Mar 13Finding the middle ground between form and function for community philanthropy in Nigeria — Alliance magazineIn Nigeria, the realities on the ground don’t always match up with the way funders operate. What would it look like if there was a system that supported small and local groups doing direct action? In 2021, a frontline gender rights activist in Nigeria reached out for support. A young…6 min read6 min read
Feb 28Sarah Mukasa on African philanthropy and why trust matters — Alliance magazineI was lucky enough to catch up with Sarah Mukasa, Division Director, Women’s Rights at Open Society-Africa, in Entebbe, Uganda, after her plenary session ‘Strengthening an Infrastructure for African Philanthropy’ at the most recent African Philanthropy Network Assembly. …African Philanthropy10 min readAfrican Philanthropy10 min read
Feb 22REFLECTIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE #SHIFTTHEPOWER MOVEMENT — East Africa Philanthropy NetworkREFLECTIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE #SHIFTTHEPOWER MOVEMENT by Ida Maritim — EAPN and Ese Emerhi, Global Fund for Community Foundations (GFCF) “If money is involved, it should be in a way that empowers, not in a way that controls local communities.” …5 min read5 min read
Dec 16, 2022Driving change: A new moment for African Philanthropy at the African Philanthropy Network Assembly 2022 — Alliance magazineThe African Philanthropy Network (APN) Assembly in 2022 (co-hosted by the East Africa Philanthropy Network (EAPN), CivSource, and Uganda National NGO Forum (UNNGOF)) was the first assembly since the 2018 Assembly in Mauritius. The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted plans for the in-person 2020 Assembly, which was to be co-hosted by WINGS…African Philanthropy7 min readAfrican Philanthropy7 min read
Sep 20, 2022#ShiftThePower Manifesto for Change: Where it started and where we are nowThis article was originally published in BOND in March 2022 It was three years ago — in what feels like a very different world — that a small group of community development activists and practitioners from Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the UK met up in London. The meeting was…5 min read5 min read
Nov 22, 2021Trust is the currency of life — and the accelerator for community-led changeThere is an African proverb that goes ‘he who does not trust enough, will not be trusted.’ The word ‘trust’ is sometimes used in philanthropy to describe relationships between donors and their grantees. From the donors’ perspective, the relationship begins with normalized suspicion. Trust is often something that needs to…4 min read4 min read
Jun 30, 2021Three Months In — The Work of a WeaverI’ve always found it somewhat perplexing to explain to people not in my world of development and philanthropy what exactly it is I do for a living, and now I have a title that begs to be answered almost immediately with some definite clarity. Some understand it vaguely as that…6 min read6 min read
May 11, 2021Community As A Response: Communities Organizing for their DevelopmentWritten by Florence Kayemba (SDN), Ese Emerhi (TrustAfrica), and Charles Kojo Vandyck (WACSI) April 2021 In March 2021, the World Communities Forum brought together organizations working with local communities to reflect on the past year and how Covid-19 has impacted the work that they do. TrustAfrica hosted a breakout session…5 min read5 min read
Jan 27, 2021What’s the Matter with Small Grants?It’s a disappointing fact that after seventy years, civil society and non-profit organizations in the Global South still rely heavily on external aid from the Global North for their survival. There are justifiable arguments that this donor dependency needs to stop or change, and inherent in this argument is the…Small Grants5 min readSmall Grants5 min read
Dec 15, 2020Philanthropy and Leadership in the Time of CrisisFor much of 2020, we have been in the season of suffering, centered around the crisis of the coronavirus and its multitude of effects nationally and globally. We are all grappling with our own version of what Michelle Obama called “some form of low-grade depression.” The Covid19 pandemic has exposed…Philanthropy4 min readPhilanthropy4 min read
