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Charles Keidan

Charles is a UK-based activist and expert on philanthropy and charitable giving. He provides high-level advice on philanthropy, media, campaigning, strategy and risk management for progressive philanthropists. He is the Executive Editor of Alliance magazine and was the Executive Director of the Oxford Centre for the Study of Philanthropy. He was Visiting Scholar at the Stanford University Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, and Philanthropy Practice Research Fellow at the City University, London. Charles served as the inaugural CEO of the Pears Foundation, establishing Pears as the vanguard of family and faith philanthropy. In this capacity, Charles coauthored and edited an authoritative source ofdata and analysis, credited with driving renewed interest in family philanthropy in the UK. He holds a Master’s in History, from the University of Cambridge.

Bathylle Missika

Bathylle is the Head of Division for Networks, Partnerships and Gender, at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Centre. Bathylle oversees the Development Centre’s work on the development narrative and the contribution of its various stakeholders, ranging from the contribution of non-state actors to engaging citizens in support of Sustainable Development Goals. She also oversees regional dialogue and major development fora, together with the OECD Development Centre’s work on gender equality. Bathylle re-joined the OECD after working in UNDP’s Conflict Bureau, focusing on a portfolio of post-conflict and fragile countries in Africa, as well as the UNDP’s Democratic Governance Trust Fund. She holds a Masters in Public Service from Sciences Po in Paris, an International Affairs degree from Tufts University and an MA in International Relations and Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Tchouassi Gérard

Gérard is an Associate Professor at the Department of Economics and Management, University of Yaoundé II, Cameroon. He is responsible for the coordination of the Professional Master 1 and 2-degree programmes in Business Competitive Intelligence, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and the Development of SMEs. He has conducted many research projects and is widely published, including research papers, articles, chapters and books on Economics, Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy.

Emmanuel Akyeamong

Emmanuel is the Ellen Gurney Professor of History and African and African American Studies. He is the Oppenheimer Faculty Director of the Harvard University Center for African Studies, at Harvard University. Emmanuel is a co-founder and director of the International Institute for the Advanced Study of Cultures, Institutions and Economic Enterprise based in Ghana. He is the author of several books and articles and was a member of the board of directors for the African Studies Association in the United States, and a former Council Member of the International African Institute. Emmanuel has been awarded various fellowships, including the Zora Neale Hurston Fellow at Northwestern University, Corresponding Fellow at the Royal Historical Society, and Fellow of the University of Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. He holdsa Ph.D. in African History, from the University of Virginia, a Master’s from Wake Forest University, and a Bachelor’s in History and Religion from the University of Ghana.

Russell Ally

Russell is the Senior Director of Institutional Advancement at the University of the Free State. Prior to this, he was the Executive Director of the Development and Alumni Department at the University of Cape Town, where he was responsible for institutional advancement, fundraising, and alumni relations. He has worked as the Ford Foundation’s programme officer for Southern Africa and was responsible for the Governance and Civil Society Programme in South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. Russell was the country director of the South African Office of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. He has also worked for the United Nations Office of the High Commission for Human Rights, overseeing a human rights institutional strengthening project. He holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Cambridge, and a Masters in History from Rhodes University, as well as BA and Higher Diploma in Education from the University of Cape Town. Russell served on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Human Rights Violation Committee, chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Una Osili

Una is a global expert on philanthropy and social innovation and currently serves as the Associate Dean for Research and International Programs at Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. She holds the Efroymson Chair in Philanthropy programmes, as well as Dean’s Fellow for the Mays Family Institute on Diverse Philanthropy. Una is the founder of Generosity for Life – a digital platform that provides new data tools in the areas of philosophy and social impact. She has pioneered new approaches to using data to improve the understanding of trends in economic development and philanthropy and is a speaker on issues related to national and international trends in economics and philanthropy, frequently quoted by media outlets. She has served as a member of several national and international advisory groups, including the African Development Bank, the Social Science Research Council and the United Nations Development Programme. Una received her Bachelor’s in Economics from Harvard University and her Master’s and Ph.D. from Northwestern University.

