What's the Matter with Small Grants?

In this segment, AGAG Executive Director Niamani Mutima talks with Ese Emerhi about her article “What’s the Matter with Small Grants?” that reflects on her experiences as the Project Director for the Kiisi Trust Fund, a community foundation serving the Ogoni community of the Delta region in Nigeria. They discuss issues ranging from the role and limitation of small grants to the power dynamics inherent in grantmaking to supporting communities in conflict.

Read Emerhi’s article, What’s the Matter With Small Grants? HERE

Listen to the podcast, “An Ogoni Community Foundation Takes Shape” to learn more about the Kiisi Trust - HERE

About Ese Emerhi

Ese has spent the last 20 years working in the international development field, supporting human rights defenders and organizations in the Middle East and North Africa region. As the project lead for the Kiisi Trust, she directs a multi-million donor-advised fund for the benefit of the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria that has awarded small grants to over 30 local community-based organizations and other non-profits in Ogoniland. Prior to joining TrustAfrica, Ese worked as the Advocacy Program Manager for PIND Foundation in the Niger Delta. As a knowledge manager and online community manager at the World Bank Institutes’ Knowledge Exchange Unit, Ese developed and led strategy and member engagement for the WBI Community Managers of Practice and provided advisory and editorial support for the re-design and production of the 2nd Edition of the Art of Knowledge Exchange: A Guide for Practitioners..