YALI Regional Leadership Center East Africa Transformation Fund-Call for Proposals
The Center is inviting Alumni and Country Chapters to submit proposals to be considered and funded under the Transformation Fund. The fund is a catalyst that enables our alumni to continue transforming themselves, their communities, and their countries. Specifically, it enables our alumni to provide solutions to the most pressing problems in their communities. Through the fund, alumni will have an opportunity to apply for resources to support a variety of initiatives that will help them perpetuate the vision and mission of the YALI RLC EA.
Transformation Fund Categories
Applicants will be expected to submit proposals for funding under one or more of the following five categories in line with their interest and mandate;
1. Alumni Mapping Initiatives
This grant is open to Country Chapters to facilitate their alumni mapping activities through a phone-based data collection exercise. The purpose is to collect information on what alumni are currently doing, where they live, challenges they are facing as leaders and what additional support they would expect from the Centre. A standard data collection tool has been developed in collaboration with the Uganda Alumni Chapter and is available for immediate use. Only the Chapters that commit to achieving 70% collection rate of their members’ data and to document their challenges and proposed remedies, will be eligible to apply for this fund through the Country Executive Teams. The maximum grant size for this application is $500.
2. Secretariat Funding
This is a fund awarded to Country Chapters that have advanced their formalization or registration activities. It is a milestone-based support offered to chapters that will have submitted their agreed roadmap to formalization and provided necessary evidence as per the following proposed pathways:
Pathway 1: Registration as affiliates of existing organizations (hosting and affiliation in a local or international organization) based on a jointly agreed MOU. It is highly recommended that a Chapter is hosted by an organization owned or led by alumni.
Pathway 2: Registration as an independent organization (Local Charity – NGO, Foundation, CBO) in line with local registration requirements.
The maximum grant size for this application is $4500. Further guidance will be provided once a Chapter has expressed interest to apply for this grant.
3. Group Projects
This grant is awarded to support group initiatives among alumni who are collaborating to address a community need. It is strongly recommended that applications are made through existing organizations run and owned by alumni. Applications for this funding category should be able to demonstrate how their proposed solution addresses the pressing problem identified and ultimately leading to transformation. In cases where alumni are collaborating on a project, one member should apply on behalf of the group citing the names of the other members involved. Applicants should be able to clearly express any individual or group in-kind contributions in terms of real cost. The maximum grant size for this application is $5000.
4. YALI RLC EA Hall of Fame Individual Projects
This is a fund awarded to excellent and late start up alumni ventures that have high employment potential and that provide and will scale up mentorship opportunities for other alumni ventures in their projects. To qualify for this award, the applicant must be the majority owner or executive leader of this initiative. This award will be provided to the top two applicants and will range between $5000 - $10000.
5. Innovation in working with Government
A working government not only builds credibility but also offers a platform for youth and their organisations to create widespread impact, expand their networks and increase their voice in policy discussions. This is a fund awarded to support alumni innovation in working with their respective governments to bring about change. These may be chapters or alumni with social enterprises, non-profit organizations, community projects or advocacy groups that are working with the government to achieve their project goals. The maximum grant size in this category ranges between $5000–10,000.
For more details, please refer to the concept note and application guidelines.
