When we say “Accelerating Possibility”, who gets to decide what that possibility looks like? Many in the philanthropic and social entrepreneurship ecosystem strive to elevate local leaders and local solutions, but is there a disconnect between that desire and the reality on the ground? In this interactive workshop, join in dialog with other Forum delegates about the power dynamics in the social impact space and how to truly support and elevate local leaders.
I am passionate about the intersection of education, design, business and technology.
In 2011, I founded Fundi Bots, an education non-profit with a mission to accelerate learning for (science) students in Africa. Fundi Bots aims to promote better learning outcomes, improved career prospects and real-world technological advancement in African schools and communities through training and experimentation in hands-on, project-based and skills-oriented science disciplines, starting with robotics.
Today, Fundi Bots works with more than 180 schools, 400 teachers and 11,000 students in Uganda. Our goal is to accelerate science learning and provide workforce training for one million young African people by 2030.
Through my work with Fundi Bots, I was selected as a 2014 Echoing Green Fellow and a 2014 Ashoka Fellow.
Echoing Green and Ashoka Fellowships provide financial, logistical and advisory support to emerging world leaders to pursue ideas that try to solve some of the world’s biggest problems.
In 2017, I was selected as an African Visionary Fellow by the Segal Family Foundation.
Atti is a leader and advocate with over 10 years of experience as a nonprofit CEO. Throughout her career, Atti experienced the biased and unjust challenges of raising philanthropic dollars in the U.S. for a community-centered African organization. As the AVFund’s Africa-based co-CEO, she is focused on supporting the growth of African visionaries and their innovative impact ideas.
Prior to joining the AVFund, Atti founded and led Seeds of Africa, a nonprofit developing the educational foundation for the next generation of Ethiopia’s leaders.
As an advocate for racial justice Atti writes and speaks about power dynamics and racial injustice in philanthropy. Atti graduated Cum Laude with a BA in Sustainable Development from Columbia University.
She currently resides in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She’s a passionate cook, baker, florist and tennis player. In her free time, you can find her posting recipes and flower arrangements on Instagram, or hitting the courts with her husband.
Andy Bryant joined the foundation as Executive Director in 2010. He leads the foundation’s team and implements the vision of the board of directors. He has overseen an increase in the foundation’s annual giving from $2 million in 2010 to over $18 million in 2022 alongside the growth of the partner portfolio from 30 organizations to now well over 300. The most important quantifiable changes that Andy has overseen:
1) African staff: Zero in 2010 to 70% in 2022
2) African-led partners: Zero in 2010 to over 80% in 2022
3) Grant decisions made in Africa: Zero in 2010 to nearly 100% in 2022
He has worked in international development for many years in Africa and Asia, including positions with Tanzanian Children’s Fund and TechnoServe. Andy completed a BA from Princeton University in 2003 and subsequently graduated from Syracuse University in 2007 with a MPA in International Development.
