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insider REPORT

january-june 2026 Photo: Nice Place Foundation

TABLE OF CONTENTS LETTER FROM THE CO-CEOS

OUR PORTFOLIO OF PARTNERS

PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS

KEY STORY: WELCOMING OUR NEW PARTNERS

BEHIND THE SCENES

WHAT’S NEXT FOR US?

AFRICAN COLLABORATIVE

LETTER FROM THE CO-CEOS Dear Friends of the Collaborative, Looking out now, a year and a half after the USAID funding cuts, the need to shift resources closer to impact remains more critical than ever. Across the sector, we continue to see the importance of investing in proximate leaders and organizations with deep community trust, lived experience, and the ability to respond to local priorities. We hope to see more funders embrace and recognize the essential role locally led organizations play in building resilient, locallyrooted solutions. While continuing to navigate the evolving funding landscape, our partners have remained steadfast—achieving meaningful milestones, advancing critical work, and receiving well-earned recognition. They exemplify a powerful truth: local leaders and locally led solutions continue moving forward, even amid uncertainty. From anniversaries and prestigious awards to strategic collaborations, programmatic growth, and leadership transitions, these moments of visibility represent more than individual achievements. They highlight the sustained efforts of leaders who are transforming their communities and driving lasting change from the frontlines. The first half of 2026 also marked an exciting milestone for African Collaborative as we welcomed our fifth cohort of partners. On June 25th, we celebrated 10 new organizations advancing powerful, locally led solutions in their communities. The gathering brought together partners, funders, and our broader community of supporters, with nearly 200 attendees joining us to celebrate this important moment. We were honored to recognize the commitment, innovation, and leadership of these organizations as they became part of our growing network. These first few months also reflected our intentional commitment to showing up in new spaces and strengthening connections across the sector. Through gatherings including Forward Global, Skoll World Forum, AfricaXchange, the East Africa Philanthropy Network Conference, and others, we stepped into new spaces, built meaningful relationships, and shared the stories and impact of our partners with audiences around the world. As we look ahead, we remain inspired by the resilience, vision, and leadership of our partners. We are grateful for the continued support of our funders, collaborators, and community who believe in the power of locally led change and continue to walk alongside us in this work.

With gratitude,

Atti Worku

Katie Bunten-Wamaru

OUR PORTFOLIO OF PARTNERS 45 15

7.7M

partners

people reached by our portfolio on 2025

countries

$12,300,000

in unrestricted funding committed since 2021

67%

56%

SANKI GENDER EQUITY LOKUMU LIVELIHOODS SANI EDUCATION Our partners are driving transformative impact across key sectors, including gender equity, livelihoods, education, health, climate & environment, human rights, and technology. Together, we are driving impact for a future of Africa that is for and led by Africans.

49%

36%

24%

AFYA HEALTH

IDAJO HUMAN RIGHTS KUSASADIGITAL FUTURES

13% ASASE CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT AFRICAN COLLABORATIVE

Burundi Faith in Action Africa SaCoDé

Democratic Republic of Congo CIYOTA Fountain of Hope Africa (FOH) Let Us Stay Alive (LUSA)

Ethiopia Drop of Water Kidame Mart

Ghana Blossom Academy Penplusbytes Regional Advisory Information and Network Systems (RAINS)

Kenya AkiraChix Clean Start Africa Dandelion Africa Emergency Medicine Kenya Foundation (EMKF) Nice Place Foundation This Ability

Liberia Kids Educational Engagement Project (KEEP)

Malawi ACADES Chimpembere Community Development Organization (CCDO) Fountain of Hope Africa (FOH) Njira Impact Rays of Hope Wandikweza

Tanzania Msichana Initiative Shule Direct The Community Forest Conservation Network of Tanzania (MJUMITA) WoteSawa Domestic Workers Organization

South Africa Spark Health Africa

Nigeria Blossom Academy Citizens Gavel Foundation DRASA Health Trust Gender Mobile Initiative HelpMum WAVE Women’s Health and Equal Rights Initiative (WHER)

Uganda Barefoot Law Bless a Child Foundation CIYOTA Fundi Bots Imagine Her Uganda National Academy of Sciences (UNAS) Wezesha Impact

