Theo Sowa, CEO of the African Women’s Development Fund, had a conversation with Brad Smith, President of the Foundation Center, at Southern California Grantmakers’ International Grantmaking: Challenges and Opportunities for 2016 meeting. It was an excellent discussion centered on the Sustainable Development Goals and brought to life through the discussion on Africa.
“We have big challenges in Africa,” said Theo. “Grant making isn’t enough. We need capacity building, knowledge building and scaling. Many funders see African women as victims, not agents of change. They think of us a barefoot with three children on our backs. Not thinking of us as someone who can change communities, nations, systems.” Both Brad and Theo discussed the growing number of foundations and organizations that are local African lead. Many funders want to re-create the wheel when there are local organizations that can do the job. Theo elaborated “There is the potential to build on existing organizations in different parts of the continent. This is critical. We at AWDF can make linkages. So many want to help, but their contributions can be misdirected.”
Theo offered a poignant example, the Ebola crisis. AWDF collaborated with Carnegie to get funds to those on the ground and quickly. This illustrates how. Theo received a call from one of their grantees. “’We can’t do our literacy work when people are dropping dead around us.’ ‘We were able to work with these organizations that normally wouldn’t handle health issues, but who were on the ground in those countries. These were the first responders, those who worked to hold the community together, when the market collapsed. Thousands of women were empowered. Organizations that are trusted and proven.” She shared the byproduct of the crisis, “They just weren’t dying because of Ebola; they were dying because our health systems are not good. The crisis has brought awareness and resources to this. We want to rebuild – better.”
When asked about where to give and how to go about it, she said “Invest carefully. Good intentions can undermine efforts to improve. Listen and learn before you give and understand the context. Some of our early mistakes were the best training we ever had and that led to us now being successful. Risk taking is important, you need to try out ideas, if they don’t work, that’s ok. It’s a place to build from. And in this time where people want to innovate, there is nothing wrong with old ideas that work.”
A discussion of philanthropy’s role, versus the role of government and other sectors, really about who is responsible and accountable ensued. Theo Sowa stated the importance of our work and why: “Philanthropy pushes the boundaries, things that government, corporations and individuals can’t do!”