Foto source: Dandelion Africa We are pleased to welcome Ewang’an Olosho Le Suswa, as one of our new partners in East Africa. Founded in 2019, Ewang’an is located in the Maasai village of Suswa in Kenya. Formed by a cluster of self-help groups in the community, their goals are to advocate for community rights, alleviate poverty, and strengthen self-reliance. We first learned of Ewang’an through Wendo Azhed of Dandelion Africa (one of our pod advisors), who has served as a mentor for their work with boys. Pangea’s funding will support the Boy Child Mentorship project. Ewang’an leaders recognize the importance of...[ Read More ]

Last month, we introduced Elvia Raquec from WJI, Guatemala, as part of our Pod Advisors Program. Today is Wendo Aszed’s turn, a remarkable leader from Dandelion Africa, Kenya. We are thrilled to welcome Wendo into this new role at Pangea Giving, and hope to learn more from her experience as a leader working on the frontlines of local development.  Wendo Aszed is the founder and Executive Director of Dandelion Africa, a grassroots organization based in Kenya, whose work focuses on women’s health care and economic empowerment. Wendo has led successful initiatives that provide safe information and direct services to women...[ Read More ]

In 2021, Pangea committed to gaining greater perspective and depth to our grantmaking process through identifying trusted leaders from our alumni partners and known local experts. This commitment has coalesced into our new pod advisers program, through which we have identified three wonderful leaders and long-time friends of Pangea to help us think through our grant making, serve as our eyes on the ground as we support current partners and help provide context for the latest developments in the regions where we fund. In July, we welcomed Elvia Raquec, Programs Director for Women's Justice Initiative, as our first pod adviser....[ Read More ]

In our latest Member Spotlight feature, we heard from longtime member Bob Ness. How did you first hear about / get involved with Pangea? After 9/11, a few friends of mine invited a group of people together to consider the question: “Where does the US fit in the world right now and how do we deal with the crisis in relationships we have with people around the world?” Allan Paulson, Linda Mason and others had the idea of forming Pangea. My wife, Maryann, wanted to get involved from the beginning and pulled me in. I participated in a formational meeting...[ Read More ]

This guest article was written by Ruth Nderitu – Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Dandelion Africa What you need to know: Many development partners and foundations prioritize supporting large established organizations. This model denies grassroots organizations resources that could increase their capacity to improve the livelihoods of the local communitiesFunders should consider increasing and diversifying allocations to grassroots organisations in their grant portfolios. Ruth Nderitu Development partners and foundations have, over time, offered much-needed support to communities in times of crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic is a case in point. When it broke out, many funders readily responded to appeals for support from...[ Read More ]

a part of our Partner Perspectives series https://youtu.be/2RUn5zFoZ1k COVID-19 is having a significant impact on rural communities in Kenya's Rift Valley. The situation is testing the capacity of local organizations to respond to urgent community needs and to continue to address the social issues they have been focusing on for years. On October 6, 2020, we welcomed two of our grant partners who are grappling with these issues. Wendo Aszed from Dandelion Africa and Michael Kamunya from Playmakers Theatre discussed how they are pivoting to meet the challenges of the pandemic and the opportunities that are emerging in the process....[ Read More ]

Wendo Aszed, Director of Dandelion Africa, a longtime Pangea Giving grant partner, explains how COVID-19 is affecting women in rural Kenya in this guest blog post.  Today I woke up worried about a lady in my village called Ekadon. I worried about her mud hut with tinned roof, held by stones, that it would fall on her at night or be swept away by the raging March rains. I worried that she might not have a tee-pee tap by her door, to wash her hands every time she came back from her hustle. I worried about the brown water she stands in...[ Read More ]

Educating and empowering women and girls is a well-accepted strategy in global development to help them thrive. But what does this look like in hard to reach rural communities in Kenya where the practice of FGM (female genital mutilation) still takes place and dropping out of school and early marriages/pregnancies are commonplace for young adolescent girls? This short video features participants in Dandelion Africa’s highly successful Girls for Leaders program which has brought much needed hope, confidence, mentorship and leadership skills to thousands of girls from vulnerable communities. The stats tell the story too—98% of girls in Dandelion's program successfully...[ Read More ]

My long-held dream of visiting East Africa – and more importantly, meeting and learning about the people who live there – came to fruition during a recent Pangea Giving site visit. For 3 weeks our team of four immersed ourselves in the social, environmental, cultural and economic realities of rural life in Kenya, Uganda and Burundi. I returned home profoundly impacted and humbled. A few examples: Who would have the courage to build a desperately needed maternity center in a rural village with no access to a reliable water source? Under the leadership of Wendo Aszed, Dandelion Africa is months...[ Read More ]

Knowing from our own experience that non-profit leaders often benefit from having a safe space to share experiences and coach each other in addressing challenges, members of Pangea’s Africa Pod asked some of our partners if they would find it useful to meet with one other. The answer was yes. So in 2016 we set aside a small amount from our grant pool to help our partners come together at the Dandelion Africa location near Nakuru, Kenya, in what we called the East Africa Leadership Forum (EALF). The intention from the start was that the forum belonged entirely to the...[ Read More ]