The Children of Central Asia Foundation is dedicated to improving the lives of children at risk.
Our Vision is to facilitate a strong, global effort that provides leadership, education, and support to children at risk.
Our Purpose is to ensure that the world’s most vulnerable – especially children at risk – improve their lives and livelihoods in attaining full human dignity.
Our Mission is to fund, develop, pilot, and replicate local initiatives to serve the starving, homeless, poor, oppressed street, abandoned, orphaned, special needs, suffering, war-zoned, underprivileged and high-risk children around the world by providing special programs, residences, and education in otherwise destitute situations.
Annual Reports
History
The Children of Central Asia Foundation (COCA) is a nonprofit international humanitarian organization dedicated to improving lives and livelihoods of children at risk. COCA provides food, clothing, health care, equipment, supplies, training, and education to the poor, with special focus given to orphans and high risk children from Kazakhstan to Tajikistan to the Kyrgyz Republic. Founded in 2009, COCA provides assistance to other charitable organizations, orphanages, hospitals, rehabilitation centers for disabled children, homeless shelters and schools through charitable and educational programs. COCA’s programs are direct responses to the growing number of children that are falling through the cracks of inadequate or omitted assistance from their respective governments. The goal of the programs is to identify children at risk and assist them in making the transition to adulthood by providing them a positive support system to avoid the pitfalls that can derail their lives. The focus is slightly different at each level but the goal remains the same; empower the children to make positive changes in their lives.
Leadership
As a charitable foundation, the Children of Asia Foundation (COCA Foundation) is managed by a Board of Directors and is chaired by the Founder, Dr. John Griffin. The Board of Directors is responsible for formulating and approving long-term goals and objectives, formulating and adopting policies, developing financial resources for achieving goals, adopting and monitoring annual budgets and financial development plans, and monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives.
Dr. John Griffin
President, Executive Director
Dr. John Griffin brings more than 30 years of professional experience and skills in international business, development and foreign policy. Before joining the U.S. Agency for International Development, Dr. Griffin worked with Special Olympics, United Nations, San Diego Shelter Program for the Homeless, U.S. Department of Agriculture and World Bank.
Dr. Griffin’s skills and experience are in the areas of energy, food security, agribusiness, rural development, economic growth, enterprise development, maternal childcare, health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness, vocational training, and gender and women’s issues.
Dr. Griffin is devoting his time, compassion, love, knowledge, and funds to help the needy children of Central Asia and around the world in their plight of attaining full human dignity.
Dr. Mukhambet Zhumanzaruly Kopeev
Director
Dr. Mukhambet Zhumanazaruly Kopeyev’s current post as the Deputy Chair of the Senate of the Republic of Kazakhstan Parliament represents his commitment and imprint for peace and prosperity of the Kazakhstani people. His work as a distinguished politician of the Republic of Kazakhstan culminated in two decades of government experience, including holding multiple positions in the Komsomol, Soviet, and economic offices. He has also served under the 1st President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Dr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, in key administrative and policy-making posts.
Throughout a very successful career Dr. Kopeyev worked as an accomplished lawmaker, effective lawyer, mining engineer and foreman. He is the recipient of multi-government awards (three orders, five medals) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Commemorative Token (2007).
Dr. Kopeyev is an internationally known and recognized authority and pioneer in the development of audit activity and accounting in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Dr. T.S. Sharmanov
Director
Dr. Turegeldy Sharmanovich Sharmanov was the Minister of Healthcare of the Kazakh Soviet Republic from 1971 to 1982. Dr. Sharmanov has been elected to the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan 3 times.
On behalf of the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK), Dr. Sharmanov initiated and led an international conference on medical-sanitarian aid held at Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan on in 1978. The Conference had official representatives from 146 countries under the sponsorship of the World Healthcare Organization (WHO) and UN International Children’s Foundation (UNICEF).
The Conference adopted the historic Alma-Ata Declaration which to this day is one of the fundamental documents of the world healthcare and is commonly known as the Magna Carta of Health of the twentieth century.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Sharmanov served as chief doctor, research department manager, rector, and pharmacology director.
Dr. Shannanov has dedicated much of his life to public service: the founder and the head of the Kazakh Academy of Nutrition – the academician of the National Academy of sciences of RK and the Russian Academy of medical sciences, the winner of State Premium of RK, the winner of Independent premium “Tarlan”, honored worker of RK, the scientist and the organizer of public health with a world name, a member of WHO experts’ committee on nutrition and the winner of the Leon Bernard Prize.
It is a tremendous sense of faith and charity that drives Dr. Sharmanov to call for public awareness of nutritional issues and promote healthy lifestyles.