Rockflower

Rockflower Welcomes Tanushree Kaushal to the Board of Directors

Tanushree Kaushal headshot.

Rockflower is delighted to welcome Tanushree Kaushal to the Board of Directors.

Tanushree Kaushal is a doctoral researcher at the Gender Centre and Centre for Finance and Development at the Geneva Graduate Institute. She is currently a visiting research fellow at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on intersections of gender, state policies and finance, particularly the effects and challenges around extension of financial services to women borrowers and marginalized populations. Her research project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and bridges political anthropology, feminist political theory and international relations. She has experience in teaching graduate-level coursework on gender studies and contemporary finance and has been a research contributor to projects on financialisation of the pharma sector with the Global Health Centre, Geneva and a researcher for the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy.

She has previously worked as a consultant for feminist organizations such as the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Geneva on gender and political economy in Cameroon and West Africa, and has experience working with both government and non-government organizations working on gender and legal protection in India and the Netherlands. She has been an advisor to the United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women and girls and her research has been published in journals such as the Review of International Political Economy, International Development Policy and Asian Labour Review.

“Tanushree is the rare example of when a brilliant, academic mind combines with a practical knowledge of exactly what is required to get money to where it is needed most: into the hands of women and girls whose lives are hampered by lack of access and availability. I could not be more delighted to welcome Tanushree to the Rockflower family, knowing that she will bring her particular blend of careful, measured insight with a willingness to seek radical transformative change for our partners.” Tine Ward, Founder and CEO, Rockflower Partners Inc. 

"In a deeply unequal world with severe challenges of access and distribution of resources, I see Rockflower as an example of deliberative, intentional and feminist work that orients resources in directions where they are needed and involves partners in collective, equitable decision-making. I’m thrilled to join Rockflower and learn from its ethic of creating sustainable linkages between different levels of practices and thinking."  Tanushree Kaushal 

Rockflower Funds CSP to Provide Critical Disaster Relief in Flood-Ravaged Neelum Valley, AJ&K

Women carrying emergency aid food boxes provided by CSP.

In response to the devastating flooding that has struck the Neelum Valley district of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K) in the wake of torrential monsoon rains, Rockflower has extended emergency funding to partner organization, Community Services Program (CSP), to provide vital aid to those affected.

The flooding, which commenced in the third week of July 2023, has wreaked havoc on both Northern and Southern parts of AJ&K, particularly in the Neelum Valley district. Homes, markets, bridges, and essential road infrastructure have been swept away, leaving countless residents, including men, women, children, and the elderly, in dire need of assistance. The situation has escalated to the point where there are alarming concerns about severe food shortages and malnutrition among the affected population.

CSP swiftly took action, with their dedicated staff and volunteers conducting rapid assessments of the flood-affected villages of Tehjian and Dudniyal. This on-the-ground evaluation enabled them to gain insight into the immediate needs of the displaced families and damaged households. Despite the district government's appeals for assistance, governmental aid has yet to reach these two villages.

Flooded power lines in Neelum Valley, AJ&K

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, Rockflower allocated funding to CSP to address the critical needs of the flood victims. Through this support, CSP has managed to provide aid to 405 direct beneficiaries. Families have received essential food packets containing wheat, sugar, rice, and dry milk, ensuring that basic nutritional requirements are met during this trying time.

The impact of the flooding extends beyond the Neelum Valley district, as torrential rains have led to a landslide that blocked a key link road in the Bagh district of AJ&K. The cascading effects of these natural disasters have also resulted in rainwater entering houses and shops across various cities.

Adding to the gravity of the situation, Pakistan's Meteorological Department (PMD) reported that the national rainfall for the month of July 2023 was significantly above average, reaching a staggering 70% increase. This substantial increase in rainfall has only intensified the challenges faced by affected communities and has further underscored the need for urgent humanitarian interventions.

Rockflower's decision to support CSP in their disaster relief efforts showcases our commitment to making a positive impact on the lives of women and girls, even in emergencies that fall outside our regular mandate. By providing immediate assistance to CSP, Rockflower aims to alleviate the suffering of flood-affected communities in AJ&K and contribute to the ongoing efforts to rebuild and recover from this calamity.

