LETTER FROM LEADERSHIP

In 2025 the humanitarian and development fields were forever altered with the shuttering of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and cascading cuts in foreign aid around the world. As of the writing of this report, the abrupt closing of USAID has caused the deaths of 600,000+ people (www.impactcounter.com). World Connect’s locally-led development hub in Malawi was launched with USAID seed funding and has since improved health, education, and economic opportunity for 551,238 Malawians. USAID support allowed World Connect to demonstrate what is possible when the power inside communities is activated with direct investment, and our hub in Malawi (Mudzi Connect) is now locally incorporated, led, and governed. Over the past four years, we have expanded our locally-led development hubs to include Rwanda, New York City, and Guatemala, demonstrating the scalability of our approach to development.

2025 marks twenty years of World Connect’s locally-led development investment methodology. To date we have funded 2,136 community-generated projects, 94% of which achieved their goals and 80% are sustaining impact four years after our funding. Our investments have improved life for more than 4 million people worldwide and catalyzed communities to co-invest in their projects, strengthening local ownership of development. To the $9M World Connect has invested, communities have contributed their own $2.6M and raised an additional $10.1M from other investors. Our investments not only solve urgent community development challenges, they build strength in civil society; an estimated 75% of project partners see their resources grow following the initial World Connect investment. As a first funder to 60% of our partners, our funding opens doors.

This year, with the aid sector reeling, World Connect stood strong. We are proud to have made 100 new investments in communities that will impact 200,000+ people with better health, education, and economic opportunity in Malawi, Rwanda, New York City, Guatemala, Nigeria, and Ecuador. We will continue to invest in the power inside communities, as the results of our investments activate agency, unity, and a growth mindset that is vital in advancing progress. We are grateful to our supporters who make our work possible and to our partners who build hope with their ideas, their dedication, and their success.

George Biddle, Board Chair

Pamela Nathenson, Executive Director

20 YEARS OF IMPACT

LOCALLY-LED
DEVELOPMENT HUBS

Since 2018, World Connect has been establishing power centers — locally-led development hubs staffed by regional experts who manage grantmaking operations and exemplify local ownership in development

POWER INSIDE COMMUNITIES
TO HEAL

NYC: Family-Centered Birthing

The Birthing Place provides cost-effective and evidence-based care to pre- and postpartum families in the Bronx, improving health outcomes and strengthening a community of ongoing support where previously care was limited. With a $6,000 investment from NYC Connect, the Birthing Place offered free education classes in English and Spanish, reaching 1,200+ people with specialized information on birth preparation.

In recognition of this vital work, founder Myla Flores (pictured here) was honored by CNN as a Champion for Change. And New York State has awarded $5M to The Birthing Place Foundation to build what will become the only birthing center in the Bronx.

Rwanda: Soap-Making for Health

Washing hands with soap is a low-cost and effective way to prevent many illnesses and save lives. To improve their students’ health and school attendance, the teachers and parents of Nyabirehe Primary School in Rwanda collaborated to establish a soap-making center in the community. With two investments from World Connect Rwanda totalling $7,565, the community co-invested $5,448 to launch the project and saw an immediate impact on student health.

Within their first year, the community produced 15,000+ bars of soap and later expanded the soap-making operations to three sites, training and employing 40 people. Hygiene-related illnesses were eliminated among 1000+ learners.

POWER INSIDE COMMUNITIES
TO EDUCATE

Ecuador: Little School of Wisdom

The ancestral practices of the indigenous Shuar community of Tayu Jee, in Ecuador’s Amazon region, are not taught in formal schools. So the community partnered with World Connect to construct the Little School of Wisdom, a traditional open-air clssroom for supplementing students’ education. To World Connect’s investment of $4,200, the community co-invested $6,333 and students now connect with the wisdom and practices of their ancestors by learning about medicinal plants, traditional handicrafts, as well as Shuar language, music, and dance.

Since then, the community has secured $28,000 in additional funding toward their vision of community-centered education: the construction of a larger school, bathrooms, and an income-generating cultural center for community tourism.

Nigeria: Community Childcare

A central concern for working mothers in Agbado Oke-Odo and Mosan Okunola, Nigeria, has been the lack of quality childcare for children under three years old. With an investment of $4,440, the communities co-invested $1,527 to provide 10 weeks of professional training to 26 childcare providers and parents, raising the standard of care for children while their mothers are working.

Training participants engaged in various learning, including child development, health, safety, child learning, and business management, while five local leaders organized community awareness campaigns to strengthen child health. The two communities now have a network of childcare settings, supporting and learning from each other and dedicated to quality early childhood education and care.