Mali Tuwindi

Rwanda Blossom Academy Uwezo Youth Empowerment Our Sisters Opportunity (OSO)

Zambia Primrose Community Health Organization (PRICHO)

Zimbabwe Africa Book Development Organisation Friendship Bench

PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS

Photo: Furahini Michael speaks at a site visit with Msichana Initiative in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

AFRICAN COLLABORATIVE

THE FIRST HALF OF 2026 WAS FILLED WITH MILESTONES, MEANINGFUL WINS, AND WELL-EARNED RECOGNITION FOR OUR PARTNERS. FROM ANNIVERSARIES AND PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS TO STRATEGIC COLLABORATIONS, THESE MOMENTS OF VISIBILITY ARE MORE THAN ACCOLADES. THEY SPOTLIGHT THE POWERFUL WORK LOCAL LEADERS ARE DOING TO TRANSFORM THEIR COMMUNITIES. BELOW ARE JUST A FEW OF THE STANDOUT HIGHLIGHTS:

ORGANIZATIONAL ANNIVERSARIES Msichana Initiative marked its 10-year anniversary by launching construction of the Msichana Center, which will serve as a hub for protection, leadership development, legal empowerment, and skills-building for vulnerable girls. View photos from the launch here. Clean Start Africa marked their 10 year anniversary. What began as one woman's determination to ensure that imprisonment would not define a person's future has grown into a movement that is reshaping justice, restoring dignity, and proving that second chances are not acts of charity; they are investments in stronger families, safer communities, and more resilient nations.

PARTNER WINS Friendship Bench won the 2025–2026 KBF Africa Prize, an award that recognizes and supports impactful African initiatives driving positive social change and innovation across the continent. MJUMITA’s Executive Director, Rahima Njaidi, was selected for the Mulago Fellowship, a highly competitive one-year fellowship that supports emerging leaders working to scale impactful solutions. This Ability won the Elevate Prize Disability and Autism Acceptance GET LOUD Award this year, recognizing their impactful work advancing disability inclusion and advocacy. African Collaborative is proud to have recommended This Ability for the award. Benjamin Wachira of Emergency Medicine Kenya Foundation (EMKF) was selected as a Segal African Visionary Fellow this year, recognizing his leadership and commitment to advancing impactful solutions in Africa. Four of our partners—Katumba James (Wezesha Impact), Niniola Williams (DRASA Health Trust), Ifeanyi Perry (WAVE), and Jeph Acheampong (Blossom Academy) were selected as fellows for the Acumen Academy 2025 Public Voices Fellowship. The fellowship supports social impact leaders by helping them strengthen their storytelling, amplify their ideas, and build the skills needed to influence public conversations and advance change. KEEP Liberia was featured in a new case study published by Acumen Academy, highlighting how KEEP is tackling childhood literacy through its partnership with the national government of Liberia.

GATHERINGS

2026 Partner Community Call March 31, Virtual Our Portfolio Services team held a call focused on conference support ahead of Skoll World Forum and Women Deliver. We invited Quiet Giants, a strategic advisory firm that works alongside African leaders to refine strategy, strengthen fundraising & storytelling, as guest facilitators. They shared practical tips on how to approach conversations, build connections, and effectively introduce your work when engaging with people in spaces and conferences like Skoll World Forum.

African Collaborative Partner Happy Hour April 20 and 24, Skoll World Forum As a kickoff to Skoll Week, we held a casual gathering inviting our partners to meet and connect, and later held another happy hour to close out the week. We also provided informal office hours. Partners shared that these spaces served as a safe haven during the busy and often overwhelming conference week. First-time attendees particularly noted that the spaces provided the guidance, support, and sense of community they needed to confidently navigate the conference.

AFRICAN COLLABORATIVE

PEER TO PEER CONNECTIONS

OUR TEAM FACILITATED A CONNECTION BETWEEN AKIRACHIX AND CIYOTA. WE’RE THRILLED TO SHARE THAT AS A RESULT, ONE OF CIYOTA’S STUDENTS WAS ACCEPTED TO AKIRACHIX’S CODEHIVE PROGRAM. WE’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO A CONTINUED PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THESE TWO IMPACTFUL ORGANIZATIONS, AND MORE STUDENTS JOINING THE CODEHIVE PROGRAM IN THE FUTURE.