The Impact of The Earthquakes on Syria

Syrian woman crying holding baby during Earthquake aftermath

PC: CCSD

It’s hard to know where to begin when writing about the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday February 6th. The media has been abuzz with updates, statistics and response efforts. However, over the past few days, the news cycle seems to be moving forward. Currently, the death toll is estimated at over 36,000 people – a number that most of us cannot even fathom. To help conceptualize this, it would be the equivalent of losing the student population of over 70 US high schools in just one week. 

Undoubtedly it will take years to rebuild all of the infrastructure that has been lost. For the embattled territories of Northwest Syria, the earthquake is added to a decade of conflict, obstruction of aid and displacement. There are more than 4 million Syrians depending on aid from the UN and other NGOs and whilst aid to Turkey has greatly increased in the wake of the earthquake, the border situation in Syria has left the Northwest territories with even less humanitarian support. Due to objections from the Russian and Syrian governments, the only route into Syria is by crossing through Turkey. At this time, a UN resolution in place only allows UN agencies to cross the border and provide aid. Outside of these agencies, the folks on the ground, living in Syria are the only people able to provide aid to those in need. For this reason, it is absolutely crucial that we funnel funding toward Syrian based NGOs. Any other solutions to this issue will require widespread political pressure in order to open borders and bring relief. 

Rockflower Partner, Center for Civil Society and Democracy, is one such organization based in Syria working to help with recovery and displacement. On February 6th they issued a statement explaining the devastation and documenting their urgent needs. These include people to help with rescue operations, medical personnel and supplies, food, water and blankets, temporary shelters fit for cold weather, communication support, funding for organizations supporting women and mental health support for those affected. 

We have been in touch with CCSD, and their team told us, “The needs are huge, people have lost family and friends, many people have lost all their possessions including paperwork and many homes are unsafe to enter. CCSD’s support is structured and prioritized around a few key areas: humanitarian assistance (tents, food, water, hygiene kits, support for burials), logistical and coordination support, communication assistance (internet support), and psychosocial support.  The weather continues to be extremely cold. Much more help is needed for shelter (tents and blankets) and heat (wood burning stoves or electric heaters), many people are still on the streets. The most vulnerable – children, people with disabilities, and women need more focused support. Children need jackets and warm clothes.  Families with homes intact have taken in IDPs (internally displaced persons) and they need support.”

Despite the global narrative moving forward, Syrians are suffering and they are not receiving anything close to adequate resources to help them recover from this disaster. A recent tweet from Omar D. Foda (@EgyptsBeer) resonates strongly, “People living in the Middle East are not some special species that becomes more immune to tragedy the more they experience it. They are humans who are suffering at levels that are almost inconceivable. To believe otherwise is to justify your cold indifference.” Please make it a priority to support Syrian based organizations like CCSD as they work on the ground, leading recovery efforts.

100 Gardeners in 100 Days: Celebrating Charlot & Nora

The end of this week will bring us to the halfway point of our 100 Gardeners in a 100 days campaign. Since the start of the campaign on October 1st, we have signed up 23 new gardeners. A huge thanks to all of you who made that decision. But clearly we have work to do to reach our target of 100 new gardeners by January 7th. So let me share with you some exciting recent developments that might nudge you into becoming a monthly gardener.

Last week we received the incredible news of the official announcement that Charlot Magayi and Mukuru Clean Stoves have been nominated as a finalist for the 2022 Earthshot Prize in the "Clean Our Air" category. The winners will be announced at a live event in Boston on December 2nd.

Charlot and Mukuru have been an integral part of Rockflower since 2017 when we were able to provide support for her vision in the very early stages. She has since gone on to receive many awards and recognitions, including being named as Forbes Africa 30 under 30 this past June. In February 2021 Charlot joined the Rockflower Board of Directors, bringing her light, wisdom and lived experience to our work.