POWER INSIDE COMMUNITIES
TO EARN

Malawi: Solar-Dried Porridge

An agricultural cooperative in central Malawi has two major customers for their porridge flour—the essential ingredient made of maize or soy that makes a traditional breakfast for millions of Malawians. However, they were only able to fulfill 54% of the demand due to the lack of a solar drying facility. The ability to produce more porridge flour allows for increased purchasing of maize and soy from the area’s smallholder farmers, thereby increasing income community-wide.

With an investment of $10,000 from Mudzi Connect and a co-investment of $3,488 from the cooperative, a business-grade solar dryer facility was designed and constructed, enabling cooperative members to purchase more crops from local farmers and produce more porridge flour for their customers.

Rwanda: Youth Shoemakers

Eighteen young entrepreneurs living in public housing wanted to expand their business of making beaded sandal straps into a full beaded sandal-making enterprise. World Connect Rwanda invested $4,759 alongside the group’s co-investment of $2,794 to purchase sandal sewing machines, supplies, and rent a workshop space. In just three months, their workforce tripled and monthly profits increased by 150%.

World Connect Rwanda has launched nine projects in the Karama model village of Nyarugenge district in collaboration with the Government of Rwanda as a pilot program to drive resident-led economic development. More than 100 model villages have been established across the country as settlements for internally displaced populations.

POWER INSIDE COMMUNITIES
TO CREATE

NYC: Therapeutic Art-Making

Artistic Noise uses art as a vehicle to present the voices and stories of young people in New York City whose lives have been impacted by the legal system. With $25,000 in catalytic investment from NYC Connect, the organization piloted Art & Care, a program in partnership with the School of Visual Arts where youth are welcomed into a therapeutic environment centered around art-making and other forms of support. Participants work with licensed art therapists and mentors and receive assistance with basic needs, individualized therapy, and other health services.

Rwanda: Imigongo Art

Imigongo is an 18th century traditional decorative art form in Rwanda made from cow dung and wood ash. In 2013, World Connect made an $852 grant to the Imigongo Arts Cooperative in eastern Rwanda, enabling local artisans to acquire a space in the community for their artmaking, advertise on local radio and online, create a blog, organize trainings, and attract tourists to exhibits and galleries.

The collective gained visibility and recognition through locally organized exhibitions and established a partnership with the Rwandan government and Azizi Life, a group that sells on behalf of artisans. As a result of the increased exposure, the artisans increased their art sales by 25% per month and have sustained their trade in the same space for 12 years.

POWER INSIDE COMMUNITIES
TO NOURISH

Zambia: Innovative Fruit Farming

Farmers in Africa are on the front lines of climate change. In response, the innovative fruit farmers of Kalichero, in eastern Zambia, are employing drought-resistant tissue cultures to increase their crop yields.

Since an investment of $3,000 from World Connect, combined with a co-investment of $2,200, 200 women have trained 416 community members in climate-smart agriculture and provided them with tissue cultures. In total, 2,850 citrus trees have been planted, yielding fruit that has not only strengthened food security for the community, but has also generated $21,600 in income.

Malawi and Rwanda: Beekeeping

World Connect has launched 38 beekeeping projects worldwide, 76% of them in Malawi and Rwanda. This year, Mudzi Connect and World Connect Rwanda invested a combined $21,209 in four beekeeping projects, providing a pathway to income for 223 people.

These investments support beekeepers in updating their beekeeping and honey production practices. Across Malawi and Rwanda, 280 modern hives that produce more honey have been purchased along with professional beekeeping suits and honey extractor machines. Additionally, beekeepers have received training on hive management – such as queen breeding, transferring bee colonies, and bee-feeding – as well as business and financial literacy to support the processing, marketing, and selling of honey products. We project that the income generated from these beekeeping projects will impact 1,000 people.

OUR INVESTORS

With appeciation to all who invest to activate the power inside communities
January-December 2024

$250,000+
Shelly and Tony Malkin
Vitol Foundation

$100,000+
The Jonathan and Kathleen Altman Foundation
John and Elena Coumantaros
Tim Disney
Michael and Barbara Eisenson
Haney Family Fund, Vanguard Charitable

$75,000+
George and Leslie Biddle
Sean and Jennifer Reilly

$50,000+
Clara Bingham and Joe Finnerty
Flour Mills Nigeria Plc.
Robert Hecht and Shan Soe-Lin
The Jerome Avenue Fund
Scott and Laura Malkin
Tarek Sherif

$25,000+
Ellen Goldberg and Barnaby Grist
Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
Project Redwood
David Wells and Sonya Moore-Wells

