The AGAG Legacy Project: Honoring the Past,
Informing the Future
For 25 years, Africa Grantmakers’ Affinity Group (AGAG) has been a professional community and intellectual home for funders mobilizing resources to benefit African communities—a space where grantmaking practitioners exchanged ideas, built relationships, and challenged assumptions about American philanthropy’s role on the African continent. AGAG has operated as a fiscally sponsored project of Tides, and as the organization concludes its work, the AGAG Legacy Project ensures that its knowledge, research, and conversations remain accessible to guide future generations of grantmaking professionals funding in Africa.
A Legacy of Learning
The AGAG Legacy Project is a digital archive that preserves the resources that have defined AGAG’s work. The Story of AGAG documentary podcast series captures firsthand insights in the following ways:
The Creating Community Podcast highlights how AGAG fostered connections between a diverse community of grantmaking practitioners that shaped how they approached their work and improved grantmaking practices.
The Challenging Narratives and Practices Podcast explores how AGAG created a forum that challenged practitioners to examine their assumptions, rethink narratives that shaped their grantmaking strategies, and support African-led and headquartered initiatives.
In addition, the report, Conversations with Africa Grantmakers, offers in-depth insights into how grantmakers navigate their roles, build collaborative relationships, and understand change, providing useful perspectives for both new and experienced practitioners.
The world is facing challenges that threaten human rights, economic and social justice, and global alliances. Funding freezes and policy shifts continue to disrupt the work of nonprofits, making it critical for philanthropy to adapt and support community.
Register and join us on May 13, 2025, from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM (EST) for The Power of Intentionality in Times of Crisis and Transformation, a virtual conversation inspired by the “Story of AGAG” podcast documentary episode, Creating Community. We’ll reflect on how the community nurtured by AGAG enabled funding professionals to navigate the shifting philanthropic landscapes in the past and how its intentional practices offer valuable insights for today.
“AGAG connected me with individuals and organizations working in the same space I might not otherwise met. It was a unique opportunity to make new connections and speak frankly about the opportunities and challenges of funding in Africa.”
BUILDING A NETWORK
AGAG has been shaped and sustained by the people who have been part of its evolution… they have demonstrated the positive influence that can happen when colleagues come together in an inclusive, learning, and welcoming space.