Rockflower is powered by individual donations both large and small, not from foundations or corporations. The funds that we were able to send to Charlot back in 2017 came from many small individual donations. Those who share their resources with Rockflower do so in the knowledge that none of us make it alone. Never is that more evident than when one of our partners makes their own financial contribution to Rockflower. Indeed one of the most severely backwards narrative is this idea that philanthropy comes from wealthy people who benevolently bestow their charity upon those less fortunate. In fact, quite the reverse is true, by being given an opportunity to share their wealth, they are the ones being blessed. Some of the most generous people I know are the ones who on the face of it have the least to share. To share whatever you have is one way to ensure both individual and collective freedom. Or in Charlot's wise words:

"When you provide support, no one ever really feels it’s enough and often you might be discouraged to give when these feelings creep up on you. But ... $10 is worth one life saving stove, and to another, a year’s worth of reusable sanitary towels, $10 is many things to many people. It's important to not wait until you have $10,000 to change the world when $10 could be impacting 5 lives today.” Charlot Magayi, Founder and CEO, Mukuru Clean Stoves

The second piece of incredible news last week was that Nora Spencer, Founder and CEO of Hope Renovations was named as one of the top ten CNN Heroes. Nora first contacted us back in 2018 through a partner application on the Rockflower website. She was in the early stages of building support for her vision for Hope Renovations. I wrote back to explain that Rockflower did not work in the United States but I was very inspired by her vision to engage women in the construction industry and by doing so ensuring that seniors would be able to age in place by having their homes renovated by her team of female builders. I continued to keep in touch with Nora and contributed personally whenever I could. Over the years we have struck up a good friendship and in 2020 Nora became a Rockflower gardener, firmly believing in the Currency of Mind and the abundance mindset. If you feel inspired by Nora, please vote for her to become the CNN Hero of 2022 on December 11th.

“As someone who runs a small nonprofit trying to solve big problems, I know the importance of being supported by strong partners who believe in the power of what could be. That’s why I am so proud to be a Gardener! It’s deeply rewarding to know that while I’m working to empower women here in the US, my monthly support is helping Rockflower empower women around the world.” Nora Spencer, Founder and CEO, Hope Renovations

I am hoping that as you read this and see the incredible achievements of both Charlot and Nora, that you will feel inspired to become a Rockflower monthly gardener. Whether you are a packet of seeds, a watering can or a wheelbarrow, all are welcome and all are needed to make our garden grow - no amount is too small and we are so grateful for your support.

- Tine Ward, Founder and CEO, Rockflower Partners Inc.

Rockflower congratulates Charlot Magayi & Mukuru Clean Stoves on being nominated as a 2022 Earthshot Prize finalist

Charlotte Magayi holding a Mukuru Clean Stove. Photo by Earthshot Prize

It is with great pleasure and immense joy that Rockflower celebrates the nomination of Mukuru Clean Stoves as a 2022 Earthshot Prize Finalist.

Featured in the category of Clean Our Air, The Earthshot Prize will be awarded “to the most outstanding efforts to meet this challenge. To the innovators who create job opportunities in green transport and clean energy; to the businesses who remove more pollution from the air than they put into it; and to the communities who let us heat our homes, travel to work and feed our families without polluting the air that we breathe.”

Charlot Magayi has been an integral part of the Rockflower family for some time. In 2017, Rockflower partnered with Mukuru to provide early stage investment for a proof of concept to build 200 stoves. Since then we have watched in awe as Charlot has expanded her vision and her reach to achieve her goals. We were fortunate to have Charlot join the Rockflower Board of Directors in February 2021 to bring her lived experience and deep wisdom to the work of Rockflower.

In July of this year we held a series of Partner Workshops on the Rockflower Five Key Framework. In the session on the key of Economic Empowerment, Charlot joined Haja, Lucy, Roseline and Constance, partners from Liberia, Tanzania, Cameroon and Zimbabwe who shared their experiences on the many challenges they had experienced raising funds for their social enterprises and community based organizations. For everyone it took enormous resilience and faith to keep going before receiving that first piece of funding. Charlot summed it up best:

“The problem with the world is imagining that if we are going to give women the chance we first have to set them up for success, but they have already set themselves up for success and all you have to do is trust them and get out of their way” - Charlot Magayi, Rockflower Partner Workshop - July 2022.

