From September Conversations: The Case for a Blank Sheet
- Chilande Kuloba-Warria
- Oct 2
- 2 min read
September took me from Cambridge, where I joined the Network of Engaged International Donors (NEID Global) Symposium, to New York City during UNGA week and especially with the communities at WINGS Catalyst Now TheSidebar Segal Family Foundation , and back home to Nairobi for an uplifting session with women entrepreneurs hosted by Kayana Create .
If you are in my circle, your walls are probably filled with images, quotes, and reflections from these gatherings. I remain humbled and deeply encouraged by what I continue to learn from peers, colleagues, and friends across these different spaces. A lot can be said, but I want to share the top five common thread I heard and witnessed again and again:
We, as actors from the Global Majority, are leaning into both mindset shifts and intentional action. We are moving…
from donor-dependency to community self-reliance
from transactional giving to relationships that last
from top-down aid to traditions of generosity rooted in culture
from fundraising as survival to philanthropy that shifts power
from isolated acts of charity to collective actions and giving, where communities pool resources and decide together
These conversations reminded me that the future of development finance is not about patching old systems. It is about reimagining them from the ground up, anchored in trust, dignity, and local agency.
This is why I believe we need to return back to work with blank sheets in hand. It is not business as usual. For those of us who are rooted in the global majority and consider ourselves ecosystem builders and bridge builders, whether it is our growing community of friends and collaborators including East Africa Philanthropy Network-EAPN MAMA HOPE , Adeso , tuiFUND , EPIC-Africa , or within our own Warande communities of practice, and beyond… it means approaching our work with openness, courage, and the willingness to redraw what has been taken for granted.
A new ecosystem is taking shape, one conversation, one coalition, one act of generosity at a time. My hope is that as we co-create, the reshaping will continue to reflect the lived realities of those who are locally rooted.
Perhaps the blank sheet is not just for us as individuals or institutions, but for communities themselves, because the real shift is not only in who gives, but in how giving is organized: written together as a new script of generosity, mutual accountability, and shared power.
At Warande, we have already begun this journey with our newly launched communities of practice. If you want to learn more, do reach out: admin@warandeadvisory.org
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