Lightup Impact, Elijah Cheruiyot Street, Eldoret (2026)

05/08/2026

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

What actually helps an organization survive the moments it never saw coming?
That's the question I keep coming back to. Over the past few years, I have had the privilege of working alongside 70+ youth-led organizations across East Africa — watching them navigate funding gaps, shifting donor priorities, leadership transitions, and moments where everything felt uncertain at once.

Here's what I have learned: 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑠. 𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠.

The organizations that made it through the hardest seasons weren't the ones with the biggest budgets. They were the ones who had already invested — in systems, in people, in relationships, in the discipline to prepare for what they couldn't predict. That's the idea at the heart of our next campaign: investing in resilience means investing in the future of youth leadership itself.

Because the future doesn't belong to the organizations with the most resources. It belongs to the ones who can adapt, hold steady, and keep showing up — no matter what comes.

We're just getting started telling this story. Follow our journey.
— Valeria Santoro, Founder and Executive Director Lightup Impact

03/08/2026

August is here. Let's keep anchoring what matters.

𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 & 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐒𝐎 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰

𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛'𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 — 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙.

From our capacity-strengthening trainings, here are the lessons every CSO should know: what governance actually means, why it's inseparable from leadership, and the quiet signs that yours might need attention.

Swipe through 👉

Click our Knowledge Hub to learn more: https://ow.ly/uPYA50Zu83C

Learn. Engage. Partner.

31/07/2026

Last week in Naivasha, we facilitated a capacity-strengthening training on leadership and governance for the AGYW (Adolescent Girls and Young Women) Rights Network convened by Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health (TICAH), and something shifted mid-session that we didn't expect.

We weren't teaching leadership theory. We were watching young women who've spent years being spoken for practice speaking as the decision-makers in their own governance structures — some for the very first time out loud, in a room, with a title attached to their name.

There's a specific kind of quiet that happens when a young woman realizes she's allowed to lead, not just participate. We heard that quiet in Naivasha—more than once.
Governance can sound like a dry word — policies, structures, votes, minutes. But in that room, it looked like young women redesigning what accountability means inside their own network. It looked like opinions about fairness that ended in better systems, not silence. It looked like leadership being claimed, not assigned.

This is what anchoring capacity actually looks like when it's working: not us handing down a framework, but young women recognizing the authority they already carry — and building the structure to hold it.

To every AGYW leader in that room in Naivasha: you already know more about leading than the world has given you credit for. We just helped you see it on paper.

Thank you, TICAH, for trusting us with this room.

29/07/2026

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐬 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐈𝐭 𝐘𝐞𝐭.

If the first half of this year taught us anything, it's this: the ground doesn't ask permission before it shifts.

𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬. 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫.

Over the past six months, we've sat in rooms with founders navigating exactly this — and one question keeps surfacing that we don't think has been sat with long enough: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈?

We believe the answer isn't just something organizations build alone. It's something communities — including the people reading this right now — help make possible.

We're not ready to tell the full story yet. But when we do, we hope you'll be part of it.

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠'𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭. 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 — 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

27/07/2026

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐬 — 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

After months of designing and delivering capacity-strengthening training for grassroots organizations across East Africa, here's the one thing we know for certain: 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆—𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕.

We can teach financial resilience, adaptive governance, resource mobilization — the technical skills are ours to give. But whether those skills survive contact with real organizational life? That part is entirely up to the grassroots leaders sitting in the room.

So this week, we are not speaking as trainers. We're stepping back and letting the room speak for itself.

Here's what grassroots leaders told:
- "I used to think budgeting was simple. Now I understand how deeply governance and financial management are connected — and how much that shapes planning and decision-making."
- "We were operating without proper budgets. If a donor asked for financial reports, all I had were bank statements — no real documentation to back them up."
- "This training filled a gap. It became the bridge between where we are and where we want to be."

As capacity strengthening practitioners, this is exactly the evidence we look for. Not attendance numbers. Not satisfaction scores. But a founder who goes back to their organization and finally sees the budget, the governance structure, the missing documentation — clearly, for the first time.

