African Collaborative

24/04/2026

What a way to end an amazing week at !!!

As we all go our separate ways and get some much needed rest, we are leaving with gratitude, deep learnings, and memories that will keep us energized.

24/04/2026

Skoll World Forum is a wrap! 🎉

We hope you've been following along with our daily recaps this week. We'll be sharing even more from our incredible time in Oxford, including moments captured through the eyes of our partners. Stay tuned!

Next up:
Our team is already on the move. Next week, we'll be at Women Deliver in Melbourne, Australia, and AfricaXchange in Nairobi, Kenya.

Follow our page and check our stories for a front-row seat to the conversations, connections, and moments in between. 🌍

21/04/2026

We can't wait for Grace Mugisha to take over our Stories this Thursday, April 23rd!

If you haven't been following along, our team and partners have been sharing their experience at Skoll World Forum, one of the world's most renowned social impact gatherings.

Grace is the Strategy and Communication Manager at Faith in Action Africa, and this is her first time at the forum. We can't wait to have her along for the ride.

Follow along with us this week. Our Stories are where all the action is. 👀

19/03/2026

If you're wondering where philanthropy can have the most impact right now, this research is for you.

The Bridgespan Group just published findings on African collaboratives — shared funds that pool resources from multiple funders and move them directly to locally led organizations. The research examines what makes them resilient, what they need to grow, and how funders can unlock their full potential.

One finding stands out: when funders make early, flexible, long-term commitments and engage as partners rather than overseers, collaboratives can sustain progress even in the most volatile conditions.

We're featured as a model for this kind of shared-power philanthropy. We're proud of that recognition, and committed to continuing to earn it.

🔗 Full article here:

Philanthropy cannot replace the scale of aid to the African continent that has been cut, but it can shape what comes next. New Bridgespan research shows African collaboratives are emerging as a resilient, locally led, and effective vehicle for global funders navigating today’s volatile aid landsca...

05/03/2026

During the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) in New York, our partner Kids' Educational Engagement Project will host a side event alongside the Permanent Mission of Liberia to the United Nations.

The session will spotlight KEEP’s transformative work in expanding literacy and inclusive education, and how the community is shaping national education policy through initiatives like the National Student Handbook and community learning resources that close the inequality gap and expand opportunities in Liberia.

If you or someone in your network will be in New York, we encourage you to register to attend!

Date: 17 March 026
Time: 1:15-2:30 PM ET
Location: UN Headquarters, Conference Room E, New York

Register here: https://ow.ly/bJGz50Ypbe2

27/02/2026

One year after the funding shock.

Across our network, 44% of our partners lost direct funding and more than $5.4M in support was cut. Organizations scaled back programs, reduced staff, or paused initiatives. Others lost between 5% and more than 80% of their budgets.

What didn’t disappear was their commitment to communities. Many continued serving despite the strain. Others faced impossible choices as resources ran out. Both experiences deserve recognition.

This World NGO Day, we acknowledge the resilience of African-led organizations and the reality of those impacted by forces outside their control.

Africa’s future is African-led. It is shaped by communities and organizations working to create lasting progress.

12/01/2026

Locally led development has always driven real change. 🌍

Over the past year, our partners navigated funding uncertainty and shifting conditions while continuing to deliver results. 2026 is a chance to build on that momentum.

These resources highlight both the challenges shaping this moment and the approaches that are proving most effective:

✔️ ODI Global – Evidence Library on Locally Led Development: Practical, field-informed evidence on what works in locally led development.
https://ow.ly/P2QU50XU6i9

✔️ Fueling Transformation – Our Impact Report: How flexible, long-term capital supports African-led organizations already delivering results.
https://ow.ly/r3Lk50XU6ia

✔️ The Bridgespan Group – Collaboration in a Moment of Volatility: Why collaboration and trust-based funding are essential today, with insight from our Co-CEO, Katie Bunten-Wamaru.
https://ow.ly/b7PQ50XU6ib

The takeaway? Local leadership works. The gap is making sure resources reach the organizations already delivering results.

📚Take a few minutes to explore these resources.
🔁 Share with someone who cares about where resources go and what’s working.

As international aid falters, philanthropic collaboration has never been more important.

11/12/2025

International aid is pulling back, and the consequences are hitting communities the hardest: weakened systems, stalled progress, and rising pressure on frontline organizations across the Global South.

The numbers aren’t abstract. Official development assistance dropped 7.1% in 2024 (the first decline in six years). Add the abrupt dismantling of USAID earlier this year, shrinking bilateral and multilateral funding. As of November 2025, an estimated 600k deaths are already linked to these cuts. If nothing changes, research warns of up to 14 million additional preventable deaths by 2030.

The Bridgespan Group latest article confronts this reality and makes the case clearly: philanthropy—especially collaborative funds—can keep critical progress moving even in a moment of volatility.

Our Co-CEO, Katie Bunten-Wamaru, names the paradox:
“Funders keep saying they’re waiting for the dust to settle. You can help the dust settle better—now is the moment.”

The piece also highlights locally led leaders building resilience despite the turbulence, including our partner Friendship Bench - Zimbabwe, whose model shows what durable impact looks like when resources actually reach those closest to the work.

You’ll also see photos from our site visits with Faith in Action Burundi/Community in Action and ACADES Malawi.

Read the full article:

As international aid falters, philanthropic collaboration has never been more important.

26/11/2025

At her first speaking engagement with Amplify Girls, our Senior Coordinator, Portfolio Services & Special Projects, Julie Khamati, reflected on a persistent reality in philanthropy: there is still a real power imbalance in many funder–applicant relationships.

She shared how our approach to grantmaking and portfolio services works to address this:
• Open, equitable application system — giving more diverse organizations access to funding
• Appreciative evaluation — considering each organization’s full story
• Flexible, trust-based support — adapting to partners’ needs

She also offered guidance for organizations seeking support:

“Stay true to your mission. Don’t chase every grant or reshape your organization to fit funders’ expectations. If your foundation is strong, the right opportunities will come.”

Locally rooted organizations shouldn’t have to perform to be trusted. They deserve funding that meets them where they are.

Thank you to AMPLIFY Girls for creating the space to discuss such a timely and important topic.

Learn more about how we design grantmaking differently:

Julie Khamati reflected on her first panel with AMPLIFY Girls, sharing lessons from African Collaborative’s grantmaking perspective, including designing equitable processes, practicing appreciative evaluation, supporting flexible partnerships, and the power of storytelling in fundraising.

25/11/2025

When Dr. Benjamin Wachira returned to Kenya after emergency physician training in South Africa, he saw a critical gap: limited training, inadequate infrastructure, and uncoordinated ambulance services meant patients weren’t getting timely, lifesaving care.

Founded in 2015, Emergency Medicine Kenya Foundation has spent nearly a decade transforming Kenya’s emergency care system:

▫️Mapping 252 public emergency departments
▫️Training 4,270 healthcare workers
▫️Supporting 132 centers serving nearly 5 million patients annually
▫️Launching the Casualty App with 4,000+ users

Recently, their partnership with the Kenyan government expanded to scale this model nationwide. They’ve helped shape emergency care policies in 11 counties and contributed to the National Emergency Medical Care Policy 2020–2030, where Dr. Wachira now serves on the implementation committee.

EMKF is showing that African-led solutions are leading systemic change. Learn more in our latest impact report: http://bit.ly/3KCuOHd