$10,000+
Anonymous
Arrillaga Foundation
The Nancy Biddle Family Fund
Katie and Brian Boland
The Boyd Family Charitable Fund
Stephanie Cabot and Marcus Lovell Smith
Donald and Betsy Daniel
Glen Davis
Foundation Erie / Telos Impact
Elizabeth Galvin
Dan Hiemstra
Mary Higgins and John Lechner, IV
James and Edwina Hunt
Sheldon Kasowitz and Kathryn Huarte
William O'Farrell
Sarah and Peter O'Hagan
Jay & Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota
Margaret and Andrew Schilling
Olcott and Lucy Smith Foundation
RG and Julia Solmssen
Value Retail / The Bicester Village Shopping Collection
Diane E. Lifton, Trustee, Jerome and Dolores Zuckerman Gewirtz Charitable Trust

$5,000+
David and Betty Bagnani
RL and Christina Dougherty
Patricia and Alex Farman-Farmaian
Fondation Philanthropia
The Ford Foundation

Andrew Heckler
Eve Kahn and Bradley Kulman
Wendy and James Karp
Arum Lee Lansel
Sang Lee and Chris Mansfield
Thomas and Patricia Lightbown
Lourdes Lopez and George Skouras
Peter and Isabel Malkin
Jenny and Tony McAuliffe
William Nutting
William Perry and Leisa Little
Amédée Prouvost and Clare Cushman
Martha and Paul Samuelson
Andrea Schwartzman
Christopher and Megan Scott
Sheep Meadow Foundation
Jack and Jennifer Sullivan
Tocqueville Asset Management
Natacha and Anthony Weiss

$1,000+
Anonymous
Beatrice Hamza Bassey
Christoph Becker
Blum Family Foundation
Charles and Sarah Cabot
Christopher and Alison Cabot
Margaret Cabot
Sarah and Simon Collier
Martha B. Coven
Kelly Currie and Tara Sher
Ben Cushman and Marc Nadeau
Christopher and Michelle Daniel
Peter and Gabriella Daniel
Joseph Duffy
Pamela Falk
Sebastian Ficht
Friends of Malawi
Sarah Garwood
Anne Gilson
Marianne Gimon and Alessandro d'Ansembourg
Michael Goldberg and Sharon Tauber
Mariette Groen and Gareth Jones
Masarath Haque
Nicole and John Hill
Elizabeth Hogbin
Matthew Hurlock
Rehmah Kasule
Karin Day Kingsley and Paul Kingsley
Michael Lerner and Eleanor Suhr
Lopp Family Fund
Joan Loughnane
Derek Ludwin
George Montgomery
The Thomas Newberry Charitable Fund
Tina Novogratz
Pannonia Foundation
Tammira and Nicolas Philippe

Julie Eisenberg Pitman and Michael Pitman
Veronique Pittman
Stephen Lionel Prince
JJ Ramberg and Scott Glass
David I Robbins and Joyce Chang
Karen Robert
Rotary Club of Los Gatos
Caren Pasquale Seckler
Sheinman - Tsanos Family Foundation
Rony and Catherine Shimony
Carrie Simon
Sarah Slusser
Juliette and Patrick Spillmann
Margaret Gould Stewart and David Stewart
Zanthe Taylor and Matthew Lissak
Stephanie Hunt and Stephen Trevor
Uncommon Productions
Courtenay Cabot Venton and Paul Venton
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.
Christina Weiss Lurie
Ayanna Wayner
Jan Weil
Mary White
Natalie Williams
Nadia Zilkha

$500+
Una Basak
Sandra Martha Batakana
Daniel & Lucerne Battsek
Maria D'Albert
Facebook
John and Ila Gross
John G. Hockman
Jeff and Marcia Kaufman
Helen Klebnikov
Eric Lee
Johanna Mussche
Judith Nathenson
Cara Natterson
Julia and David Popowitz

WORLD CONNECT UK DONORS

£/€25,000+
Louise and Andrew Bedford
Peter and Tiffany Hall
Scott and Laura Malkin

£/€10,000+
Book A Flat
The H. Lepic Family Fund

£/€5,000+
Cosmobilis
Graham Elton
Infra Gestion
ITNI
Tiepolo
The Bicester Village Shopping Collection
Vivendi Create Joy Fund

£/€2,500+
Jaigu Andree
Asacha Media Group
Christian Louboutin
Halluin and Aude De Brossard
Vincent Meyer
Sara Boillot
Theodore Boillot

£/€1,000+
Stephanie Cabot and Marcus Lovell Smith
Anne-Marie Clais
Valerie Descamps
Jose Luis Duran
Didier Gaudoux
Wendy and James Karp
Jo Lankester
Jean-Ghislain Lepic
Mirta Vinci Namy
Monique O'Mara De Beistegui
Claudine Reis
Charlotte Vilgrain

