18 years since its creation, the Roger Federer Foundation is still helping thousands of underprivileged kids in Switzerland & Africa

Two significant events occurred in Roger Federer's life in 2003; he defeated Mark Philippoussis in the final at Wimbledon to lift his first Grand Slam title and months later, established the Roger Federer Foundation.

18 years on, the former World No. 1 has 20 Grand Slam titles to his name. The Roger Federer Foundation, meanwhile, has benefitted more than 1.75 million children in Switzerland and southern Africa, according to their last annual report in 2020.

Federer is the president of the foundation, which conducts school readiness programmes in Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Switzerland.

Unlike other foundations that focus on investing in infrastructure, the Roger Federer Foundation's goal is to empower locals. According to the foundation, education is the only way to achieve sustainable systemic change.

Speaking to The Guardian in 2012, the Foundation's CEO Janine Händel, explained why they chose to engage with only seven countries instead of on a global scale.

"Philanthropy is not just about money, it's about quality, how you invest in social issues, the impact you have in the field," Handel said. "My ambition is not to take $1 and have $1 impact but to take $1, invest it in the field, and have a $10 impact."

She further clarified that Federer himself had decided where the investment should go.

"Roger decides whether to invest in health, education or something else," Janine said. "But what exactly you do in education is a technical, professional decision that I can advise him on."

The Roger Federer Foundation organizes the Match for Africa exhibition event to raise money

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the 2020 Match in Africa event

From 2010 to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the Roger Federer Foundation had organised six Match for Africa exhibition events to fund their cause.

The Match for Africa involves Roger Federer playing against other top-ranked players or celebrities, with the proceeds going to his foundation. The first such match took place in Switzerland, where Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer raised nearly $2.5 million.

Since then, Federer has partnered with other players like Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray and John Isner in addition to celebrities like Bill Gates and Trevor Noah. Each match has raised over $1 million in charity.

The last installment took place in 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa. The singles match contested between Federer and Nadal was attended by 51,954 people, breaking the record for the highest attendance at a tennis match. The event raised more than $3.5 million for children's education in Africa.