USADF Grants Management Panel Discussion

Managing a grant is both a science and an art.  That’s why we partnered with the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) on a virtual panel with grant funders who shared their tips and insights on grant management. Watch the video to learn more, and learn more about our panelists below. 

Download the transcript of this event.

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Lewam Kefala, Investment Lead, Village Capital 

Lewam is Village Capital‘s Investment Lead.  She’s passionate about supporting diverse founders building meaningful solutions to create access and transform industries in their communities. Before taking on this role, she worked as an Investment Associate at VilCap Investments, contributing to investments and portfolio management across the fund’s activities globally.  She previously worked as worked as an analyst at the Carlyle Group focusing on the emerging market funds.  Prior to that, she worked for an Iowa-based financial technology startup (pre-IPO), contributing to product, customer success, and company strategy.  Lewam graduated from the College of William and Mary where she studied Finance and Economics, and studied abroad at Tsinghua University in Beijing. 

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Nick Fusso, Co-Founder and Program Manager, D-Prize 

Nick Fusso is co-founder and program manager at D-Prize.  His organization provides high-risk startup grants to launch new organizations alleviating poverty.  The teams they support all focus on distributing existing poverty interventions where there are persistent delivery gaps.  Since 2013, D-Prize has provided support to 190 new social organizations.  The network now delivers basic health, education, economic, and energy solutions to over 4M people.  

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Sangu Delle, Managing Director, Africa Health Holdings 

Sangu is Managing Director of Africa Health Holdings focused on “building Africa’s healthcare future” and Chairman of Golden Palm Investments Corporation.  Delle has been named Africa’s “Young Person of the Year”, a 2014 TEDGlobal Fellow, a 2013 Soros Fellow, one of Forbes’ top 30 most promising entrepreneurs in Africa, and one of Euromoney’s “Africa’s Rising Stars.”  Sangu is a Trustee of the Peddie School, an Advisory Board member of Harvard University’s Center for African Studies, a member of Harvard Medical School’s Global Health Advisory Council and an Elected Director of Harvard University’s Alumni Association.  Sangu graduated with a BA, a JD, and an MBA from Harvard University.  Sangu is the author of “Making Futures: Young Entrepreneurs in a Dynamic Africa” which was published in September 2019.  He is a mental health activist with a TED Talk on the stigma of mental health which has garnered over 2 million views. 

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Mmabatho Mokiti, 2014 Fellowship Alumna, South Africa (Moderator)

Mmabatho Mokiti is a serial entrepreneur and founder dedicated to expanding opportunities in STEM education, inclusive business, and impact evaluation.   Based in Johannesburg, she is the founder and CEO of Mathemaniacs, a consultancy that creates and implements Corporate Social Investment (CSI) strategies and interventions in rural and disadvantaged schools.  Batho is also a co-founder of DreamGirls, a mentoring and outreach NGO program for university-bound teenage girls.   Her focus is concrete outputs for sustainable, transformative outcomes for youth in underserved communities.    

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Adjo Dede Asare, 2016 Fellowhsip Alumna, Ghana (Introduction) 

Adjo Dede Asare is the co-founder and CEO of Alfie Designs, an established fashion label that showcases African fabrics, based in Accra, Ghana.  Adjo’s commitment to women and girls’ economic empowerment is inculcated in her organization: Alfie’s Fashion School recruits and trains underprivileged girls, enabling them to either work independently or pursue jobs with Alfie or other companies.  Since 2016, this initiative has trained over 200 young women.    

Fellowship Alumni who are interested in learning more about grants management can take the USADF Grants Management course through the Fellowship Portal.  Learn more about the course.