Preface
FIROZ LADAK
CEO, EDMOND DE ROTHSCHILD FOUNDATIONS / FOUNDER, ERFIP In past centuries, leading families and individuals in Europe and the US played a pivotal role in supporting economic development and social change. Names like Rockefeller, Ford, Carnegie, or Rothschild are synonymous with the promotion of education, medical research, patronage of the arts, or social housing. Today, institutions bearing their names carry on this impressive work. They remain faithful to the legacy and the vision of the extraordinary philanthropists who expressed a deep sense of citizenship and dedication to humankind. These legendary families paved the way for more recent and hugely wealthy individuals like the Gates for whom the act of giving is a fundamental value. And are only the most publicized illustration of the everyday generosity and social engagement of individuals. Today, a new generation of giving is coming to the fore, employing an entrepreneurial zest for philanthropy by testing models, evaluating impact, and aiming for nothing less than systemic change. This story is not confined to the West. For centuries, giving has been at the heart of families across the world. Their impact ranges from extraordinary, as in the case of the Tatas in India, who revolutionized an entire educational system for millions of students, to ordinary. For religious and other reasons, charity is a core value in the cultures of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. And in recent years, these regions have witnessed the emergence of a more institutionalized and established philanthropic ecosystem. Impressive models, excellent examples of which you will discover in the following pages, are being developed by private families. They leverage their intimate knowledge of realities on the ground to address social challenges and implement sustainable solutions. Indeed, many Frontier Philanthropists apply the same insight and rigor to philanthropy that made them accomplished business people. In addition to their mastery of workable solutions, they understand the need and challenges of partnering with the government. They are a catalyzing force in many breakthrough innovations that have transformed the lives of entire populations. However, all too often, Frontier Philanthropists are bystanders to the development agendas penned thousands of kilometers away by teams of consultants – wasting precious resources and failing to deliver the promised long-term impact. At ERFIP, we firmly believe it is time to reassess the context of global development and more actively engage private philanthropy and family business across Frontier Economies and the Global South. Development through innovation, cross-sector collaboration, and private-public partnership should not begin and end in international development agencies' offices. Instead, it requires building closer financial and technical cooperation with local philanthropy, well-positioned to advise and implement sustainable solutions. This book is an encouraging step in this direction - gathering data about the extraordinary stories of foundations and individuals who know what change means and how to achieve it. |
ANNE-CLAIRE PACHE
CHAIRED PROFESSOR IN PHILANTHROPY ESSEC BUSINESS SCHOOL The term "philanthropy," stemming from ancient Greek, refers to the enactment of the love (philos) of humankind (anthropos). The practice of philanthropy can be traced back centuries and has always transcended locations and cultures. Traces of philanthropic activities (including sponsorship for the arts, supporting the needy, or contributing to religious cults) have been found in the Roman and Egyptian empires, as well as in traditional societies in Asia and Africa, and have since perpetuated across the globe. However, most of what we know about contemporary philanthropy refers to the practice of giving in western societies, especially in the United States. A steady flow of books and articles, whether academic or practice-oriented, extensively document the profiles of philanthropists, their practices and strategies, and their role in American and, to a lesser extent, European societies. This focus can be explained by the size, scope, and prominent role of philanthropy in this part of the world and the existence of a robust ecosystem that studies, analyzes, and supports the philanthropic sector in Anglo-Saxon countries more broadly. In contrast, we know very little about philanthropy in other parts of the world, such as Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Although there is no doubt that giving and social investing is vibrant and impactful in these societies, it is poorly documented and, therefore, barely visible in the global conversation about philanthropy. As in other matters, other voices need to be heard if we are to understand this universal phenomenon properly. This collection of case studies is a first attempt to give visibility to these "frontier" philanthropic practices and to shed light on their significant contributions to social and economic development in their countries and abroad. These 10 cases offer compelling stories of individuals or families who have built philanthropic ventures alongside their business endeavors. But beyond storytelling, these cases also provide powerful lessons for anyone who wishes to understand what roles individuals can play, besides public and private organizations, to meet the gigantic and pressing needs in terms of education, health, or economic empowerment in emerging countries. This report is structured to highlight three key themes that cut across all cases to draw the first picture of philanthropy in the "global south": tensions between operating and grant-making strategies, extent, and nature of cooperation with governments, and links between family business and family philanthropy. While we recognize that these case studies are not representative of all forms of philanthropy in each studied country, we hope that these first vignettes will encourage both Western and non-Western readers to explore more carefully the role played by philanthropists in these parts of the world and recognize the value of listening to their voices and learning from their experiences. |
Collaborating with Governments
Telehealth, infrastructure and changing an economic landscape... forever.
|
“Ours is a personal society,” Captain notes. “People give to people, not to causes.”
|
“I saw a lot of people with good intentions but no real idea whether they were doing any good.”
|
Operating versus Grant-Making |
“When a student spends 3 months working in the slums of Nairobi, he begins to understand what life is all about.”
|
Have faith in one’s approach and wait for the money to follow, rather than waiting for the perfect set of conditions.
|
Ties Between Family Business and Philanthropy
The Foundation has the goal of helping Turkish people live in a fair and just society, where they have access to impartial information and have the means to make use of it.
“We realized that there was a direct relationship between health information being presented in a dry, impersonal fashion, and the low likelihood that it would be read.
|
The Foundation supports about 350 government schools which touch the lives of 35,000 children to enhance the quality of education through working with the schools to identify gaps and fill them.
Supplement these traditional ways of expressing generosity by going beyond the needs of kith and kin to bring about structural change in Pakistani society.
|
Yellowwoods focuses on economic inclusion: increasing labor market participation and financial inclusion, improving state education, and early childhood development.
|
Exceptions
“Where does it start? Where does it end? Where should we stop?” Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode