African Collaborative

01/09/2026

"Tuwindi" means to make known: to share what you know with others.

In this clip, Executive Director Hawa Coulibaly shares how it all started, with Tidiani Togola, a young "geek" with a vision, and a small group of youth in his community who decided to build something together.

What began as a handful of people with computers became Democracy Tech Squad, young people coming together to think through the issues facing their community and build digital tools to address them.

Today, that same energy has grown into work spanning media and information literacy, digital citizenship, civic tech, fact-checking, and peace-building. It's all rooted in one belief: young people, given the space, will show up for their community.

🎧 Listen to Hawa tell it in her own words.
Learn more about Tuwindi here: https://www.africancollab.org/partners-all/tuwindi

01/09/2026

“Tuwindi” means to make known: to share what you know with others.

In this clip, Executive Director Hawa Coulibaly shares how it all started, with Tidiani Togola, a young “geek” with a vision, and a small group of youth in his community who decided to build something together.

What began as a handful of people with computers became Democracy Tech Squad, young people coming together to think through the issues facing their community and build digital tools to address them.

Today, that same energy has grown into work spanning media and information literacy, digital citizenship, civic tech, fact-checking, and peace-building. It’s all rooted in one belief: young people, given the space, will show up for their community.

🎧 Listen to Hawa tell it in her own words.

Learn more about Tuwindi by clicking our link in bio.

31/08/2026

AI is already in education. The question is which child it's being built for.

Nafissatou Sene reflects on the need to center ethics, equity, and local context as AI transforms education. She points to a few patterns worth breaking. Designing for the child with the most access instead of the least. Writing off Africa as too risky when it's actually one of the most attractive markets for impact. Measuring programs instead of outcomes.

She also highlights two of our partners, Shule Direct in Tanzania and Fundi Bots in Uganda: proof that "technology only serves people when it's built with their input, not around them."

Read more: https://ow.ly/4vCN50ZHqxR

20/08/2026

Fountain Of Hope Africa was born from a single encounter. In 2009, founder Marcel Cirhuza met a mother walking before sunrise, carrying one child and leading four others, on her way to show them where their father was buried. They'd gone two days without food and kept asking where he was.

He gave her a small amount of money to sell vegetables at the market. The next day, she was there, working. "That was my first happiness in the camp," he says.

That encounter marked the start of an organization built entirely from within the community it serves, not just passing through it.

→ Read Fountain of Hope Africa's full story: https://ow.ly/5BW050ZBTob
→ Explore all ten incredible organizations in our Cohort 5: https://ow.ly/V4rP50ZBToe

18/08/2026

When people hear “refugee camp” or “displacement,” they assume temporary. Fountain Of Hope Africa founder Marcel Cirhuza wants funders to understand something different.

“There are people who have been in the refugee camp in Malawi since the genocide in Rwanda,” he says. “Now their kids are married there, and they have no plan to leave.”

Displacement, he insists, isn’t a pause before people return home. It’s where they’ve built their lives, for generations.

“We are there before you come to us. And when you leave, you leave us there,” Cirhuza says. “We are rooted in those communities. We are the solutions.”

🎧 More from Marcel in this clip.

Learn more about Fountain of Hope Africa → africancollab.org/partners-all/foh-africa

13/08/2026

We’re still not emotionally ready to leave this day behind. 🥹

Last month, we hosted a lunch on the sidelines of Segal 26. Our network of partners and peers gathered with our team on the rooftop at Artcaffé Kenya in Nairobi 🇰🇪. Good food, good weather, and a lot of hugs.

As a remote team, we were so delighted to see how it all came together. Those of us who couldn’t be there in person were there in spirit!

We are so grateful for a community that shows up like this! 🫂

📸 Photography by Immortal Moments. Jonah Njoroge!

Keep an eye out for the full gallery, soon!

🕶️📸

Deep in conversation, deep in connection.

These smiles are contagious. Just a few of the reasons why this lunch was worth it.

Capturing the moment, twice!

Alfred Muli, we discovered his secret talent as an event planner!

Kamathi effortlessly doing what she does best!

Cheers to being in the same room! Our Co-CEOs and our newest board member, Carol Warui. Katie Bunten-Wamaru Atti Worku

Where casual conversations can turn into something bigger.

Our partners, taking up space. 🫶🏾

Another hug we weren’t ready to let go of.

Imagine Her’s Nathan Okiror was in the building. One of our newest partners!

There is no better feeling than having our partners in the same room.

Our community 🙌🏾

What a smile! ☀️

Oghome, representing Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh Trust! Her vibrant colors match the energy!

Prints, smiles, energy… we’re picking up a theme!

We are so lucky to have partners and peers who show up authentically.

Good food, better company! O.S.O

All of us together, at last!

20/07/2026

Congratulations ACADES Malawi and Our Sisters Opportunity -OSO!

