I was so pleased to join the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in July to speak at their conference on the New Frontiers in Funding, Philanthropy and Investment. In this panel, and indeed throughout the conference, we discussed the ways in which traditional philanthropy has perpetuated White supremacy, neocolonialism, Global North imperialism, racism, and inequitable systems that … Continue reading
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Participatory Grantmaking Community: Tensions of Fundraising for Participatory Grantmaking
I was thrilled to join the Participatory Grantmaking Community for a conversation about the tensions of fundraising for participatory grantmaking (PGM) along with Paul-Gilbert Colletaz from the Red Umbrella Fund and Yodit Tesfamariam from Camden Giving. We started the conversation with some guiding tensions about whether it matters where the money for participatory grantmaking comes … Continue reading
Philanthropisms: Shifting Power & Supporting Communities
I had the opportunity to join Rhodri Davies for his podcast Philanthropisms to funding systems change, supporting grassroots communities and shifting power dynamics within philanthropy. We covered questions including the distinction between charity and justice, the impact of the “funder ego” or a “saviour mindset” on philanthropy, and how to design impact measures that are … Continue reading
Philanthropy Circuit: Community-driven System Change, a Catalyst for Sustainable Development
“The fundamental takeaway for me from this finding is that for lasting impact and change to be achieved, the community must be at the center of it. It must be owned and driven by the community and those changes must address underlying systems and root causes. We can’t keep focusing on reacting to symptoms. Globally, there … Continue reading
Community-driven systems change: A practical way to shift power in global development and philanthropy
“Traditional global development practices aren’t working. Despite substantial investments in development efforts over many years, many large projects initiated by traditional, top-down Global North philanthropic funders, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and others have not resulted in meaningful and lasting change in communities. In some cases, there has even been unintentional harm done because of the disruption of … Continue reading
Conceptualizing early schooling in Pakistan: Perspectives from teachers and parents
As I was completing my doctoral dissertation on ready schools in Pakistan a couple of years ago, I was intrigued by the in-depth conversations I had with so many parents and teachers about what education and knowledge meant to them, and how it fit within their values and worldviews. So, I was thrilled when I … Continue reading
Last Mile Funding: Improving Philanthropic Funding of Community Action on AIDS
As we know from our work, communities are at the heart of the global HIV and AIDS response and without community involvement we could not hope to achieve innovation or progress on the ground. I was pleased to join moderator Kate Harrison and my fellow panelists Caterina Gironda, Matt Greenall, and Moses Zulu for this … Continue reading
Parenting with community support: Our experience in Tanzania
In late February, my family landed at the small Mwanza airport in Tanzania. With our luggage and our toddler, Z, hoisted on my hip, we climbed down the airplane stairs and onto the shuttle bus that would take us to the terminal. The shuttle bus was packed and I remember feeling slightly disappointed that … Continue reading
Social work: What does it mean to me?
I completed my Masters in Social Work (MSW) degree at the University of Toronto almost eight years ago. Although since then I have had a range of academic, professional, and personal experiences that have affected me, I want to share a bit today about the influences of my training and background in social work on my … Continue reading
Research ethics: Respecting cultural values while trying to ‘do no harm’ in Pakistan
I was invited to contribute an ethics case study for the “Ethical Research Involving Children: International Charter and Guidelines”. [UPDATE Oct. 30, 2013: The charter has now been published and can be found with additional resources at this website: Ethical Research Involving Children.] In my previous post I described the background context and ethical challenge. Here is … Continue reading
Sadaf Shallwani 