in the fields of Health, Education, Child Welfare, Finance and Law. The Board is guided in its decisions by the
Organization’s constitution. JF Kapnek Zimbabwe operates exclusively in Zimbabwe. It has a sister organisation in the United States, JF Kapnek US, which acts as a fund raising arm for the Zimbabwean organisation. It has its own independent Board of Directors
JF Kapnek has a Finance Department guided by an Accounting Procedures Manual. A high level of financial management is maintained and an independent audit is carried out annually by a firm of qualified accountants. The Organization has had more than a decade’s experience in managing significant donor grants and in the current fiscal year has a total organisational budget of over USD $8,7000,000. It has a Finance and Operations Director who is supported by a finance team of 5 qualified officers and 4 finance assistants. Current major donors to JF Kapnek Zimbabwe are USAID, UNICEF, Comic Relief, Plan International Zimbabwe, Oak Foundation, and The
Herz Foundation
Meet Our Leadership
Hillary Tanyanyiwa
Executive Director
Never Makandwa
Finance and Operations Director
Kudzai Masunda
TASQC Technical Director
Albert Pasipanodya
OVC Programmes ManagerJF Kapnek Zimbabwe is led by seasoned, tried and experienced Leaders.
Know Our History
JAN 1966
James Kapnek
The J.F. Kapnek Trust was founded in 1966, when James Kapnek left his fortune to a trust dedicated to the causes that concerned him most, thus furthering his dream to build a better Zimbabwe through education and his commitment to essential medical research. The Trust was registered as a PVO in 1986 and the organization pivoted into a grant seeking implementer of programs to benefit Zimbabwe’s most vulnerable children. The J F Kapnek Trust initiated programs aimed at reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS through the pilot prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) programme and the orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) programme, with a particular focus on the 0-5 age group and children with disabilities. Over the years the Trust has formed strong partnerships with government line ministries of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare (through the department of Social Services and Department of Child Welfare and Protection Services); Health and Child Care (Department of Rehabilitation and Department of Family Health) and Primary and Secondary Education (through the Department of Schools Psychological Services and Special Needs Education and the Department of Infant Education) in providing scalable health, education and child protection interventions thus reaching to over 30 000 beneficiaries annually in the combined programmes.
SEP 1986
Trust was registered as a PVO in 1986
The Trust was registered as a PVO in 1986 and the organization pivoted into a grant seeking implementer of programs to benefit Zimbabwe’s most vulnerable children
Oct 2021
COVID ARPA Program
The Goal of the project is to support the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC) to scale up services to achieve national vaccination targets and respond to impact of COVID-19 in communities. Specifically, the program will: Objective 1: Accelerate vaccine administration to the eligible population in 24 districts across 5 provinces Objective 2: Strengthen COVID contact tracing in 2 Provinces (Masvingo and Matabeleland South) Objective 3: Facilitate mental health services for health care workers Objective 4: Contribute to national case management pillar and Site level Oxygen Assessment
OCT 2001
HIV Care and Treatment Programme
Since 2001, Kapnek has worked with MOHCC structures at national, provincial, district and hospital / clinic site levels to support the geographical expansion of the National Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) Programme. Up to the 2015 Programme Year Kapnek supported 744 PMTCT sites in 31 districts located in six of the ten national provinces. Over the years, Kapnek has supported the piloting of the feasibility of providing PMTCT services in Zimbabwe in Epworth, the geographical expansion of single-dose Nevirapine (sd-NVP) regimens, MER 28, MER 14 and Option B+.
OCT 2020
TASQC Program
The Goal of the TASQC program is to contribute to the achievement and sustainability of HIV epidemic control in Zimbabwe through the provision of technical, financial, and material support towards the management, coordination and provision of comprehensive clinical care services within the national HIV program.
JAN 2021
ECD / Child Health (Herz Foundation)
The Goal of the TASQC program is to contribute to the achievement and sustainability of HIV epidemic control in Zimbabwe through the provision of technical, financial, and material support towards the management, coordination and provision of comprehensive clinical care services within the national HIV program.
Oct 2020
Pathways OVC Pogramme (Catholic Relief Services)
JF Kapnek Trust under the auspices of Catholic Relief Services is implementing the Pathways program which seeks to roll out various interventions supporting the prevention and management of HIV in the communities.