AGAG 2023 Convening: Celebrating Our Legacy

Quick Links: AGENDA MEET THE SPEAKERS

Featured Speaker
Dr. Alcinda Manuel Honwana
Director of the Anti-Racism Team
United Nations Secretariat

Dr. Alcinda Manuel Honwana is the Director of the Anti-Racism Team, OUSG/DMSPC, United Nations Secretariat. She is a leading scholar on youth, protests and social change in Africa. Her extensive research on youth and conflict, youth socio-economic transitions and youth political protest and social movements earned her a reputation as one of the most influential scholars in these fields. More specifically her widely cited work on youth in waithood has greatly contributed to shaping current youth studies in Africa and the global South.

She has served as Inter-Regional Advisor on social development policy at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) at the United Nations Secretariat in New York. She has been a Centennial Professor and the Strategic Director of the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa at London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the Chair in International Development as well as Director of the International Development Centre at The Open University, UK. Dr. Honwana has also been the Prince Claus Chair for Development and Equity at the Institute for Social Studies in The Netherlands. Her career has straddled both academia and policy which allows her to bring critical policy insights into her academic work and vice-versa.

Dr. Honwana has also been a Director at the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) in New York. Her notable speaking engagements include a 2012 TED Talk; the renowned Lecture of the International African Institute in 2013; the distinguished Africa Lecture at Africa Studies Association USA in 2017; and the 100th Kapuscinski Development Lecture at the University of Maastricht in 2018. She is the Chair of the International African Institute in the UK and an Editor of the African Arguments Book Series. Her recent books include Youth and Revolution in Tunisia (2013) and The Time of Youth: Work, Social Change and Politics in Africa (2012).

Speakers and Moderators

Jacqueline Asiimwe
CivSource Africa

Jacqueline Asiimwe is the Chief Executive Officer, CivSource Africa in Uganda. She is a lawyer and social development thought leader with expertise in policy research and analysis, lobbying and advocacy on human rights, governance, democratization and women’s rights. CivSource Africa, the philanthropy advisory firm she founded in 2017 works to influence philanthropic practice through grant management and advisory services on funding, context and strategy. She works to shape narratives about giving and philanthropy within low net worth communities while promoting the idea that generosity is part of the cultural legacy and social code of many African societies. She holds a Bachelor of Law from Makerere University, Diploma in Legal Practice from Law Development Centre Kampala and Masters of Law from Georgetown Law School in Washington, D.C.

Amé Atsu David
Global Fund for Children

Amé Atsu David is the Regional Capacity Development Specialist, West Africa for the Global Fund for Children (GFC). She supports GFC’s Africa team. Her role is dedicated to strengthening the capacity of GFC’s local partners committed to addressing the causes of gender-based violence, while seeking to empower girls and young women to act as agents of change in their communities in West Africa. Amé is a human rights activist with extensive experience in capacity development and rights-based program design and management.

Before joining GFC, Amé spent ten years as a consultant working to improve the implementation of children’s rights in West and Central Africa. She has collaborated extensively with civil society and government on child rights, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights, social inclusion, and gender justice. She has provided services to Save the Children’s West, Central, and Southern Africa offices; Action Aid; Plan International; UNESCO; UNFPA; and Development Alternatives Incorporated, among others. She served as a Regional Program Manager with Save the Children Sweden (now International), in their Dakar-based West Africa Regional Office.

She holds a Diploma in Translation from the University of Ghana. Amé is bilingual in French and English with intermediate Spanish skills.

Robert Ddamulira, Ph.D.
C.S. Mott Foundation

Robert Ddamulira, Ph.D., is a Program Officer in C. S. Mott's Environment Program. He helps manage Mott’s clean energy access grantmaking in the Advancing Climate Change Solutions program area, including its energy access projects in Tanzania. He also oversees grants that support global institutions working on energy access issues. He has worked on energy and climate change issues in Africa for regional and global organizations, including the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Before joining Mott, Robert was a researcher for the Biden School’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Delaware. From 2018 to 2021, he served in various academic roles, including as an adjunct professor at the University of Delaware, and as an assistant professor at the Au Sable Institute in Mancelona, Michigan.

He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in environmental and natural resources management from Makerere University in Uganda. He earned his Ph.D. in energy and environmental policy at the University of Delaware.

Saliem Fakir
African Climate Foundation

Saliem Fakir is the Executive Director of the African Climate Foundation. Prior to establishing the African Climate Foundation, Saliem served as the Head of the Policy & Futures Unit of World Wildlife Fund South Africa for eleven years. Saliem has worked as a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Public Administration and Planning and an Associate Director for the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy at Stellenbosch University.

Prior to that, he served as Director of the World Conservation Union, South Africa (IUCN-SA) for eight years. He has served on several boards and is a prolific writer who contributes regularly to leading South African publications like Engineering News, Business Day, and the Daily Maverick.

