Building a Movement

Our lead funder is the Ford Foundation, which laid the groundwork for TrustAfrica in 2001 by establishing the Special Initiative for Africa. The initiative was later spun off as an independent foundation and renamed TrustAfrica. Ford continues to provide generous support, but it does not exercise control over TrustAfrica’s activities. Moreover, we have begun to diversify our resources with grants from other institutional funders that are working to strengthen African institutions. Our supporters include the Carnegie Corporation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Humanity United, the International Development Research Centre, the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Oak Foundation, the Open Society Institute, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Another one of our important support partners is Global Giving, which enables us to generate support for specific projects.

At TrustAfrica, we are committed to amplifying African voices within the international donor community. But we don’t stop there. We are also working to generate new philanthropic resources — and cultivate a greater degree of African ownership — by raising money from individuals and corporations in Africa and throughout the African diaspora. Our goal is to inspire 10,000 individuals to contribute US$100 per year. While ambitious, this effort is an essential way to ensure that TrustAfrica can be self-sustaining and that Africans take ownership of our program. Donate now and help TrustAfrica make a difference!

TrustAfrica has no interest in competing with, or diverting funds from, other worthy organizations in Africa. Rather, by developing a cohesive African response to pressing challenges, we seek to attract additional resources that will benefit leading institutions throughout the continent.