We couldn't agree more! Thank you for your guts and and fortitude Charlot - we couldn't be more grateful that we were able to support you in the early stages and then “get out of the way” and watch you as you manifested your vision.

100 Gardeners in 100 Days: Will you be one of them?

Climate change related catastrophes are increasing in their frequency and severity. Here in the United States, Puerto Rico is recovering from the devastation left by Hurricane Fiona and as I write this email Hurricane Ian has left a trail of enormous destruction in Florida.

For us, the last eight weeks has seen a steady increase of emails from our partners around the world, asking for emergency help in the face of their own intense climate change induced disasters.

Rockflower is not set up to provide emergency humanitarian relief, our mandate is to provide early stage investment for social enterprises and community based organizations improving the lives of women and girls on the global margins. However, as was the case during COVID, partnership is an ongoing responsibility and one that requires a listening and attentive ear during times of crisis.

These are real people, with real names, in real moments of need. Siddique in Pakistan has been working around the clock for weeks to ensure that the 45,000 people under the care of CSP are given the assistance they need as a result of the devastating flooding which has covered a third of Pakistan in water.

Moreen in Mbale, Uganda has been assisting those whose lives have been upended by recent flooding there, and Juliet and Mary in Kasese, Uganda, have been helping those affected by the recent mudslides who have lost homes and family members. Michael in South Sudan was left speechless by the devastating flooding in his home town in South Sudan.

All of this can feel overwhelming, but one thing I have learned from all the years of doing this work is that small acts of intervention really do matter.  We have sent funding assistance to these partners, which has provided some much needed respite, but we need to do so much more. I started to think about what that “more” would look like.  

Many of you are already monthly gardeners to Rockflower and for your generosity we are eternally grateful. But often I hear people say "I don't have much to give - what difference would $25 a month really make?" My reply is always - I can promise you it would mean a great deal. 

Starting today, October 1st for 100 days through to January 7th 2023, we plan to sign up 100 new monthly Gardeners. 

If 100 people sign up for just $25 a month, that will be an extra $2,500 a month and $30,000 a year, which will add significantly to our emergency fund. These climate related disasters are only going to increase and the needs will be even greater. Whilst we continue to support and fund those whose innovations are providing much needed climate adaptation, like our most recent partner Flicker of Hope in Kenya, we must also find a way to offer support at times of dire need. 

Please consider becoming a monthly Rockflower Gardener - I can promise you that it will be one of the best investments in hope and possibility you will make.

-Tine Ward, CEO, Rockflower

The Power of Connectivity: Reflections on my Summer with Rockflower

Coral Crossland, Rockflower’s 2022 Summer Intern

Coral Crossland, Rockflower’s 2022 Summer Intern

This summer I worked as an intern at Rockflower, where I was able to support and learn alongside a team dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls around the world.

As I was exploring my different interests for summer internships, I discovered that a passion of mine is helping women and girls around the globe. I began researching many different organizations and nonprofits that shared this passion, and so, when I came across Rockflower, I was instantly intrigued. As I scrolled through the website I found I was more and more captivated by the terms and ideas being discussed. Rockflower seemed to have the answers to questions I had been asking myself - Do different nonprofits connect with each other? How do they receive funding? How do they grow from an idea to a fully functioning system?  

So, though I was initially drawn in by the core objective of Rockflower, its goal to provide funding to women and girls on the global margins through investing early in community based organizations and social enterprises, I was really interested in Rockflower because of its unique approach to attaining this goal. 

This summer at Rockflower I learned what this approach was. More specifically, I learned what the key concepts that Rockflower focused on were: the five keys, Radical Idealism, Practically Realized, the Currency of Mind and how to Cultivate the Garden with the Seed to Canopy model

I was lucky enough to help create and attend the 2022 Partner Workshop series where each workshop was centered around one of the five keys. In each discussion, experts of each field would talk about their own experiences and barriers they’ve faced. Although each discussion was designed to be centered around a specific key, it became clear that this was nearly impossible and the importance of assessing the issues as a whole quickly became evident.  I saw this during the Economic Empowerment Workshop when the discussion became about education, when the discussion on Maternal and Reproductive Health turned into a conversation about peace and security, or even when a line was drawn connecting the importance of access to water and food and economic empowerment.  This was a recurring theme throughout the series and it seems impossible to limit the conversation to a single key. 