Nyeleti Honwana
H. F. Guggenheim Foundation

Nyeleti Honwana is Program Officer at The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. She serves as lead organizer of the Foundation’s African Fellows Program, a two-year mentorship program targeting Ph.D. level researchers working on issues of violence and conflict in Africa. She is also part of the team that evaluates the Foundation’s Distinguished Scholars and Emerging Scholars applications.

Nyeleti is co-Founder of Global Black Youth, serves on the steering committee of the Africa Grantmakers’ Affinity Group, and co-leads the Africa, Peace, and Security Network. In 2020, she was among the inaugural cohort of professionals awarded the Equity in Philanthropy Fellowship by the Rockwood Leadership Institute and recognized as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People of African Descent Under 40.

She completed an M.A. in international affairs from Boston University with a certificate in African studies. Her graduate thesis, “Social Movements in Africa: Mozambique and Civil Disorder,” received the Hermann Eilts Thesis Award for best graduate thesis. She holds a B.A. in contemporary history from the University of Sussex.

Andrea Johnson
Formerly of the Carnegie Corporation of New York

Andrea Johnson is a former Program Officer, International Programs, Higher Education and Research in Africa, Carnegie Corporation of New York. Before retiring from the Carnegie Corporation in March 2022, Andrea worked with the Higher Education and Research in Africa and Peacebuilding in Africa teams. In higher education, she managed the strategy to develop and retain the next generation of African academics. In peacebuilding, she collaborated on a strategy to expand the pool of African peacebuilding scholars and to connect them to international scholarly and policy communities. Through the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa, she developed strategies to improve access to internet connectivity for higher education and research. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the College of William and Mary, and a master's degree in International Affairs in economic and political development from the School of International and Public Affairs from Columbia University. She is a co-founder of the Africa Grantmakers’ Affinity Group and served on the Steering Committee and as Steering Committee Chair.

Alexander Kyerematen
Global Fund for Children

Alexander Kyerematen is the Senior Regional Director, Africa at Global Fund for Children (GFC). He leads GFC's grantmaking, capacity strengthening, integrated programming, and stakeholder engagement across Africa. He is a skilled international development strategist and community development advocate. He has over a decade of experience in grantmaking, program strategy, design, implementation, management, community development, and stakeholder engagement.

Prior to joining GFC, Alex negotiated the placement of approximately $20 million in bi-lateral and multi-lateral project funds annually over 5 years while at Fidelity Bank Ghana. He also structured and managed the disbursement of over $120 million to support public-private partnership projects. He worked with Geneva Global and designed and implemented strategic multi-year, multi-sector philanthropic investments to improve and empower communities in Africa. Alex brings a mix of private, public, and civic society experience with deep contextual understanding to his work with children and youth and their communities across the continent.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the College of Wooster, a master’s degree in international business and policy from Georgetown University, and an MBA in international business from Hult International Business School. He is certified in micro, small, and medium scale lending, as well as environment and social risk analysis, and is proficient in French.

Steven Lawrence
Steven Lawrence Consulting

Steven Lawrence is an independent consultant and also serves as a Senior Research Consultant for TCC Group. A national expert in the field of foundation philanthropy, Steven brings a worldview that is curious, unbiased, and delightfully clear-minded. Steven has led groundbreaking research and published on a broad range of philanthropic priorities, such as human rights, social justice, health policy, education reform, peace and security, and mission investing. His ability to create highly strategic, customized knowledge and funding landscapes helps grantmakers, philanthropy-serving organizations, and non-governmental organizations around the world uncover new insights and make strategic decisions.

Dr. Joyce Malombe
Wellspring Philanthropic Fund

Dr. Joyce Malombe serves as the Program Director for the International Children’s Education program. Previously, she was the Program Officer for the International Children’s Education at Wellspring Advisors. Prior to joining Wellspring in January 2012, Joyce worked as a consultant for several organizations and held numerous positions including Program Officer for Education at ELMA Philanthropies. Joyce worked with the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program as Director of Africa and Middle East and Coordinator for Leadership and Social Justice. She additionally served as a Senior Scientist at the World Bank as well as an Associate Professor and Senior Researcher at Southern New Hampshire University and the University of Nairobi. Joyce brings more than 25 years of experience to Wellspring. She has a BA and MA from the University of Nairobi and a PhD from the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Yvonne L. Moore
Moore Philanthropy

Yvonne L. Moore is the Founder and Managing Director at Moore Philanthropy, and President of partner organization, Moore Impact. She brings over 25 years of experience in the government, civil society, and philanthropic sectors to her work in providing strategic and tailored philanthropic advisement and solutions to families, individuals, and institutions.

Yvonne brings a dual understanding to her work which includes advising donors funding in several African countries. Previously, she was Chief of Staff to Abigail E. Disney and served as the Executive Director of the Daphne Foundation. Yvonne serves as a trustee of The Daphne Foundation, the New York Women’s Foundation, Philanthropy New York, and Faces of Giving. She also serves as an advisor to the Triskeles Foundation, the Accountability Council, and Jola House Liberia.

