We are a home away from Home.
Supporting and building our Communities through Education, Service, Entrepreneurship, Empowerment, and Dialogue
Welcome to the African Center for Community Development
We are dedicated to creating a vibrant and inclusive community that embraces the rich cultural heritage of Africa. We strive to foster a thriving and engaged African community by promoting cultural understanding, social and economic integration, and civic participation.
Whether you’re a newcomer to the United States or a long-time resident, the African Center is your home away from home, providing invaluable resources to empower individuals, families, and businesses to thrive in Madison and Dane County.
About us
Our mission:
To promote the well-being of African immigrants and preserve the vibrancy of African cultures in Madison and Dane County through education, service, entrepreneurship, empowerment, and dialogue.
Our Vision:
To facilitate the inclusion of African immigrants into the Madison and Dane County communities while maintaining knowledge and appreciation of their cultures of origin.
What we do
Community Support
We provide comprehensive support services to African immigrants, refugees, and low-income families, helping them access essential resources and assist with integration. Our programs include housing assistance, connecting families to rental support and emergency aid; youth programs, offering educational field trips and mentorship; and older adult services, ensuring our elders receive culturally support and working to reduce isolation. Through our community support programs, we aim to promote stability and well-being, empowering individuals and families to thrive.
Community Building
We bring together African immigrants, refugees, community members and the general public through peer support, education, listening sessions and empowerment programs that foster connection and collective well-being. Through our community building programs, we provide culturally-appropriate safe spaces for meaningful discussions and knowledge exchange, support for leadership and mentorship development, and access to critical community health education and resources.
Economic Development
We work with our partners to empower African immigrants and refugees with financial literacy, workforce training and job search assistance to foster long-term economic stability.
Upcoming Events & Programs
Older Adults Program
We provide a conducive environment for African older adults to connect with their peers, share experiences and pass down cultural knowledge through storytelling, oral history, music and other art forms.
Date: Friday, October 2, 2025
Time: 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Location: UW South Madison Partnership, 2238 S Park St, Madison, 53713
Children's African Story Hour
The event is free and designed for children ages 5–10 and their caregivers but all are welcome!
Date: Monday, October 13, 2025
Time: 4pm - 5pm
Location: Pinney Libray, 516 Cottage Grove Road, Madison, 53716
Beyond Isolation: Centering West African Arabophone Literature in African & Global Contexts
The twenty-first century is witnessing a naḥḍah (renaissance) of Arabic scholarship, emerging in the wake of the intellectual crisis produced by colonialism and its policies on Islamic and Arabic education. What distinguishes this period is an epistemic shift that has given rise to new textual genres and a new audience “equipped with new sensibilities, expectations, and worldly interests.” Yet, despite these significant developments, West African Arabic literature continues to be either neglected or studied in relative isolation, largely due to the persistent exclusion of Arabic from the broader critical discourse on sub-Saharan Africa. Such exclusion, I argue, amounts to the erasure of an entire literary tradition and its aesthetic values. This presentation seeks to reposition West African Arabophone literature within both the African literary studies and the wider field of global modern Arabic literature.
This is a free public event. We look forward to seeing you!
Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2025
Time: 5pm - 6:30pm
Location: Goodman South Library, 2222 S Park St, Madison WI 53713
Community Survey
We want to hear from you.
The African Center upholds our community's trust and well-being. We understand the barriers already facing immigrant families and we want to how the restrictive travel and visa policies are affecting the health and well-being of African immigrants in Dane County, WI.
We call it the "Africa Ban" because the current travel ban affects 19 countries, 10 of which are African countries and Reuters hints that the administration might ban 36 more countries, 25 of which are African countries. (Reuters: published June 16, 2025). We want to hear from community members. How are these bans affecting you, your family, your coworkers, your business/work, etc.? Please complete this anonymous survey and also share with your network.
We will share outcomes from this survey by end of this year. For questions, please contact info@africancentermadison.org.
Get involved
Donate
Join our board, our committees, volunteer in our programs to make a difference.
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Join our board, our committees, volunteer in our programs to make a difference.
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Our Partners