£/€500+
AVH
Catherine Bourron
Laetitia Butler
Gerard Corne
Charles Costa De Beauregard
Christophe Lasserre
Angelique de Leusse Masurel
Esme Lovell Smith
Eve Mercier
Olivia Miot Gerard
Alexis Rousset-Rouard
Anne Winocour

MUDZI CONNECT DONORS

$100,000+
The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

$5,000+
U.S. Embassy in Malawi

$1,000+
Timveni Child and Youth Media Organization

DONATE

WORLD CONNECT
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

As of December 31, 2024

WORLD CONNNECT ANNUAL BENEFIT

Dance, music, fashion, and art galleries filled the room
as we celebrated the POWER INSIDE ART for World Connect’s 20th anniversary!

RWANDA SITE VISIT TRIP

Staff, board members, and supporters traveled to Rwanda to visit 20 projects where World Connect Rwanda
has invested to catalyze progress in economic opportunity, education and health

NYC CONNECT CELEBRATION

We paid tribute to three visionaries whom our U.S. grant-making program, NYC Connect, has invested in to
make childbirth safer in the Bronx and support canners in East New York

Ruth Canesha Chamangwana
Program Manager
Mudzi Connect

Asaba Gahima Emmanuel
Community Support Officer
World Connect Rwanda

Patrick Higdon
Global Director of Programs

Zione James
Program Assistant
Mudzi Connect

Simeon Kambalame
Program and Outreach Coordinator
Mudzi Connect

Rhoda K. Kanyesigye
Country Director
World Connect Rwanda

Jonathan Kasekera
Financial Administration Officer
Mudzi Connect

Frank Charles Kasonga
Executive Director
Mudzi Connect

OUR STAFF

Our globally positioned staff collaborate directly with project partners to advance locally-led development
in Malawi, Rwanda, New York City, Guatemala, and Ecuador

Christine Lackowski
Chief Operating Officer

Amber Lucero-Dwyer
Marketing Communications Manager

Lisa Meadowcroft
Director of Development

Bertha Mukhuna
Program Officer
Mudzi Connect

Pamela Nathenson
Executive Director

Lidia Oxí
Directora
Fundación Guate Conecta

Natacha Scott-Weiss
Partner Liaison

Alli Tolbert
Program Associate
Ecuador

Nina Watkins
Program Director
NYC Connect

OUR BOARDS

Our boards are composed of experienced and celebrated leaders from a variety of industries who believe
that global progress is most successful and cost-efficient when communities are trusted to lead

WORLD CONNECT

George Biddle, Chair
Stephanie Cabot, Secretary
James Hunt, Treasurer
Christoph Becker
Clara Bingham
Courtenay Cabot Venton
Tamala Chirwa
John G. Coumantaros
Glen Davis
Ellen Goldberg
Julia Haney
Robert Hecht
Andrew Heckler
Atsuko Horiguchi
Rehmah Kasule
Arum Lee Lansel
Anatole Manzi
James Marden
Morag Neill-Johnson
Amédée Prouvost
JJ Ramberg
Sean Reilly
Enrique Roig
Jack Sullivan
Ayanna Wayner

BOARD MEMBERS EMERITI

Bill Haney
John Adams

WORLD CONNECT UK

Stephanie Cabot, Chair
Hafsat Abiola
Kemal Ahmed
Sara Boillot
Christopher Cabot
Sarah Caplin
Kristina Kenworthy
Emmanuelle Lepic
Esme Lovell Smith
Ilia Tchelikidi

MUDZI CONNECT

Tamala Chirwa, Chair
T. Arthur Chibwana, Vice Chair
Anna Keys
Tokha Manyungwa
Elwin C. Sichiola
Peter Yakobe

OUR ADVISORY COMMITTEES

These dedicated volunteers with diverse experiences have deep knowledge of each locally-led development hub’s context. They play pivotal roles in assessing project proposals for World Connect investment

NYC CONNECT

Sung E. Bai
Clara Bingham
Noah Chasin
Shelly Malkin
Henry Obispo
Tal Pritzker
Griselda Rodríguez-Solomon
Jade Vasquez
Ayanna Wayner

WORLD CONNECT RWANDA

Anatole Manzi
Charles Sebaruma
Doreen Ndishabandi
Egide Rugamba
Johnson Kabera
Judith Katabarwa Kayitesi
Linda Ndungutse
Nathan Gasatura

FUNDACIÓN GUATE CONECTA

José Amaya
Angel de Valle
Mina Gonzalez
Viviana Patal
Reyna Pretzantzin
Evelyn Roquel
Saqchahim Saquil

ACTIVATING POWER INSIDE COMMUNITIES

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