Mama Hope

15/10/2026

𝗟𝗗𝗔 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟳 𝗖𝗢𝗛𝗢𝗥𝗧 | 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡

Are you leading a locally-led organization in East Africa and looking to strengthen your organization's systems, strategies, and long-term sustainability?

MAMA HOPE is officially accepting applications for the 2027 Localization Development Accelerator (LDA). Our 9-month accelerator brings together locally-led organizations across East Africa to strengthen their organizational foundations through practical learning, mentorship, peer exchange, and systems development.

We welcome applications from locally-led organizations based in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda, with annual operating budgets below US$100,000, strong community relationships, and the ability to commit 2–4 hours per week over nine months.

𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟱, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲, 𝗮𝘁 𝟭𝟭:𝟱𝟵 𝗣𝗠 𝗘𝗔𝗧. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆?

📝 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 (𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿–𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲): Our team will review applications against the program's eligibility and selection criteria. This process will conclude by December 31, 2026.

💬 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 (𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟳): Shortlisted organizations will be contacted via email and invited to participate in interviews.

✅ 𝗖𝗼𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟳): Selected organizations will be notified and receive information about the next steps for onboarding.

Note: Participation in the LDA program is free for organizations that qualify. We recognize the time and thought that goes into every application. Organizations that don't qualify will receive an email, but due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may not be able to provide individualized feedback to organizations that are not selected.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻'𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀? 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: https://hubs.la/Q04B9CQg0

𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺? 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴!

07/10/2026

LDA Program | A Nine-Month Summary

What does 9 months of learning look like when it starts showing up in real life?

For the 2026 LDA cohort, it has meant stronger organizational systems, greater confidence, new funding opportunities, mentorship, and relationships that extend well beyond the classroom.

As 22 locally led organizations prepare to complete their LDA journey, we look back at how weekly learning became practical action, and how a cohort of leaders became a community learning, collaborating, and opening doors for one another.

Read the full story: LDA 2026: How a Cohort Becomes a Community >> https://hubs.la/Q04zg4D10

09/09/2026

LDA Program | Beyond Learning

One thing we’ve been reflecting on at MAMA HOPE is the importance of showing up for our partners beyond the reporting cycle.

There is something powerful about meeting partners in their own spaces and being present for the moments that matter to them. Such moments allow us to see the work beyond the numbers.

We understand the relationships we have built deeply, the realities leaders are navigating, and the progress that may never fully fit into a report.

The conversations create space to move beyond accountability and into honest reflection about what is working, what is not, what has changed, and what support might be most useful moving forward.

For MAMA HOPE, meaningful accomplishment is building trust and relationships that allow us to learn alongside our partners.

📸 Safaa Garelnabi - Co-Founder, Hope Springs Health Foundation (Uganda) and LDA 2026 Partner, meets up with Vincent Mwangi in Nairobi for a catch-up | July 2026

03/09/2026

News from the Board Desk

We are pleased to share that Muthoni Thuo has been appointed as our new Board Chair.

"I am incredibly excited to lead MAMA HOPE into this next chapter as Board Chair! I'm here to open doors, not walk through them. My job is to give our team the resources, and backing they need to build the partnerships that let them reach more communities with real impact." Muthoni Thuo, MAMA HOPE Board Chairperson.

She succeeds Tom Henry, who has served in the role since 2024 and will continue to serve as a board member.

Carla Sinatra, who joined the board earlier this year, is our new Board Secretary. Juan Enrique García continues to serve as Board Treasurer.

See the full board >> https://hubs.la/Q04wrw1Q0

19/08/2026

BULLSH!T WITHOUT BORDERS

We’re incredibly proud of Susan Davis, who has just released Bullsh!t without Borders. A book with more honesty and better jokes than anything else on the shelf.

Susan draws from 30 years of watching good intentions go sideways in international development, and she asks a difficult but necessary question: What if some of the systems designed to end poverty are actually helping to perpetuate it?

It’s a question that resonates deeply with MAMA HOPE.

For years, we've advocated for . Challenging global development narratives to stop portraying communities as helpless, grassroots leaders as beneficiaries waiting to be saved, and outsiders as the heroes with the answers.

We have pushed back against and a model of development that too often overlooks the power, agency, knowledge, and solutions that already exist within communities.

As Marla Smith-Nilson, Founder and Executive Director of Water1st International, writes: “Complex problems aren’t solved by outsiders with prescriptions; they’re solved by people living them every day.”

That thinking sits at the heart of our Advocacy work:

✴️ Grassroots organizations don't need outsiders to arrive with solutions.
✴️ Grassroots organizations are already solving problems, mobilizing communities, building institutions, and creating change.
✴️ Grassroots organizations need a development ecosystem willing to recognize their expertise, invest in their leadership, strengthen the systems, shift resources and decision-making power closer to where change is actually happening.

Bullsh!t Without Borders is provocative by design. But behind the title is a serious challenge to our sector: good intentions are not enough.

We have to be willing to question who holds power, who gets to define success, whose expertise we value, and whether our interventions actually work.

Congratulations, Susan! We’re proud to have a voice on our Board that continues to challenge our sector to do better.

If you or someone wants to 'make a difference,' grab your copy today >>

For global changemakers who care too much to settle for just good intentions.

