“The human spirit cries out to be part of something bigger. We want more than to simply clock in and clock out.”
~ Mark Karake, CEO, Impact Africa Network.
There’s a passion that comes with doing what you love, finding your ikigai. It’s always a journey to get there, but we believe we’re on the right track.
Meet the faces behind Impact Africa Network’s Fundraising Team
If you ever come across what happens at Impact Africa Network, you will never miss to note that fundraising is a huge piece of the puzzle of what we do here. Our founder & CEO, Mark Karake, will never miss to mention that it forms an integral part of our flywheel.
Not a single sentence would be enough to sum up what we do. But what we are sure of, is that we are contributing to the bigger mission of ensuring that young talented Africans have a chance to participate in the digital transformation of Africa as creators and owners.
We are set up as a non profit because it is the only model that allows us to create room for capacity building. Our major focus is unleashing human potential; And by offering a safety net for our young talent, we allow them to focus on developing ideas and building transformational enterprises.
On our day to day, we work on campaigns that open us to to network with kind, spirited and generous individuals who give us the confidence to make things happen through funding and mentorship.
Today, we share the joys of why we love what we do.
Meet the team!
Phyllis Mburu, Head of Donor and Partner Relations
Phyllis; Ever bubbly, with her clarity of thought and speech, and totally sold out to the mission.
She loves using the words ‘motivation’ and ‘inspiration’ in a Jamaican accent in most of our meetings; Especially when we feel like we’re experiencing a mind block.
“Why do anything? This is a question I have found myself asking more often than not in the recent past. I guess it stems from the innate desire to be a part of something that seeks to improve human life. Many people especially in this part of the world live to fulfill the day’s duties and if lucky, pocket a little something for their loved ones. This is even more apparent in the times we live in; hello! Covid-19.
But is that all there is to life? Someone once said, ‘Anytime you live a life that is only about you, you are the poorest person’. And I couldn’t agree more.This statement echoes deep within my being as I grow older and meet more people.
From the few years I have lived, the marks I identify with the most are those left by people who actually added to my knowledge, challenged me and in these and more ways showed selflessness towards me. Now those are change makers.
This is the same feeling I have at Impact Africa Network. I have been given an opportunity to grow as an individual while creating impact. Working with young talent in my own words is a hope giver, an opportunity leveller, and a space to watch. A bottoms up solution to an African problem that does not discriminate against age, education and experience. It believes in the people of the soil and most especially its young people.
It’s amazing how I and all of us at IAN have been impacted by global business leaders and change-makers who take their time to join us over fireside chats to show us that it is possible to change our reality. Their belief in us shown by their financial and in kind support has been a game changer.Hosting these sessions has been a movie!
My inner dreams are made of seeing the success of IAN, interacting with the people it empowers and beholding the future it will create.
I can now see a path to do better, change systems that have oppressed the less privileged and create solutions. May we believe in us!”
We’re all about the good vibes ;)
Precious; Poised, articulate and displays courage in all her conversations.
In her own words she shares;
Precious Nyangau
“What comes to your mind when you think of fundraising? Most people would define fundraising as the act of seeking voluntary monetary donations for a cause.
On my end, after working with the fundraising team at IAN for a few months now, I have come to realize that fundraising isn’t about money. It’s about the hearts, minds and values of donors. Fundraising is really about listening and telling a story. We listen to donor stories, tell our organization’s story and find an alignment between the two stories.
Here is what I have learnt about telling a story;
- In order to spark donors’ interest, you should find your niche and make that explicit.
There are a lot of individuals and organisations reaching out to donors for donations. In order for a donor to consider your organization, you have to be unique. Being unique adds a personal touch that allows donors to get a better idea of your culture, work, and mission.
2. To tell a story, you must meet your audience where they are.
We are living in the age of social media, leverage on that. Make your mission clear and your content compelling across all social media platforms. More than 3.96 billion people use social media with about 450 million people connected to nonprofit pages across different social media platforms. Keeping your social media engaging and providing necessary information through it, encourages donors to learn and give to your organization.”
