About Us
The Institute for Global Outreach (IGO) is a grassroots organization volunteering our time, money and resources to address these questions:
- How do we bring global awareness to sectors of America where there is lack of knowledge or disconnection?
- How do we instill a desire in others to reach across the World to people they've not met and open their hearts to help them?
- How do we maintain the highest standard of accountability in funding?
- How to we bring other needed resources to areas of the World that are remote and often difficult to reach?
About the Founder
Dr. Velma Kirksey-Tarver...
Velma Kirksey-Tarver, Founder and Director of the Institute for Global Outreach (IGO) started this organization with a very passionate and inspirational purpose; to help those who lack the resources to help themselves. Driven by compassion and conviction, she began setting aside her own income to bring this vision to life—laying the foundation for a nonprofit rooted in empathy, action, and hope.
She travels to Ethiopia every year....
She travels to Ethiopia every year to personally visit the children and families supported by IGO, ensuring that the most impoverished among them are not only surviving, but reclaiming their dignity and working toward a more sustainable future. While IGO has impacted thousands of lives, Dr. Kirksey-Tarver remains committed to seeing every child during her annual visit. Over the years, she has developed a deep and personal bond with many of them—children who now affectionately call her “mother.”
“I’m the only mother that many of these children have,” she says. “And I nurture them with the love God placed in my heart.”
Mother & Wife...
The mother of three daughters and wife of Senator Gregory Tarver, Dr. Kirksey-Tarver works countless hours for IGO receiving no compensation whatsoever. This allows more funding to reach some of the neediest households where a life is saved or suffering is alleviated. She's also a Certified Professional Life Coach who believes in serving the community as well as serving abroad.