KEY STORY:

WELCOMING OUR NEW PARTNERS

Photo: Imagine Her

AFRICAN COLLABORATIVE

Last year challenged us all to rethink our role in an ecosystem that is always changing, sometimes for better and other times for worse. One constant remains: our partners continue to run impactful, resilient organizations despite the local and global challenges they face. Following a rigorous, multi-stage review process led by 15 members of our Participatory Grantmaking Committee, we are thrilled to welcome a new cohort of ten organizations working across four regions into our growing portfolio of now 45 African-led organizations in 15 countries. On June 25, we celebrated these incredible organizations as we unveiled our fifth cohort of partners. The event brought together our current partners, funders, and broader community of supporters in a lively and supportive atmosphere, with close to 200 attendees joining us to celebrate this milestone. To officially welcome our newest partners, we invited two members of our fourth cohort, Brenda Brewer Moore from KEEP Liberia and Christian Achemah from UNAS to reflect on their experience as African Collaborative partners and share words of encouragement with the incoming cohort. The event also featured a panel discussion led by Nafi, Senior Manager of Portfolio Services, where our newest partner organizations introduced themselves and their work by reflecting on questions that spoke to their context, approach, and impact. Partners shared what it means for organizations working in historically underrepresented communities to be seen and invested in, how their communities' histories and relationships shape their work, and what long-term change looks like in their contexts. Their reflections highlighted the importance of community proximity, local leadership, and sustained investment in building lasting impact. If you joined us for the announcement event, you have already met the remarkable organizations selected and heard the powerful reflections they shared. We can't celebrate this incoming cohort without acknowledging the incredible time, care, and commitment of our team, Board, partners, and collaborators over the past few months. Thank you to our grantmaking team, Chamrid and Michelle; our Program team, Nafi, Doris, Julie, and Alfred; and the dedicated individuals who served on this year's Participatory Grantmaking Committee. This new cohort was made possible through the support of committed funding partners, to whom we extend our sincere gratitude as we welcome another exceptional group of African-led organizations.

WHAT 3,000 APPLICATIONS REVEALED READ ON AT THE LINK TO HEAR MORE ABOUT WHAT WE LEARNED FROM OUR LATEST GRANTMAKING CYCLE. READ THE FULL BLOG POST

We’re thrilled to welcome these ten organizations into our fifth cohort:

Africa Book Development Organisation

Zimbabwe ABDO has spent three decades facilitating community-led education and livelihoods programming across five provinces of Zimbabwe through a bottom-up participatory model in which communities design, implement, and own their own development pathways.

Citizens Gavel Foundation

Nigeria GAVEL has facilitated more than 6,500 legal interventions for Nigerians who cannot afford representation, through a combination of technology, AI-powered legal tools, and a nationwide network of volunteer lawyers.

Fountain of Hope Africa (FOH)

DRC, Malawi Fountain of Hope Africa runs an integrated model spanning education and livelihoods for conflict-affected and displaced communities. It is the first refugee-led organization formally registered in Malawi.

Learn more about our fifth cohort

Imagine Her

Uganda Imagine Her builds rural entrepreneurial infrastructure for young women aged 18 to 35, providing training in social entrepreneurship, interest-free startup capital, and ongoing mentorship with a focus on agri-food systems and climate resilience.

Let Us Stay Alive (LUSA)

DRC LUSA is an indigenous women-led organization based in North Kivu, eastern DRC, working on rights awareness, economic empowerment, and political participation for indigenous women and girls.

Nice Place Foundation

Kenya Nice Place Foundation is a rescue center and leadership academy in Kajiado County, providing safety, education, and economic opportunity for girls fleeing female genital mutilation and child marriage.

Our Sisters Opportunity (OSO)

Rwanda OSO trains roughly 200 young women per year in fashion design, soap-making, and agribusiness, followed by startup capital and two years of mentorship and market linkage support.