Joy Ndinda, Donor Relations Manager
Joy; She could easily be described through the words of our CEO Mark, as someone who does the work with zero excuses.
When she’s not sharing her fascination for cars and/or manifesting different travel destinations on Twitter, she is busy Changing the African Narrative at IAN. She has an extra sharp sense of being keen with finer details. This is her why;
“Why do I do what I do? I have always had a big space for innovation in my heart and mind, and I always want to be where the next big thing is; something about not being at the center of it all doesn’t sit well with me.
This is simply why it was easy to get on with IAN’s mission right away; to ensure young talented Africans have a chance at participating in the digital transformation of Africa as creators and owners.
A mission that naturally consumes you. I enjoy contributing to this mission in whichever way I can.I also hope to inspire other young African Women to take on challenges, follow their passions and take the front seat at changing the African narrative.”
Victoria; charming and energetic. In her own words, “If you are unsure about anything, be sure about this, Vicky will always come with energy!” In her own words, she shares why she loves being part of the team;
“When I think about my role in the fundraising team I think soldier; you see, I am part of a big mission, one that will probably outlive me. It is for this reason that I cannot for one minute diminish the everyday tasks that need to be handled. Changing the Africa Narrative is our mission; Impact Africa Network is the Army and now is the time for war.
Inviting people to see what we are doing and be part of the journey is the job. I wake up everyday and take up my arms, my laptop , a notebook and pen and go through all the ways to further execute that mission.
When you hear about Impact Africa Network’s mission, you cannot help but feel a fire start within you, and that fire keeps getting reignited every time an email is opened and responded to, when you see a project being launched, when there is a positive comment from our donors on the work we are doing. Most importantly, when you can visualize all the amazing opportunities that will be open for Africa, you just have to keep going.
Onwards and upwards!”
IAN team at a team building retreat.
Valentine; She’s all about getting things done right! All her work is done with precision and is always delivered with a smile. She always finds a way to lighten the mood with her icebreakers and cheery laugh.
Valentine Hokah, JENGA School Fundraising Lead
“So here I am, in amazing company of young, energetic, enthusiastic and sold out fundraisers. I love it here because it is a safe space. I am able to communicate my frustrations and worries and come out of meetings(read zoom calls) with clarity and insightful nuggets.
My greatest lesson so far? Learning is easy, unlearning is not. I love it here because of the culture of continuous learning.
This, to me, is a space that not only encourages growth, but the exposure and experience is unmatched. How ‘experience’ and ‘young people’ fit in one sentence is just a beautiful mystery at IAN. The culture here encourages high performance, high collaboration and high integrity.
Every single assignment here demands ownership, rigor and clarity. Everything we do contributes to unleashing human potential; and to be part of this in every imaginable way, is just mind-blowing.”
Wycliffe Barasa(2nd from the left), Donor Relations Associate
Lastly, the only gentleman in the team, Barasa. He is a self-driven young man who is passionate about everything he believes in.
“When I wake up in the morning, the first word that comes to mind is ‘fundraising’. It’s been almost two years of listening to podcasts and reading articles to help me redefine the word fundraising.
What makes me more proud is working with an amazing team of young people who are passionate about the future of Africa, and we go by the nickname ‘professional beggars’. The team is made up of 80% women; this is directly proportional to how women have been a pivotal part of my life journey.”
It has always been breathtaking to have so much diversity in temperaments, opinions and even gender; It could be Phyllis who always bursts out laughing when Valentine feels frustrated about a campaign that won’t just kick off, or Joy asking the tough questions about alignments to what we plan to do, or Barasa being quiet the entire meeting time only to share his insightful thoughts towards the end. It could also be Victoria asking if we could leverage Twitter spaces to fundraise, and Precious always sounding witty and smart about fundraising in Crypto.
But one single mission always brings us all together; Changing the African Narrative.
