Selected Social Projects

ASPIRE Foundation,  a registered Non-profit #39720 founded in 2015, is the first contemporary foundation created  to help break cycles of inequality experienced by people leading Caribbean-based social  organisations. Created by philanthropists and social leaders, the organisation identifies and supports early stage non-profits, investing in their infrastructure, governance and leadership through its Incubator Programme and Business Volunteer Programme.

 

The ASPIRE Incubator Programme introduces a new approach to helping organisations build capacity and operate more sustainably. It helps non-profit leaders implement business infrastructure in core areas, such as governance and planning, and meet the regulatory requirements of non-profits in the region. Beyond offering structured business support to non-profits, it lays the foundation for connecting social investors to leaders working to improve lives by solving priority sustainable development issues. This programme model simultaneously tackles challenges of trust, capacity, transparency and good governance facing local and transnational civil society and philanthropy ecosystems. 

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I was engaged by the founding philanthropists to research and map charities and donors in Barbados. The results supported the feasibility of a local ‘charity support network', leading to investment in the first homegrown incubator program & operating standards for non-profits & charities in a small island state / middle-income country. I then worked with the founders to develop the organisation and its theory of change over the course of two years, from discovery to research, strategy, grant writing, content, programme design and successful launch in 2016. Rejoining the team as CEO of the organisation from 2018 to January 2021, I helped the board and team resolve operational issues and close out the organisation's founding strategic plan, programme activities, impact assessment, impact communication and future recommendations/strategy, within budget.

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Team: ASPIRE Foundation