This then ties in the importance of “Cultivating the Garden” with the Seed to Canopy Model. It is just as important to view the canopy as a whole, as it is to view each piece individually. One of my favorite things about this model is that it allows us to think of our different communities as all part of a singular garden, and reminds us that a garden reaches its full potential if it is tended to as a whole. 

One of the things I first loved about Rockflower were its philosophies of Radical Idealism, Practically Realized and the Currency of Mind. My main takeaway from the summer is that if you have an idea, you should go ahead and do it. Rockflower is unique in its ability to view things broadly and as a connected web. This may seem like too large of a task, as it is tackling a multitude of issues all at once, but Rockflower is proof that this method works and that this viewpoint is not only possible but necessary. Experiencing these unique philosophies has allowed me to look at life through a much wider lens and to assess a vision as a whole, as well as analyze each part individually and then reflect on what the desired outcome should be. Rockflower taught me that these conclusions aren’t radical and crazy thoughts, but true solutions to issues that, if realized, could be made a reality. 

To sum it all up, my time with Rockflower this summer taught me a lot about the complexities and barriers of accessing funding and gave me exposure to many different organizations and projects happening around the world. But, most importantly, my biggest takeaway this summer is the importance of the connectivity of people and ideas and to take a step back and view things as a larger system, rather than as individual moving parts.

Emergency Relief Funding Needed for Community Services Program, Pakistan

Siddique Hussain of CSP providing essential aid to flood victims in Pakistan

The Situation: 

Community Services Program, Pakistan, has been a Rockflower partner for over a decade.  Since 2012 we have partnered with them on projects across a spectrum of our Five Key framework -  maternal and reproductive health, economic empowerment, peace and security and education. The most recent being the exciting Bridging the Digital Divide: From Colombia to Pakistan, bringing digital literacy to rural and remote communities. 

However at this moment CSP and 45,000 people in the communities they serve are struggling against the magnitude of the recent catastrophic flooding. Right now, over one third of Pakistan is covered in water, that is the equivalent to the whole of Colorado. 

Mr. Siddique Hussain, Chairman of Community Services Pakistan has been traveling to the affected areas in the last two weeks and shared the following: 

“I am traveling in the flood affected areas and have assessed that the natural calamity of the floods in Pakistan occurring in various parts of the country needs our immediate attention. With the immense destruction we are facing it is essential to provide rations, medical aid and assistance provision for the flood affectees who have lost their healthcare mechanisms due to this aggressive flooding. Especially females are being neglected and their essential needs, including basic hygiene and sanitary items. This is the time to stand together for humanity.”

The background to the flooding: 

What is causing this unprecedented flooding? Pakistan is home to 7,200 glaciers and they are melting fast. This is a direct effect of an increasingly warming planet, caused by global emissions. Pakistan is responsible for just 1% of those global emissions but will be one of the top 8 countries in the world subject to its devastating effects. 

The knock on effect of these melting glaciers are a series of dominos waiting to fall. 

“In the mountains of Pakistan, water from glaciers forms high-elevation lakes, which are often dammed by glacial ice. When there’s too much runoff, those lakes quickly expand and the ice dams can break, producing what’s called a “glacial lake outburst.” - VOX 

Pakistan’s climate minister, Sherry Rehman in an interview with The Guardian, makes the case for why rich nations must make reparations for the catastrophic consequences of their actions. 

“Historic injustices have to be heard and there must be some level of climate equation so that the brunt of the irresponsible carbon consumption is not being laid on nations near the equator which are obviously unable to create resilient infrastructure on their own,” - Sherry Lehman, Climate minister 

Community Services Program providing aid near flooding river in Pakistan

Getting Assistance to where it is needed: 

Add to this crisis the discrimination some Islamic charities are feeling in the rush to provide help as some are facing concern over bank derisking practices. 

“Pakistan is far from the only country where humanitarian responses by Islamic NGOs have seen their financial services disrupted by banks. Payments have also gone missing without explanation for programs in Syria, Somalia, and Afghanistan, according to Itani and others in the sector — all places deemed high risk by banks, but also with Muslim majority populations. 

