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Eshban Kwesiga

@eshbankwesiga.bsky.social
67 followers 82 following 37 posts

Still learning about life | I am a spirit of the Great Lakes | 👨🏿‍💻 at @globalfundcf.bsky.social | 😍 people as active co-investors & co-funders of their dreams | Philanthropy | #ShiftThePower 🌱

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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
#Book recommendation to understand how race determines who gets celebrated as a “conservation hero,” and why we should always be suspicious of #conservation stories that begin with the arrival of big orgs. In many African game parks, the land is not an “untouched paradise” the people were removed.
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Felicia Davin @feliciadavin.com · 30/03/2026
there are so many books I need to read and not enough hours in the day
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The Music Nation @themusicnation.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Happy Birthday to Tracy Chapman.
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
Social media isn’t just related to poor mental health. Its causing it in young people (and adults too).
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
It’s interesting that the default of most funders / investors is simply assume the ambition every social solution is to #scale.
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#ShiftThePower @shiftthepower.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Feeling dissatisfied with a measurement tool that ignored the non-linear path of children learning art, FacesUp set out to create an alternative measurement tool to define success by the richness of learning art, and not a "defined set target." shiftthepower.org/2025/08/13/a... #ShiftThePower
shiftthepower.org
A measurement tool not defined by targets
With this method, there is never a final destination we seek to reach – but the journey is everything. We seek continuous improvement, and not a defined “perfect” target.
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#ShiftThePower @shiftthepower.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
What happens when NGOs shut down, donors walk away & the reports stop printing? Movements don’t die — they shapeshift. History shows that mutual aid & stubborn resistance kept civil society and movements alive long before donor funding shiftthepower.org/2025/08/21/b... #ShiftThePower
shiftthepower.org
Beyond NGOs: Why civil society will survive and thrive
What happens when the NGO offices shut down, the donors walk away and the annual reports stop printing? If history and current events are any guide, civil society does not die. It simply changes form.
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
If you read on thing this week, let it be this - The next #Haitian revolution is forgiveness ayibopost.com/opinion-the-... by Isabelle Clérié
ayibopost.com
Opinion | The Next Haitian Revolution Is Forgiveness
The next Haitian revolution is rooted in our past because we have gone too long without acknowledging what we have done to each other. We can look to the
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Global Fund for Community Foundations @globalfundcf.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Writing in Humentum's "A bridge to the future: Essays on a new era for global development" the GFCF's Jenny Hodgson and @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social point to community philanthropy as the way forward. #ShiftThePower globalfundcommunityfoundations.org/blog/light-i...
globalfundcommunityfoundations.org
Light in times of darkness: Community philanthropy offers a way forward - GFCF : GFCF
The GFCF is a grassroots grantmaker working to promote and support institutions of community philanthropy around the world.
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Owl Daily @owldaily.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
When you’re the silent guardian of the forest and everyone knows it. Those eyes don’t miss a thing! Photo:📸 mikullashbee
A majestic Great Horned Owl perched on a lichen-covered branch, staring intensely with piercing yellow eyes, natural background.
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Emily Carter @emilycurates.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Meet Anthony Schmidt, a 16-year-old with #autism who turns #miniature #cars into life-sized works of #art through his incredible #photography
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Regardless of whether you work in international development or a local organization, 2025 already feels exhausting, yet it’s only April.
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Did you hear about the #flower that grew from concrete? *Photo taken in my neighborhood.
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#ShiftThePower @shiftthepower.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Philanthropy didn’t understand what it was trying to fix shiftthepower.org/2025/04/02/p... They mistook what was unfamiliar for something broken... they encountered something mess and unpredictable, they assumed managing it was the same as improving it. So they built bureaucracies. #ShiftThePower
shiftthepower.org
Philanthropy didn’t understand what it was trying to fix
Here’s what I’ve observed: the things we try to reform are rarely the ones that matter most. Reform tends to fixate on what can be measured, managed, and credited—where reformers still believe control is within reach—while quietly avoiding what they don’t understand, where control is harder to find.
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Interesting conversation on how global health interacts with the culture and religious sensibilities of Global South communities. A lot to reflect on regarding how global health can make itself “more trusted” by communities. I enjoyed this.
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Binny @binny123.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
underneath the tree's gentle sway #nature becomes the window a sacred #arch where thoughts dissolve and mysteries of #life evolve…. —Binny #EastCoastKin #BlueSkyArtShow #Arch #Photography #freeverse #Photo #Micropoetry #PoetryCommunity #NaturePhotography #tree #Macro #scape #vss365 #writing
I took this picture a year ago.