12/08/2026

LDA Program | Midterm Report

Strategic planning is the most consistently named transformative module.

Before the program:
✴️ 23% (5 of 22 organisations) had a comprehensive, documented strategic plan.
✴️ 50% were operating with either an informal, incomplete plan or no plan at all.

Now at the halfway point:
✴️ 100% of the organisations are now actively building or have completed a multi-year strategic plan; and it is, by a wide margin, the module partners describe as most transformative.

“The Strategic Planning module has been the most transformative because it helped us clarify our why. Having that clarity has made it easier to make decisions and stay focused on our goals.” LDA 2026 Partner Feedback.

“It helped us move from being activity-driven to becoming more intentional and systems-focused. Through the module, we developed a clearer understanding of our mission, target populations, strategic pillars, and Theory of Change.” LDA 2026 Partner Feedback.

Partners describe a shift from doing many activities to making clearer decisions about mission, target population, strategic pillars, outcomes, and long-term positioning. This is especially important because most did not begin with a comprehensive strategic plan.

📷 LDA 2026 Cohort partners during an in-person workshop in March | Nairobi, Kenya. Image by Sobukwe Nonkwe.

07/08/2026

LDA Program | Partner Visits

Two recent partner visits to Simba's Footprints Foundation and Training for Life in Moshi, Tanzania, reminded us of something we see time and again at MAMA HOPE: That lasting community impact starts with strong organisations.

Although their missions are different, both organisations are intentionally investing in the foundations that support sustainable growth, strengthening their internal systems, improving how they learn and communicate, and nurturing organisational cultures that will serve them well into the future.

These are the kinds of investments that often go unnoticed, but they enable locally led organisations to grow with purpose and sustain their impact over time.

What stood out most was that organisational development doesn't stop when a programme ends. Both organisations spoke about the continued value of mentorship, peer learning, alumni connections, and practical support in areas like fundraising, storytelling, and program development.

Their reflections reinforced something we deeply believe: localisation is about far more than funding projects. It's about walking alongside local leaders as they build strong institutions with the confidence, systems, and networks to lead lasting change.

Conversations like these continue to shape how we strengthen The Collective and our commitment to supporting resilient, locally-led organisations across East Africa.

05/08/2026

LDA Program | Midterm Report

We recently conducted an LDA program mid-term evaluation, which offered useful insights into the outcomes of the program so far. In just five (5) months into the program:

✴️ 82% of Participating Organisations Reported Stronger Organisational Capacity
✴️ 91% Reported Increased Leadership Confidence
✴️ 95% Reported the Program had Fundamentally Shifted how they think about Leadership.

Partner organisations reported Clearer staff roles (82%), updated or created policies (77%), Improved internal communication and decision-making (73%), Improved documentation and storage of organisational information (77%), and better workload planning (64%).

“Before the LDA, my organisation was operating without a clear strategic direction, and now we are becoming a more structured, strategic, and confident organisation with a clearer path for growth and sustainability.” Feedback from an LDA 2026 Partner.

These changes are more than administrative improvements. They signal a shift from organisations that depend on individual knowledge to organisations that rely on institutional systems.

Are you a donor who is interested in learning more about how we can support your grantee organizations to strengthen their systems? Email us: [email protected].

29/07/2026

The Collective Spotlight

One of the greatest strengths of The Collective is that the relationships built during the LDA program continue long after the final session.

In April, two of our alumni partners, Violeth Julius and Gasasira Irakoze Constantin, attended the Women Deliver Conference in Australia. They quickly become anchors for each other in a new environment.

"I found a familiar face and someone I could trust to navigate the space, which was grounding for me as the conference was large and busy. Our connection was strengthened, and we were able to introduce each other to different people in our networks. This experience reminds me of how valuable the relationships built through the LDA program are, as they extend way beyond the program itself." Violeth Julius.

"Violeth introduced me to some people as she was more open to connecting, which allowed us to walk together. I connected with people I wouldn't have reached out to." Constantin Gasasira.

Their feedback is an exciting reminder that one of the most valuable assets during networking is knowing there's someone in the room who will help you find your footing, make introductions, and ensure you don't have to navigate new spaces alone.

📸 Violeth Julius Executive Director Tanzanian Feminist Network and Constantin Gasasira Founder of The Tech Guardians at the Women Deliver Conference | April 2026

21/07/2026

East Africa Connect | Segal 2026 Side Event

On the sidelines of The Next Beat convening happening in Nairobi this week, we co-hosted a cocktail on Monday evening. East Africa Connect is an informal gathering that brings together doers, donors, and ecosystem actors who are part of the OC family and beyond.

It was a pleasure to host everyone who attended, reconnecting with our alumni partners Watoto Wasome, Stand Out 4 Mental Health, and Faces Up Uganda. As well as hanging out with our current LDA partners KNESWO, Start A Library Trust, Health Alert Rwanda, and Diversified Kenya.

Feedback from one of the attendees: "It was great! It was nice to be in a room without the pressure of trying to fundraise.”

This edition was brought to you by: Opportunity Collaboration, Segal Family Foundation, The Kilgoris Project, The Action Foundation, Good Kenyan Foundation, RELI Africa, and MAMA HOPE.