Their work has been changing lives for years. Today, we celebrate what that impact makes possible. 💚 That’s why recognition matters. 🏆
__________

Every year, celebrate African visionaries who keep the pulse alive: the pulse of bold ideas, local leadership, and lasting change.

So this month, we're proud to celebrate five remarkable whose work deserves a little more of the necessary noise:

✅ Colman Ndetembea, Kyaro Assistive Tech (Tanzania 🇹🇿): Rising Star Award | Designing affordable assistive technology that expands independence and opportunity.
✅ Uwamahoro Delphine, Our Sisters Opportunity -OSO (Rwanda 🇷🇼): Angel for Africa Award | Helping vulnerable girls and women access education, skills, and economic opportunity.
✅ Hastings Nhlane and Madalitso Chipekwe Daka, ACADES (Malawi 🇲🇼): Grassroots Champion Award | Strengthening rural communities through regenerative agriculture and local development.
✅ Ojok Okello, Okere City (Uganda 🇺🇬): Systems Innovator Award | Building a community-led model for rural development and shared prosperity.
✅ Sarai Chisala-Tempelhoff, The Gender and Justice Unit (Malawi 🇲🇼): Fighting for Fairness (Barry Segal) Award | Advancing justice, dignity, and legal protection for women and marginalized communities.

Yes, it's true - we love a good celebration, but these awards go way beyond that. What they are really about is just ➡️ us shouting from the rooftops about changemakers whose ideas deserve funding, partners, and real runway. And these five leaders represent 300+ others like them who are building the continent's future from within.

When local leaders are trusted, recognized, and connected, the next beat for Africa gets louder. And this year, it reverberates in Nairobi.

Join us in congratulating this year’s Segal Award recipients with your best reactions & comments below + be sure to join us as we award them and share their stories with the world on July 23rd at 6:30 pm.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel (Segal Family Foundation) & stay tuned. 🥁

25/06/2026

Today is a big day. 🌍

We are proud to welcome ten new organizations into the African Collaborative network of partners.

Meet them:
🇨🇩🇲🇼 Fountain of Hope Africa — DRC & Malawi | Education
🇺🇬 Imagine Her — Uganda | Livelihoods
🇷🇼 Our Sisters Opportunity — Rwanda | Education
🇰🇮 Nice Place Foundation — Kenya | Gender Equity
🇿🇦 Spark Health Africa — South Africa | Health
🇨🇩🇷🇼 Let Us Stay Alive — DRC & Rwanda | Human Rights
🇲🇱 Tuwindi — Mali | Technology & Digital
🇿🇼 Africa Book Development Organization — Zimbabwe | Livelihoods
🇳🇬 Citizens Gavel Foundation For Social Justice — Nigeria | Technology & Digital
🇬🇭 Penplusbytes — Ghana | Technology & Digital

With this cohort, we are now committing $12.3 million across 45 partners in 15 countries, including new representation in South Africa and Mali, and an expanded presence across both anglophone and francophone Africa.

Watch the video to meet each of them, then head to our website at africancollab.org/cohort5 to learn more about them.

The future of sustainable African development is African-led.

Welcome. 🎉 Share this post to help us celebrate our newest partners.

https://youtu.be/yWuE8nO-aMI?si=0ige18BlqPH5-dfX

25/06/2026

Meet our 5th cohort of partners. 🌍

🇨🇩🇲🇼 Fountain of Hope Africa — DRC & Malawi | Education
🇺🇬 Imagine Her — Uganda | Livelihoods
🇷🇼 Our Sisters Opportunity — Rwanda | Education
🇰🇮 Nice Place Foundation — Kenya | Gender Equity
🇿🇦 Spark Health Africa — South Africa | Health
🇨🇩🇷🇼 Let Us Stay Alive — DRC & Rwanda | Human Rights
🇲🇱 Tuwindi — Mali | Technology & Digital
🇿🇼 Africa Book Development Organization — Zimbabwe | Livelihoods
🇳🇬 Citizens Gavel Foundation For Social Justice — Nigeria | Technology & Digital
🇬🇭 Penplusbytes — Ghana | Technology & Digital

With this cohort, we are now committing $12.3 million across 45 partners in 15 countries, including new representation in South Africa and Mali, and an expanded presence across both anglophone and francophone Africa.

Welcome. 🤍 Share this post to help us celebrate them, and visit our partner page to learn more (link in bio)

22/06/2026

What happens when local leaders from across East and Southern Africa connect and learn from each other?

Our Manager of Portfolio Services, Doris Kamathi, joined a panel at a convening for the Collaborative Learning Initiative (CLI), hosted by the Issroff Family Foundation. In our newest blog post, she reflects on what the convening reminded her about leadership across the continent, and why we back organizations with unrestricted support for organizational development, not just programs.

Read it here:

African Collaborative joined the Issroff Family Foundation Convening in Nairobi, bringing together local leaders from across East and Southern Africa. Doris Kamathi reflects on open call grantmaking, organizational development, and why investing in organizations, not just programs, matters.