Penplusbytes

Ghana Penplusbytes is a civic technology institution working across media, governance, and digital rights to strengthen democratic accountability. It has monitored 18 elections across the continent and built tools used by citizens, journalists, and government bodies to verify information, counter disinformation, and strengthen independent media.

Spark Health Africa

South Africa Spark Health Africa partners directly with Ministries of Health to strengthen the leadership, culture, and systems that determine how healthcare is delivered, using coaching, organizational development, and collective impact approaches.

Tuwindi

Mali Tuwindi uses information and communication technology to strengthen democratic participation, including real-time election monitoring tools, civic engagement platforms, and a corruption-reporting application that has provided Mali’s anti-corruption oversight body with data it previously lacked.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Doris Kamathi speaks at an event hosted by AMPLIFY Girls in Nairobi, Kenya

AFRICAN COLLABORATIVE

NEW COLLABORATORS

In January 2026, we welcomed Sara Johnson as a part-time consultant and fractional COO, a role supported by Livelihood Impact Fund, where she also works. Sara brings deep experience in nonprofit operations, particularly with organizations working across the African continent and with teams navigating major strategic transitions. She has an initial focus on operationalizing a new funding partnership model, Powered By African Collaborative. In March 2026, Zviko Tsiga joined our team as a part-time consultant on the Strategic Partnerships team. She brings 15+ years of fundraising, leadership, and board experience, and supports our team with fundraising processes and funder communications.

UPDATES FROM IMPACT AND LEARNING A key focus this year has been updating our Theory of Change (ToC) to align with our 2030 strategy and reflect where we are growing and building as an organization. Through a series of interactive workshops, staff were invited to explore what happens when African Collaborative’s ToC works using an Appreciative Inquiry approach. Rather than focusing on gaps and problems, we started with what is working to help us build towards what is possible. These sessions surfaced moments when partners flourished, relationships became genuinely trustbased, and African Collaborative’s approach made something possible that might not have happened otherwise.

UPDATES FROM PORTFOLIO SERVICES The Portfolio Services team conducted Annual Partner Reflection follow-up calls with all partners. These engagements enabled our team to better understand our partners’ experiences over the previous year and their plans for this year. The insights gathered have shaped the services and support we provide to partners. Portfolio Services also initiated the onboarding process for our cohort 5 partners, the first time we have done so without the support of a fiscal sponsor. To facilitate this transition, we developed a partner onboarding SOP and coordinated cross-functional collaboration across teams. This helped us establish a standardized and sustainable onboarding approach for future cohorts.

UPDATES FROM OPERATIONS AND GOVERNANCE Last year, we initiated a review of salary bands and our overall compensation framework for staff, with the goal of ensuring that pay bands and levels are applied equitably across the organization. CANOE (a nonprofit operations consulting firm that provides operations & compliance support), conducted background research needed to give us a strong starting point for updated salary bands and associated title levels. We built on CANOE’s foundation and integrated it in a way that reflects our values and organizational structure, including adding clear defining characteristics for each title band so everyone has clarity on their current role and potential growth paths. After completing our first audit last year, we found new ways to streamline our preparation process, enabling us to begin the audit earlier in the year and successfully complete it by the end of Q2.

PUBLICATIONS Why Funding African Collaboratives Matters Now More Than Ever (March 2026, Bridgespan Group) African Collaborative is mentioned in this article, which highlights how collaboratives like ours are emerging as resilient, locally led, and effective vehicles for global funders navigating today’s volatile aid landscape.

