Marshall alum creates nonprofit, builds orphanage in the Philippines
Joanna Maniti credits a USC class with inspiring her to launch the nonprofit.
By AVA SATTERFIELD
When Joanna Maniti visited the Philippines on a high school mission trip with her church in 2016, she was devastated to see the horrible conditions facing unhoused and orphaned Filipino street children. She visited again in 2018 on another mission trip and volunteered at a children’s ministry on the island of Mindanao.
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She decided then that she needed to do more, and used her USC education to start her own nonprofit in 2020 to improve the lives of orphans in the Philippines. Maniti graduated in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. This fall, she celebrated the three-year anniversary of her nonprofit, Cherish Co..
Maniti’s experience in the Philippines encouraged her business studies and interest in nonprofit work.
“While I was applying for colleges and picking my major, I knew I wanted to major in business in order to learn more business strategy that I can implement into the nonprofit sphere, in the hopes of eventually starting my own nonprofit and working primarily with kids,” Maniti said. “I wanted to leverage my degree to elevate the lives of specifically orphans and foster care kids.”
According to the United Nations’ Children’s Rights & Emergency Relief Organization, there are about 1.8 million abandoned or neglected children in the Philippines. The children come from families experiencing poverty who cannot afford to care for them. Maniti is working to help combat this issue by taking in children and educating them in math and English through her orphanage and school.
With her Philippines mission trips serving as inspiration, Maniti founded Cherish as a senior at USC. She credits Kamy Akhavan, executive director of USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future, for his instrumental help in her nonprofit journey.
Maniti took Akhavan’s class, “Doing Good: How to Start and Run a Successful Nonprofit Organization” in Fall 2020. The class exposes students to the process of creating a nonprofit from the ground up.
On the first day of class, Akhavan asked every student to give a one-minute pitch for a hypothetical nonprofit. Maniti said she gave her pitch on fundraising for orphanages and schools in the Philippines. She realized immediately this was something she could begin doing herself.
“It was kind of like a lightbulb moment where I had this reflection of, ‘Why haven’t I actually started this during my time at USC?’” Maniti said. “Right after the class, I just sent out a bunch of emails to old contacts of mine in the Philippines, and the first person who responded ended up being our first partnership within Cherish.”
Maniti reconnected with Pastor Ariel Bonte, a translator from her mission trip. She discovered his church had been looking for a ministry partner to help build an orphanage and school on the island of Mindanao. This project was exactly what Maniti had hoped to work on.
She founded Cherish Co. and filed it as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in September 2020. In October of that year, Cherish partnered with All the World Outreach, a Christian ministry. With All the World Outreach’s sponsorship and other donors, Cherish built an orphanage on the island of Mindanao in Ozamis, Philippines. The orphanage houses 34 children and includes four classrooms, two washing facilities, a dining room and a kitchen.
“I’m just thankful for Professor Kamy being willing to hear and offer that space in order to vocalize what we envisioned for the class,” Maniti said. “I feel like he didn’t waste any time with really being a resource and a help to everyone who wanted to start their own nonprofits.”
Joanna Maniti spoke to a group of Marshall students in early October. She said that she advises students interested in nonprofit work to start immediately. (Joanna Maniti)
Outside of his classroom, Akhavan promises all students continued guidance, from paperwork and funding to contact and connections. Akhavan has supported Maniti and her nonprofit throughout the process.
“Joanna and I have stayed in contact over the years,” Akhavan said. “She took the class in Fall 2020, and here in Fall 2023, three years later, I consider her not just a former student, but a friend at this point. And I’ve very much been a part of her journey, as this nonprofit has grown in different ways.”
Akhavan and his class have helped produce numerous successful nonprofits. Water Drop LA, a nonprofit devoted to increasing accessibility to clean drinking water, provides more than 2,000 gallons of water to Skid Row each week. The organization was founded by USC alum and former student of Akhavan, Catie Cummings.
Team Awareness Combating Overdose was also incubated in Akhavan’s classroom. TACO distributes free fentanyl test strips to prevent accidental overdoses and has saved countless lives. These impactful nonprofits were made possible by Akhavan’s support.
“I want to do what I can to impact social change through them,” Akhavan said. “The best bang for the buck for me is to support those students as best I can to achieve positive social change.”
Since graduating from USC in 2021, Maniti has been working on Cherish full-time while pursuing her master’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership and Management. Right now, she’s searching for more land to expand the orphanage project. Cherish is hoping to grow its team and donor base and is recruiting partners, such as international churches and organizations.
Maniti coordinated the orphanage efforts from the United States. In March, Maniti traveled to the Philippines for the first time since creating Cherish, as she was unable to visit during the coronavirus pandemic. Maniti was able to see the real impact of her orphanage, Cherish Hearts Children’s Home.
“We’ve been trying to take a trip there for the past three years, so being able to go this past year was a milestone for Cherish,” Maniti said. “[The trip] just further showed the need of this project. There’s a ton of street children out there who just don’t have homes to go to or family members. It was a lot of emotions at once.”
A student inspired by Maniti’s story is Siena Woolf, a freshman majoring in business administration, who’s interested in environmental nonprofit organizations.
“Seeing someone do good with their Marshall education is very inspiring, as it is something that I would like to do in the future,” Woolf said. “It’s very cool to see firsthand what a Marshall education can bring to students, and I can’t wait to put what I learn into practice.”
For students interested in nonprofit work, Maniti said the best time to get involved is now. She said she wishes she had begun working on Cherish earlier in her undergraduate career.
“My biggest advice would be even if it’s just in the form of an idea right now, I would encourage students to start while they’re at their university because they have access to the resources, the professors, the mentors,” Maniti said. “I would say now is the best time to start and also to really vocalize more about what your passions are and the reason why you went to USC.”