She earned a master’s degree in nonprofit management from the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy at The New School.

William Moses
The Kresge Foundation

William “Bill” Moses is a Managing Director of Education, at the Kresge Foundation. He is the key architect of Kresge’s education programming, leading the team’s continuum of domestic and international grant activities from developing program strategy, reviewing preliminary ideas, and helping grantees develop proposals or initiatives, to awarding funding and monitoring existing grants.

Before joining Kresge, Bill served as Executive Director of The Thomas J. Watson Foundation in Rhode Island and as a senior analyst at the Investor Responsibility Research Center in Washington, DC. He also worked as a research officer at TechnoServe and held various administrative positions in Alaska’s state legislature and the federal government, including the U.S. Embassy in Cape Town, South Africa.

A graduate of Claremont McKenna College, Bill earned a master’s degree in international relations from Yale University. He is a co-founder of the Africa Grantmakers’ Affinity Group.

Niamani Mutima
Africa Grantmakers' Affinity Group

Niamani Mutima is the Executive Director of the Africa Grantmakers' Affinity Group (AGAG), Since joining AGAG in 2001, she has shaped its research and conference programs and guided its evolution as a funder network working at the intersection of philanthropy and Africa.

Before joining AGAG Niamani worked with the Africa-American Institute (AAI) for seventeen years in various positions. She worked in the Office of the Corporate Secretary and the Conference Program. She was part of the team that organized domestic and international conferences on topics ranging from media, trade and economic development to gender, education, and international policy issues, all related to Africa.

As Director of Field Services for the USAID African Leadership and Advanced Skills (ATLAS) project, she managed a USAID grants program for African-based organizations and organized conferences across Africa on a range of topics to connect African professionals working in similar sectors based in different countries. She authored numerous reports and newsletters. In her extensive travel throughout Africa, Niamani worked with African stakeholders ranging from government and university officials to international NGOs and civil society organizations. Central to her work is a commitment to connecting people with common interests to learn from each other and learning about different cultures.

Niamani has a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Princeton University and a master’s degree in Philanthropic Studies from Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Hafeeza E. Rashed
Moore Impact

Hafeeza E. Rashed is the Director of Programs and Partnerships at Moore Impact. Previously, she worked at the King Baudouin Foundation United States where she was responsible for outreach to individual donors and the development of partnerships with African nonprofit organizations.

Hafeeza has worked in education, law, social justice, and philanthropy for the last 15 years. She advocates for direct resourcing of African-led organizations on the continent and is a frequent speaker at conferences on African-led civil society organizations. She is a contributor to the African Philanthropy Forum’s Toolkit for African Philanthropists.

Hafeeza earned a bachelor's degree from Spelman College, and her law degree from the University of Richmond. She currently resides in New York City.

Vuyiswa Sidzumo
Ford Foundation

Vuyiswa Sidzumo is the Regional Director, Office of Southern Africa, at the Ford Foundation. Before joining Ford, Vuyiswa was Director of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation’s South Africa Office and Director at the National Department of Provincial and Local Government (now Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs), where she was a liaison to the donor community. Between 1995 and 2002, she worked at the Sedibeng Centre for Organizational Effectiveness and the United Nations Development Program. Vuyiswa earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in science from Wits University in South Africa. She currently serves as Chair of the Africa Grantmakers’ Affinity Group steering committee.

Dr. Aleesha Taylor
Herald Advisors

Dr. Aleesha Taylor is the Principal of Herald Advisors, a consulting firm she founded to support leaders and organizations to thrive in the intersections of philanthropy, education, and international development. She was the Deputy Director of the Open Society Foundations’ education program, where she managed a team across five countries to implement a global grant making portfolio to strengthen education systems and civil society. She has also served as an Interim Chief Technical Officer and Independent Senior Advisor for education.org.

A native of the Bronx, NY, Aleesha is passionate about advancing equity and justice through the education sector. She was a Lecturer of International Educational Development at Columbia University’s Teachers College, where she completed her doctoral studies. Aleesha also holds degrees in psychology from Spelman College and the Graduate Faculty for Political and Social Sciences of the New School for Social Research.

Herald Advisors is a small business partner of Chemonics. Current and recent clients include Wellspring Philanthropy Fund, AMPLIFY Girls, Comic Relief (US), Lever for Change, KIND Foundation, UN Girls Education Initiative, the Africa Grantmakers' Affinity Group and the International Education Funders Group.

ADDING VALUE TO PHILANTHROPY TO AFRICA

Why the Africa Grantmakers’ Affinity Group?

We believe that a strong network of informed and connected funders is a necessary ingredient for robust, effective and responsive philanthropy to benefit African communities.