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sandrina @sandrinadacruz.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
"1 of the greatest tricks of international development is to allow us to see ourselves as only receivers of aid and never the contributors or cofunders of aid" @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social Full interview: shorturl.at/qpMjf #communityphilanthropy #beyondaid #shitthepower #decolonizephilanthropy
youtu.be
Decolonising Philanthropy || A Podcast with Eshban Kwesiga
YouTube video by Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA)
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#ShiftThePower @shiftthepower.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
A Poem: This is a no solicitation space. "...The funders meant to say, “even though I am here, I am still inaccessible to you...” Anonymously published under the Unmute Yourself Series shiftthepower.org/unmute-yours... #ShiftThePower
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keefe murren @keefemurren.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
"one of the greatest tricks of international development was to allow us to see ourselves as only receivers of aid and never the contributors or co-funders." - Eshban Kwesiga speaks about the erasure of community contributions to development
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Global Fund for Community Foundations @globalfundcf.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
The GFCF's own @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social sat down with the Centre for Policy Analysis to discuss why now is the moment to get serious about nurturing local resources. #ShiftThePower www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMw1...
youtube.com
Decolonising Philanthropy || A Podcast with Eshban Kwesiga
YouTube video by Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA)
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Global Fund for Community Foundations @globalfundcf.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Another throwback, this time from 2016 with an article from Jenny Hodgson in @theguardian.com. Amidst the current talks about alternatives to international aid, let's focus on community philanthropy - "a brave new model for development funding." #ShiftThePower www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
theguardian.com
Community philanthropy: a brave new model for development funding? | Jenny Hodgson
Involving local people in philanthropic projects makes communities stronger. Is it time for international NGOs to stand aside?
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Devex @devex.com · 06/02/2025
There will soon be just 12 USAID staff members covering the entire continent of Africa.
devex.com
USAID’s workforce to be slashed to just 294 staff
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Bob Dylan was right, for the times, they are a-changin’
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Pioneers Post @pioneerspost.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
NEW: ‘There’s nowhere near enough funding’ - former UK politician Jo Swinson on pushing the frontiers of new economic thinking at Partners for a New Economy as Trump era returns Read more: www.pioneerspost.com/news-views/2...
pioneerspost.com
‘There’s nowhere near enough funding’ - Jo Swinson on pushing the frontiers of new economic thinking as Trump era returns
Partners for a New Economy has given more than $34m to those forging alternative economic models. But is it working? As Trump returns to the White House, P4NE’s Jo Swinson tells us what needs to happe...
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
The possibility of #AI widening or lessening global inequality could go either way. What matters is what we do now, treating AI as a tool to make sure we use it lessen global inequality.
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
This piece tells the truth but not the whole truth if one considers how much influence AI will have on Global South FinTech, what Southern data tells us, AI generated narratives content that influences how the GlobalSouth sees itself & its place in the world etc foreignpolicy.com/2024/12/17/a...
foreignpolicy.com
AI Is Bad News for the Global South
The coming wave of technology is set to worsen global inequality.
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 27/12/2024
“It is possible the aliens lock their spaceship doors when they fly past #earth.” 🌍
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Kofi @kofiemeritus.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
"The fundamental question is simple: Do unicorns really matter for the wider African startup ecosystem?" www.semafor.com/article/12/2...
semafor.com
Who cares about African unicorns? | Semafor
The fourth quarter has given us two new African unicorns — privately funded companies valued at more than a billion dollars: Nigeria’s Moniepoint and South Africa’s Tyme.
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
What if Africa needs various “good zebras,” especially if they blend local money with international resources, more than it needs one “brilliant unicorn” that exists strictly as a foreign investment?
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
To be lost is to (have to) find the way. #Mufasa
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
The thing about staying up late because it’s the holiday is that the kids will still wake me up (too early) no matter how late I went to bed. It’s almost as if they are saying, “dad, next time, don’t stay up too late without my permission.” 🤪
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Alex Kent @alexakent.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
Another great opportunity for an experienced campaigner / feminist / project manger - to lead the global “Walking the Talk” consortium hivos.org/vacancy/prog...
hivos.org
Program Manager Walking the Talk - Hivos
We’re looking for an inspiring and experienced program manager and campaigner to lead the Walking the Talk program.