Training is the foundation. What grassroots organizations build with it afterwards is the real capacity.

To every grassroots founder and CSO leader who trusted us with their time and their honesty — thank you for teaching us as much as we taught you.

👇 If you were in the room, what's the one thing you've already put into practice? Tell us below.

24/07/2026

𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 | 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐊𝐄

At Lightup Impact, we believe the strongest solutions are rooted in communities. That's why we are proud to shine a light on the incredible organizations within our movement.

This week, we're featuring "𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐊𝐄", 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 "𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐲𝐬 𝐍𝐣𝐞𝐫𝐢"—a grassroots organization empowering adolescent girls through mentorship, menstrual health support, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) education, and leadership development.

✨ Their impact includes:
• Mentoring 300+ adolescent girls across Kibra, Huruma, and Mathare.
• Equipping girls with SRHR knowledge, menstrual health support, and life skills.
• Building confidence and nurturing the next generation of young women leaders.

💚 Here's what being part of the Lightup Impact community means to them:

"Being part of the Lightup Impact community means belonging to a network of changemakers who inspire, challenge, and support one another to create sustainable impact in the communities we serve."

🤝 Looking to collaborate? Her Voice Matters KE is seeking partners, mentors, funders, and collaborators who share their vision of ensuring every girl has the opportunity to thrive.

Email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
Instagram:
LinkedIn: Her Voice Matters
X:

Together, we're amplifying the work of grassroots leaders and building stronger communities across East Africa.

20/07/2026

𝐓𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐒𝐨 𝐃𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮

𝐀 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬.

Before the meetings, deadlines, and endless to-do lists, here's a simple reminder:

"𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆."

To every grassroots founder, community leader, volunteer, and changemaker showing up for your community—even on the difficult days—thank you.

The work you do matters. So do you.

𝑲𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑲𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑲𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈.

Tag a founder or changemaker who needs to hear this today.
May this week bring you hope, strength, and a reminder of why you started.

17/07/2026

𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐎𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐞.

Anyone can put people in a room and talk at them. 𝑾𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕.

Here's what makes our capacity strengthening different:
- Peer-to-peer, not top-down. Leaders learning from each other, across contexts.
- Practice over theory. Games and real-life exercises that put people inside the decision, not just talking about it.
- Always expecting the unexpected. Real organizations don't run on scripts. Neither do we.

𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒅.

Not a certificate and a goodbye — full hearts, built relationships, and people who trust each other enough to keep building together.

𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲—𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐮𝐧.

15/07/2026

𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲! 🌍

This year's theme, "𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞," reflects the work we do every day at Lightup Impact.

𝑷𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆. 𝑺𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎.

That is why 2026 is our year of 𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲, which means strengthening the foundations that help young grassroots organizations lead with confidence, adapt to change, and sustain their impact over time. It's about investing in the leadership, systems, and skills that keep organizations grounded, even when the environment around them is changing.

To the young founders, coordinators, and innovators who are showing up every single day to learn, adapt, and build—we see you. We are proud to stand beside you as you turn new skills into daily, life-changing habits.

Happy World Youth Skills Day!

09/07/2026

Financial Resilience for Sustainable CSOs: Why Now?

Because CSOs cannot build lasting impact on shaky financial ground.

Last week, Lightup Impact, in partnership with KCDF, trained over 25 Civil Society Organizations in Nairobi on Financial Resilience for Sustainable CSOs.

Why now?
→ Donor funding is shrinking and shifting.
→ Compliance demands are rising.
→ Communities still need CSOs to deliver, consistently.

We unpacked managing financial risk, strengthening internal controls, diversifying income, and building reserves for uncertainty — practical tools for real sustainability.

Thank you, KCDF, for partnering with us, and to every CSO that showed up ready to strengthen their financial foundation.

A financially resilient civil society is a stronger civil society.

Lightup Impact

05/08/2026

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