The Impact Compass

2025 threw a curveball to the non-profit sector. The dismantling of USAID changed the funding landscape across the globe. Organizations had to pivot, and fundraising had to change. For people working in fundraising/ development, pressure mounted calling for new approaches. 

In this episode, we get down with Cher-Wen Dewitt to talk about pivot in the funding landscape and what we can hope for the future. Cher-Wen is a cross-func...

According to McKinsey & Entrepreneur, nearly 1 in 2 leadership transitions fail within the first two years, and over half of new CEOs don’t make it past 18 months. The gravity of leadership transition is aptly captured by Liz when she says, “when transitions go wrong, it’s not just the new leader who struggles, the whole organisation suffers. Team performance drops, disengagement rises, and momentum stalls. Th...

More than a billion people live with a disability globally, and this number is increasing. In this episode, we talk to Maria Omare, who is the Founder and Executive Director of The Action Foundation.  Maria founded The Action Foundation as a college student and has dedicated her life to working with and improving the lives of people with disabilities. Founded 15 years ago, The Action Foundation today serves communities across ...

In this episode, I am sharing my reflections from the sabbatical that I have recently taken from my work. My insights also drew inspiration from an article in the Harvard Business Review (HBR), “The Transformative Power of Sabbaticals” by Kira Schabram, Matt Bloom, and DJ DiDonna, as well as “The Sabbatical Project.”

The episode explores in detail what it means to go on a sabbatical, how to make sabbaticals m...

Individual giving is an important source of revenue for running organisations. Whether it is a start-up or a mature organisation with a multimillion dollar budget, individual donors play an important role in resourcing. Individual giving can fund things that more structured funding cannot fund such as infrastructure, staff development, board development, and other OD things that are usually hard to fundraise for. Individual giving ...

Picture this - you have a child choking at home or you have been involved in a road accident, what do you do? Many of us will be at a loss. Not just from the shock of it, but for not knowing what to do. Dr. Benjamin Wachira has an audacious goal of building a 911 system for Kenya. His dream of saving lives started off with a goal to be a medical doctor, and today has set him on uncharted waters - an endeavour that has not only save...

Want to know what it takes to run successful finance departments in leading social impact and non-profit organizations? In this episode, we discuss this and get expert advice on non profit finance with a global CFO- Chief Finance Officer, Rose Adem.  She has not only been a leader for high performing teams but is leading global thinking for non profit finance including the development of a new IFRS standard for non profits wit...

Named 100 Most Influential African Leaders in 2023, Nekesa is a passionate advocate for tech and innovation. She has held various roles in the innovation space, including being the CEO of iHUB and also a convener for other innovation hubs across Africa. She continues on that trajectory building community  for open source solutions like the community health tool kit (CHT). 

Are you looking for purpose? Nekesa says that in o...

“Give until it hurts” is the powerful mantra that sums up Michelle’s view of philanthropy.  Michelle and her family experienced a personal loss that inspired them to give to the world by helping improve health outcomes for those in most need. She quips that all of us are philanthropists.  We give in different ways and we have been called to give not out of abundance but until it hurts. 

Working in pr...

In part one of the episode, Charles centered us on the 3 core questions in Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) and by extension Impact Measurement. He laid the foundation for Impact measurement and how it is applied in the sector.  In this second part, we shift to leadership and how experience in Impact measurement can position individuals to play strategic roles in the sector as demonstrated by the immense contribution he has...

Three core questions in Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) and by extension Impact Measurement are,

1. Are the interventions doing the right thing?
2. Are they doing it right?
3. Are they making a difference? 

Charles Warria is a seasoned expert in impact measurement.  In this episode, Charles takes us on a journey in M&E practice that saw him rise from early career as a data officer to leading social impact organization...

In this deep dive, Julius Mbeya talks about his story and journey in the nonprofit space. The ups and downs of this journey and the lessons he has picked. He delves into what it means to be a nonprofit leader and the immense responsibility that this comes with. He also shares the thinking behind the podcast and snippets on what to expect as we share the stories of impact from nonprofit and social impact leaders. The podcast is in t...

In this podcast, we explore opportunities in the nonprofit and social impact space and amplify the impact of their leaders. We do this by finding amazing nonprofit and social impact organizations and their leaders, we share their stories, their triumphs, and their struggles in this dynamic, complex, and competitive space. By doing this, we hope to,

• Showcase how the work of these amazing leaders and their organizations is impacti...