Everyone should be free to live a safe and dignified life, have a family and make their contribution to society. The Other Foundation works to change the views, practices and institutions that prevent people – because of who they are or who they love – from being able to do that in southern Africa. We gather support for those who are working to protect and advance the rights, wellbeing and social inclusion of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities – and we give support in a smart way that helps groups to work better for lasting change.
Our Mission
The Other Foundation is an African trust dedicated to advancing human rights in Southern Africa, with a particular focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people. Our primary purpose is to expand resources available to defend and advance the rights and well-being of LGBTI people in the Southern African region. We do this by working both as a grant-maker and a fundraiser. Read our full mission statement here. The Atlantic Philanthropies has provided a generous start-up grant over a five-year period to cover all operational costs, subject to the Foundation being able to raise additional funds from other sources. More information about how we started can be found here.
Our Grant-Making
The Foundation is pleased to announce the outcomes of its inaugural round of grant making. The Foundation allocated 32 grants, totaling around ZAR3.1 million, for work that will advance the rights and improve the well-being of LGBTI people in Southern Africa. Organisations and individuals were given grants ranging from ZAR10,000 to ZAR500,000. Click here to see a full list of grants that were allocated. The Other Foundation wanted its first grant making initiative to be a truly transparent and participatory process. Rather than consider grant proposals entirely on its own, the foundation’s board asked the public to nominate a panel of peer reviewers to help review and assess grant applications. The 12 peer reviewers chosen formed a diverse group from six countries in southern Africa. They worked in four teams, each facilitated by a board member, to decide which projects to recommend for funding. This gave meaningful expression to the identity of The Other Foundation as an LGBTI community foundation. Click here to see who the peer reviewers were in the grant making process.Click here to see a report about the development, implementation, and outcomes of this unique grant making process. The report will be of interest to foundations and philanthropists interested in more accountable and transparent ways of making grants.
Our Fundraising
The funds for the pilot grant-making initiative have come from personal gifts from 18 individual donors who visited South Africa early in 2014 to find out more about the amazing work that activists are doing to defend and advance the rights of LGBTI people in Southern Africa. The Atlantic Philanthropies matched the funds raised from this donor tour, providing The Other Foundation with close to ZAR4 million to give out as small grants to individuals and organisations across Southern Africa. A range of fundraising initiatives were launched in 2014. All funds that are raised will go to programming and grant-making as our operational costs are fully covered by the Atlantic Philanthropies for the next five years.
Your Questions
We would love to hear from you if you have any questions or comments. Answers to some frequently asked questions about The Other Foundation are answered here. Please contact us either by email, phone, or letter. Details of how to do that are on our Contact Us page.
International award-winning cultural architect, communications specialist, development practitioner, educator, human rights advocate and Botswana’s first openly trans-identifying public figure.
Rosie Motene
Queer feminist author, gender activist, speaker, counsellor, life coach and a pan-African entertainment manager.
Co-founder of Arquivo de Identidade Angolano (the Angolan Identity Archive). Technical advisor on projects working to overcome stigma and discrimination in the provision of health services.
Caine Youngman
Botswana based human rights activist working to protect and promote the human rights of LGBTIQ people, children, sex workers, prisoners, women, immigrants, and people living with HIV.
Project management and programming specialist with a background in women’s human rights, as well as those of sexual minorities. Co-founder of the Women’s Alliance for Equality.
Alan Msosa
Completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of York (Britain) and is a holder of an inter-disciplinary PhD in human rights at the University of Essex (Britain). A former programme manager in the Office of the Ombudsman (Malawi).
Danilo da Silva
Acclaimed advocate for LGBTI people in Mozambique, Africa and globally. Danilo was the founding executive director of LAMBDA in Mozambique.
African philanthropy development practitioner, experienced grant maker, economic justice activist, and civil society strategist with a track record in establishing successful organisations. Chief executive officer of The Other Foundation.
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The Other Foundation is grateful for the support it has received from
