The View from the Top ain't that great! Experiences and challenges from Stanford

Frustrated by empty calls for change in the INGO sector? This episode dives deep into the practical steps needed to make a difference! I speak with Christine Sow, CEO at Humentum, about: 1. Turning pay & funding equity into reality: We go beyond lofty goals and explore concrete solutions for tackling systemic inequalities. 2) Localization vs. locally-led development: Unraveling the nuances and uncovering what true community ownership means. 3) Boosting transparency & accountability: Unmasking common roadblocks and actionable strategies for building trust and ensuring impact.Christine's practical approach provides a refreshing antidote to empty rhetoric. You'll leave this episode inspired and equipped to implement real change in your own work!Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hMbM3T Instagram: thedevelopmentdilemma; Twitter: @dev_dilemma; Music credits: Juliani, 'Kama sa Sisi'

Mary Njeri, Minoo Kyaa and Wanjira Wanjiru are three brave, powerful and caring women that are part of the Organic Intellectuals Network, a group composed of members who live in informal settlements like Mathare and work towards the betterment of their community. They present their chapters from the book, Breaking the Silence on NGOs in Africa by the Organic Intellectuals Network, which can be found here: https://darajapress.com/2023/03/14/breaking-the-silence-on-ngos-in-africa We talk about how the presence, and intervention, of NGOs disrupts many of their grassroots initiatives and deal only with the symptoms not the causes of problems. Please consider contributing to their efforts through this M-Pesa Paybill: 522522 and Account Number: 1287134076Subscribe to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/hMbM3T Instagram: thedevelopmentdilemma; Twitter: @dev_dilemma; Music credits: Juliani, 'Kama sa Sisi'

Live from Nairobi, I was joined by three great panelists, Caroline Teti from GiveDirectly, Tom Wein from IDinsight and Kanyi Wyban from Mathare Green Movement to tackle three questions: what is dignity? why should people care about dignity in aid? what does it mean to implement aid with more dignified?You can subscribe to our newsletter through this link: http://eepurl.com/hMbM3T Instagram: thedevelopmentdilemma; Twitter: @dev_dilemma; Music credits: Juliani, 'Kama sa Sisi'

In Part 2 of my conversation with Professor Funmi Olonisakin we explore how the global security interests perpetuate colonial approaches in Africa, and Funmi also up about her experiences as a black woman in UK academia and the power of the decolonising and black lives movements. You can subscribe to our newsletter through this link: http://eepurl.com/hMbM3T Instagram: thedevelopmentdilemma; Twitter: @dev_dilemma; Music credits: Juliani, 'Kama sa Sisi'

This episode is a conversation about power, how it is created, enforced and could be disrupted by young African leaders. I was honoured to host Professor Funmi Olonisakin, an activist at heart from her days of student protest in Nigeria, a Professor of Security, Leadership and Development at King's College London and a founding Director of the African Leadership Centre (ALC). http://funmiolonisakin.com/ We delve into why Funmi believes young African leaders need to study and understand circles of power and how to leverage it even without it. Secondly, we explore the key power players at the global level for Africa and the need for a Pan-African movement to challenge the hegemony and inheritance elite. This is Part 1 of the conversation. Stay tuned for Part 2. Instagram: thedevelopmentdilemma; Twitter: @dev_dilemma; Music credits: Juliani, 'Kama sa Sisi'

We hear the term 'White Saviourism' and think it only applies to the egregious examples we see on Social Media but it applies much broader to include brown saviours, many development institutions, certain forms of Western knowledge and perhaps even you! Themrise Khan, Dickson Kanakulya and Maïka Sondarjee have put together a great book to address this, White Saviorism in International Development: Theories, Practices and Lived Experiences. If you enjoy this episode, you can get your copy here: https://darajapress.com/publication/the-white-savior-complex-in-international-development-theory-practice-and-lived-experiences

It is a real honour to bring to you my discussion with Ruth Levine, the CEO of IDinsight - a research and advisory organization that works with global development leaders to improve their social impact.As an organisation with 6 offices spread across 5 regions in Africa and Asia, I think Ruth is keenly aware of the complexities of cultural differences and sensitivities and how they impact meaningful collaboration. So in this episode we tackle the challenges she and IDinsight faced to hiring talent across the globe, building trust with communities and then her concerns around the all too superficial shift to 'localisation' and the potential consequences. These are Ruth's opinions, not IDinsight's.Ruth's thought-provoking weekly newsletter is here: https://ruthelevine.substack.com/ Instagram: thedevelopmentdilemma; Twitter: @dev_dilemma; Music credits: Juliani, 'Kama sa Sisi'

This is Part Two of my discussion with Shiro and Phuthi, two African students at the University of Stanford. If you haven't listened to Part 1, I would recommend giving it a listen first. Here we explore Shiro and Phuthi's internal struggles at work balancing competing priorities of justice for fellow Africans with pursuit of personal goals; what more expats and those workplaces should do to address this trade-off and finish with a discussion about the inequities in fundraising and the need for investment funds created by Africans for Africans. Instagram: thedevelopmentdilemma; Twitter: @dev_dilemma; Music credits: Juliani, 'Kama sa Sisi'

Shiro Wachira and Phuthi Tsatsi are two brilliant African graduate students at the University of Stanford, with plenty of experience in development organisations in Kenya and South Africa. But after time with both, they are quite disillusioned. Why have they found Stanford at times disappointing and a hard place to be? Why do they no longer want to work in development organisations? In this Part 1 of 2, we tackle this and more!Instagram: thedevelopmentdilemma; Twitter: @dev_dilemma; Music credits: Juliani, 'Kama sa Sisi'Instagram: thedevelopmentdilemma; Twitter: @dev_dilemma; Music credits: Juliani, 'Kama sa Sisi'

The Kenyan technology ecosystem is growing rapidly, countless new startups emerge and multinationals keep pouring in. What is the history of this space? Where did it come from and who benefits from the system today? In other words, who is overlooked and what needs to change?Angela Okune & Leo Mutuku bring their experiences as tech entrepreneurs, researchers as well as founding members of the Ihub to a paper they recently wrote entitled: Becoming an African Techpreneur: geopolitics of investments in "local" Kenyan entrepreneurship. Here is their great paper: https://zenodo.org/record/6582284 and folks can reach Angela on Twitter @honoluluskye or through angelaokune.me; and Leo @leomutuku or through https://www.leonida.me/Instagram: thedevelopmentdilemma; Twitter: @dev_dilemma; Music credits: Juliani, 'Kama sa Sisi'Instagram: thedevelopmentdilemma; Twitter: @dev_dilemma; Music credits: Juliani, 'Kama sa Sisi'