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS & CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE Our team attended conferences across the globe in the first half of the year. We stepped into new spaces, engaged new audiences, and made new connections while sharing our work and the work of our partners. The 2nd Global Funders Roundtable | Stockholm, Sweden | January Nafi (Senior Manager, Portfolio Services) attended the conference themed “Reimagining International Support to Democracy”, a new network and audience for African Collaborative. United Nations Commission on the Status of Women | New York, US | March Portfolio partner KEEP Liberia, in partnership with the Permanent Mission of Liberia to the United Nations, hosted a side event that the role of locally led organizations in driving sustainable change in Liberia. Sibabalwe (Associate Director, Advocacy & Strategy) spoke on the impact of investing in community-led organizations like KEEP. Forward Global | Whistler, Canada | March Co-CEO Atti attended Forward Global and spoke as a co-panelist for “How to Partner & Resource Collaboratives and Community-Led Funds”. Forward Global strengthened African Collaborative’s visibility within the philanthropic ecosystem and created opportunities to engage with others committed to supporting proximate leadership. Collaborative Learning Initiative (CLI) Convening | Naivasha, Kenya | March Julie (Senior Coordinator, Portfolio Services & Special Projects) and Doris (Manager, Portfolio Services) attended the convening hosted by the Issroff Family Foundation. Doris participated in a panel discussion sharing African Collaborative’s grantmaking model and approach. Skoll World Forum | Oxford, UK | April 23 partner organizations attended the Skoll World Forum this year, a strong turnout. Gatherings like this let partners build relationships with new funders, exchange ideas, and connect with changemakers from around the world. Atti, Nafi, and Julie were on the ground to support partners in person, and Atti also served as a co-panelist at the following ecosystem events: “Measuring What Matters: Impact, Evidence, and Resilience in Uncertain Times” | hosted by Greenwood Place “Building the Africa We Want: By Us, With Us, and For Us” @The Sidebar | hosted by Bless a Child Foundation “Capital, Community and Self-Determination” | hosted by Funders of African Descent Women Deliver | Melbourne, Australia | April Co-CEO Katie and Thandile (Senior Executive Coordinator) attended Women Deliver, another first for our team. It was a fantastic opportunity to strengthen existing relationships and build new ones. Katie delivered a lightning talk, “Funding Is the Hidden Lever of Social Change”, where she highlighted the critical role of resourcing proximate organizations. We're excited about the conversations and possibilities that emerged from this gathering. AfricaXchange | Nairobi, Kenya | April Alfred (Manager, Impact & Learning) and Sibabalwe attended the conference, a pan-African platform designed to drive systemic reform by connecting leaders who can deploy capital, influence policy, and scale solutions. East Africa Philanthropy Network Conference | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | June Atti joined more than 600 leaders from philanthropy, business, government, and civil society at the EAPN conference, where the focus was on how to build systems that trust local leadership. Atti was a featured speaker, delivering a keynote address titled “The Infrastructure Between Capital and Impact.”

WATCH THE KEYNOTE

WHAT’S NEXT FOR US?

Photo: Toni Akinola (DRASA Health Trust) and Ben Wachira (EMKF) at the Skoll World Forum

AFRICAN COLLABORATIVE

AS WE LOOK AHEAD TO THE REST OF 2026, WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO: Impact & Learning We are strengthening the foundation of our work by refining our Theory of Change, building a more robust Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) framework, and expanding partnerships with African research institutions to deepen the evidence base supporting locally led organizations.

Advocacy & Strategy We are expanding our reach and strengthening our voice through strategic engagement at key global gatherings. We are also developing a comprehensive storytelling strategy that includes an impact library, communications plan, academic partnerships, and efforts to grow our advocacy audience and network.

Communications Expect to see more of our partners’ stories, insights, and impact highlighted across our social media channels as we continue to elevate the voices and experiences of the leaders driving change in their communities.

Portfolio Services We are onboarding our fifth cohort of partners while continuing to strengthen support for all organizations. We are building out our three-track portfolio services approach to ensure partners receive tailored support that aligns with their unique organizational journeys, priorities, and stages of growth.

Upcoming Conferences & Convenings: Catch the African Collaborative team at these 2026 events as we connect with partners, engage with peers, and contribute to conversations shaping the future of philanthropy, advocacy, and community-led change. If you see our team, say hi—we’d love to connect! UNGA Week (September 22-25, New York, USA) Greenwood Place Pathways to Change Residential (September 29–October 1, Rutland, UK) African Philanthropy Forum Conference (October 25-27, Cape Town, South Africa) Tarrytown 2026, (November 9-11, Tarrytown, USA)

For questions, please contact: Our Strategic Partnerships team fundraising@africancollab.org www.africancollab.org