The African Visionary Fund is welcoming more high impact partners to their portfolio with a new $1.5 million commitment to support nine organisations over three years.

This announcement comes after the Fund’s February 2020 announcement, where it committed its first $1 million to six organisations leading community-centred organisations on the continent.

‘Our goal is to make sure that as much money flows to African-founded community organizations as possible in the short term, and to see the global philanthropic community change how it thinks about African leaders in the long term,’ said co-CEO Atti Worku.

The African Visionary Fund’s dedication to supporting African-led organisations with unrestricted funding has been invigorated by the results that the inaugural cohort has yielded in maximising entrepreneurial spirit and accelerating impact. The fund is determined to continue giving enterprising leaders the autonomy to focus solely on delivering their mission.

Read more: African Visionary Fund: playing the game to change the game

With the guidance of the AVFund’s Advisory Board and Grantmaking Committee, the fund employed a newly re-designed grantmaking criteria and selection process to handpick their second cohort. The fund underwent a rigorous process over the course of five months, researching 109 organisations from a pool of over 200 referrals.

‘Our grantmaking process has illuminated a rich, yet untapped talent pipeline that goes underfunded on the continent. There is no shortage of high impact African organizations to support,’ said co-CEO Katie Bunten-Wamaru.

The nine organisations selected by AVF are ACADES, Akira Chix, Friendship Bench, Fundi Bots, Kajo Keji Health Institute, Kidame Mart, MSICHANA Initiative, This-Ability, and WAVE.