Community Philanthropy: Home-Grown Solutions as an Approach for Nation Building and Resilience in Rwanda

This research article seeks to map community giving in its many dimensions, including community foundations in urban and rural contexts. Within the Rwandan Community setting, the research explores the home-grown solutions as adopted approaches of philanthropy. The rural and urban settings were explored, and key successes of the initiatives were collected as case studies, and through interviews and group discussion, key

“Giving Is in Our DNA”: Continuity and Change in Sierra Leone’s Community Philanthropy Landscape

Sierra Leone has a long history of community philanthropy. However, not much is known about citizens’ pattern of giving, the recipients of gifts and the sociopolitical and economic factors that shape the trajectories of community philanthropy in the country. Drawing on field-based research undertaken in Bo district in the South, Bombali district in the North, Freetown in the Western Area and secondary data, this report analyses Sierra Leone’s community philanthropy landscape. It identifies two broad and enduring patterns of community philanthropy – associational philanthropy and individual philanthropy. The report argues that while the different forms that community philanthropy assumes at any given time are embedded in sociocultural expressions of kindness and mutual dependence, they are also fundamental adaptation strategies to evolving socio-economic shocks and structures that shape people’s lives and resilience, whether in the colonial or postcolonial era. These shocks have included adjusting to colonial rule’s policy of “divide and rule” and post-independence state failure – leading to underdevelopment, civil war and complex emergencies. The report reveals striking patterns of continuity and change in Sierra Leone’s philanthropic landscape, with a progressive decline in public trust in state-led philanthropic schemes, especially during national emergences or crises.

African Philanthropy: Context, Contestations and Overview of Regulatory Frameworks in Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Uganda, Libya and Egypt

While research of African philanthropy continues to grow, there are several intrinsic local nuances yet to be explored. This study provides detailed review of the literature by unearthing key local contexts in six African countries namely Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Uganda, Libya and Egypt. The report shows that while there are substantial potential to mobilize local philanthropy for development, the concept of African philanthropy can take different forms masked in reciprocal neighborliness.

Findings from a Scoping Study on Mapping African Philanthropic Foundations in Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon

African philanthropic foundations play important roles in the development of the continent. However, our understanding of the African philanthropic foundation landscape in the philanthropic literature has been particularly limited. Drawing on a survey with philanthropic foundations in Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria, this report finds that independent foundations are the dominant type of foundations operating in the three countries. It also highlights that the establishment of philanthropic foundations is a recent phenomenon attributed to the growth in family and individual wealth creation. African philanthropic foundations give towards their own community issues rather than engage in cross-border giving. While there are legal and regulatory frameworks for regulating the activities of non-profit organisations, these frameworks are not specifically targeted at philanthropic foundations. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Private Philanthropic Cross-Border Flows and Sustainable Development in Africa

The paper examines the simultaneous impact of private philanthropic cross-border funding from international foundations on the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development in Africa. The vector error correction model (VECM) was used, and contrary to expectations drawn from past studies, funding from this source improves economic growth, advances human development, and enhances environmental quality. Causality test results also disconfirmed the assumption that interactions among the three dimensions were positive and complementary in the long term. The environment variable was found to be noncomplementary. Based on these unique results, theoretical propositions are made with an underlying mechanism of action. Practical and policy implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Johannesburg City Parks And Zoos’ Non-Profit Organisations And Cooperatives Partnership Programmes: A Joint Review

This paper is a joint production of the Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) and the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI). The study is part of a project called Resilient Urban Communities (RUC), a collaborative African-German project that addresses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals “sustainable cities and communities” and “quality education” through research and dissemination of knowledge related to the subject areas of “good governance” and “local government”. It encompasses research, networking, and education components. RUC aims to improve urban supply systems and infrastructure for vulnerable groups in deprived local communities and enhance the governance of African megacities. The research program of RUC focuses on social enterprises (SEs) and non-profit organisations (NPOs) as subsidiary social service providers and vehicles for participation and integration that contribute to the resilience of urban communities. JCPZ on the one hand collaborates with CAPSI because of their active role in working with both SEs and NPOs. CAPSI on the other hand collaborates with JCPZ to carry out the research using JCPZ SE and NPO samples. The findings of this study are based on preliminary findings from interviews with JCPZ officials, SEs and NPOs.