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
How I felt after drafting the off-for-the-holiday auto response.
media.tenor.com
a man wearing sunglasses is floating in a swimming pool with a nbc logo in the background
ALT: a man wearing sunglasses is floating in a swimming pool with a nbc logo in the background
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Catherine Kyobutungi @ckyobutungi.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
Read about my take on the future of funding for global health in this article by Stephanie Nolen in the #NewYorkTimes. I advocate for a shift from a single-issue/disease agency approach to a whole system approach to strengthen national health systems. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/19/h...
nytimes.com
Trump’s Return May Worsen Financial Woes for Global Health Institutions (Gift Article)
The U.S. provides nearly half of the aid for global health, including childhood vaccination, H.I.V. treatment and disease surveillance.
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
What does it look like for a Global South entity to be “as local as possible, and as international as necessary?” Especially in a world where global devt / philanthropy still want to glorify and universalize language, systems and ways of doing to mirror Global North / international orgs.
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
R.I.P Nikki Giovanni 🤍 If you’re wondering who she is, watch this. Her (28 at the time) “gently schooling” James Baldwin 🤍 (47years) on how black men practiced “being gentle” with the white men but not with black women youtu.be/Pg2t5b0m2d4?... “When an elder dies, a library burns to the ground.”
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#ShiftThePower @shiftthepower.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
The INGO problem and why it’s time for radical reimagining shiftthepower.org/2024/12/06/t... INGOs capitalize on a system of structural racism that paints the Global South as untrustworthy and lacking in capacity, effectively restricting direct funding for local actors. #ShiftThePower
shiftthepower.org
The INGO problem and why it’s time for radical reimagining
In the mid-2000s, international NGOs (INGOs) were some of the most trusted institutions in the global development landscape. 20 years later, this trust has eroded – in part due to widely-reported scan...
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Are we still doing the book challenge? 4/20 Check out this page turner on the problematic relationships between global conservation #NGOs, wealthy #donors, & local communities. Including how the West always creates its own White conservation heroes “that love conservation more than the locals.” 👀
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Raul Pacheco-Vega @raulpachecovega.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Why does this ALWAYS happen to me? #AcademicSky #WritingSky
A meme with two panels. On the left, a blonde girl with a red dress, looking wistfully to the sky and the title of this panel is "me when I agreed to write this paper". On the right, the same blonde girl looking stressed and about to cry, writing by hand on a notebook, and the title is "me trying to actually finish this paper".
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Arcane 🔥🔥🔥
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Funding & visibility on panels & access to global intellectual spaces for African thinkers almost always boxes their focus into local issues. Even when Africans cross into commentary on global topics (geo-politics etc) they are still boxed into the label “African thinkers not global thinkers.”
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#ShiftThePower @shiftthepower.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Individual/local giving by Africans to African CSOs is definitely under-accounted for. #ShiftThePower
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Global Fund for Community Foundations @globalfundcf.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
It's time to challenge the myths about individual giving in Africa & its role in shaping a sustainable future for civil society. We're excited about the upcoming report from EPIC Africa & the launch event next Wednesday! Join by registering below. #ShiftThePower bit.ly/3ZsJM7t
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Interesting that many young people don’t want to work for NGOs but they want to work for and with movements.
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#ShiftThePower @shiftthepower.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
💥 Dependency isn’t development. Are INGOs part of the solution or just another problem? Join us on 2nd December for a candid conversation based on the book "The INGO Problem." Don’t miss it: shiftthepower.org/event/the-in...
shiftthepower.org
The INGO Problem
The central focus of this new book is on how International NGOs (INGOs) are acting as a barrier to shifting more power and resources to local civil society. It draws inspiration from the RINGO Project...
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Couldn’t keep up with the only covers challenge 🤭. Here goes another blurb. Sylvia Tamale is a philosopher, even though I suspect she might cringe at that description. Her message is simple; #Africa doesn’t need to mimic the west, it simply needs to heal. #BookSky 💙📚 #Books #BookChallenge Day 4/20
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#ShiftThePower @shiftthepower.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
What are the project resources that international philanthropy believes cannot be purchased with money?
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Global Fund for Community Foundations @globalfundcf.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
How are #INGOs acting as a barrier to shifting power & resources to local civil society? What needs to change? Join us on Monday as we chat with Deborah Doane, author of the new book "The INGO Problem – Power, Privilege and Renewal." #ShiftThePower globalfundcommunityfoundations.org/news/join-us...
globalfundcommunityfoundations.org
Join us to talk about The INGO Problem - GFCF
Join us on Monday 2nd December for a discussion on The INGO Problem – Power, Privilege and Renewal, by Deborah Doane. The central focus of this new book is on how International NGOs (INGOs) are acting...
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Eshban Kwesiga @eshbankwesiga.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
An enlightening and yet disturbing story of how India became both colonized and colonizer.
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