Collaborative philanthropy is rooted in African communal practice. Let's reclaim it.
By Samra Ghermay, associate director of client engagement, Wingo NYC Fundraising Studio
Anyone who knows me, knows I love a good African proverb. I grew up hearing these sayings as commentary on my actions — the not-so-silent judgments on the quality of my cries, the are-you-sure-about-that questions about my decisions, the life lessons waiting to be discovered from a respected elder waiting to impart them on me. Proverbs are built into our stories and were how my elders communicated messages to my sisters and me, how we were implicitly told to do certain things. Proverbs were essentially a coded game. And we happily accepted the challenge and grew all the better for it.
In philanthropy, we have all heard and have possibly even used the African proverb: “It takes a village to raise a child.”