Financial services to NGOs serving Ukraine, meanwhile, have largely gone smoothly, which has heightened a sense of discrimination that’s being felt by some in Muslim organizations, who also see their work as part of religious duty. “  DEVEX 

By having a ten year relationship with CSP we are able to get immediate relief to people. 

We have already provided direct support in the form of food aid, but so much more is needed. As a fund that specializes in early stage investment into previously underfunded community based organizations and social enterprises, emergency relief is not our usual remit. However, we cannot sit back and watch as one of our foundational partners struggles to meet the enormous needs of its constituents.

Please consider any donation amount to assist those who are currently struggling to get through the day.

  • $43 buys a food pack for one family for 30 days 

  • $23 buys a food pack for a family for 15 days 

  • $13 buys a food pack for a family for 7 days 

Rockflower Partners with New Elementary, Namibia

Rockflower is pleased to announce our recent partnership with New Elementary Early Childhood Education (NEECE), an NGO based in Namibia with the mission of improving the quality and raising the standard of Early Childhood Education in vulnerable communities. The organization works to revitalize schools and create stimulating and safe learning environments that support the cognitive development of children.

New Elementary operates on the basis that high-quality early care and education is a crucial component of a child’s holistic development. This becomes particularly important in settings where children are exposed to the adverse childhood experiences commonly associated with living in poverty.  

Rockflower will be supporting New Elementary in the revitalization of their second school, Mountain Kindergarten. This preparatory school is located in Goreangab, in the Hadino Hishongwa district of the Samora Machel Constituency in Katutura, Windhoek – amongst the city’s most impoverished settlements. The school operates as both a daycare and pre-primary school for children ages 6 months to 3 years old. The team at New Elementary will work with the school staff to improve the physical structure of the building, enhance the learning environment and curriculum, and provide training and capacity building opportunities to the teachers. 

All children deserve access to quality education in a safe environment, and educators require adequate facilities and materials to provide the best education possible. New Elementary is working hard to make this a reality for children in schools across Namibia.

Reflections on our Partner Workshop Series

In the fifteen years it has taken to build Rockflower Partners, one thing has been central to our mission, and that is to ensure that every single partner feels seen, heard and to know that their lived experiences and voices matter. Finding a way for them to translate that agency into a shared platform with access to best practices, challenges and solutions has long been a goal, but as a small team it has been tough to facilitate.  However, after the January 2022 partner survey responses made clear, now more than ever there was a need to find a way to make this happen. 

So this summer we embarked on our first Partner Workshop Series. By inviting all of our current partners from across twenty two countries to come together for a five week series of zoom meetings, they were able to learn directly from each other, as well as from Rockflower Board Directors and Advisory Board members. Each week throughout July, we hosted a conversation on the Rockflower Five Key Framework: Economic Empowerment, Maternal & Reproductive Health, Education, Access to Food & Water and Peace & Security. 

Choosing four speakers from within the partner community and the wider Rockflower network, with specific experience on the designated key, allowed for a broad but deep exchange of experiences, challenges, ideas and thoughtful connection. Each session finished with thirty minutes of open discussion in which attending partners could ask questions, contribute their own experiences, and get to know each other better. 

Many important findings have emerged from this workshop series. Perhaps most gratifying has been the overwhelmingly positive feedback from partners at their delight in being able to see themselves mirrored in so many of their fellow community based organizations and social enterprises around the world. The sense of not being alone in some of these often impossible scenarios held incalculable value for all of the participants. 

Another very important insight from the workshops was the degree to which each one provided a thread of conversation that could be woven into the following week’s key topic. Economic Empowerment led to conversations about women's power over their own bodies in Maternal and Reproductive Health, which led on to the importance of continued secondary and tertiary Education for women and girls.  In the conversation on Access to Food and Water, addressing the existential threat of climate change and the rising cost of food as drivers of conflict and instability, touched on many of the issues discussed in the final workshop on Peace and Security. 

Rockflower believes in the philosophy of “Radical Idealism, Practically Realized”. We deliberately positioned these workshops to provide an overview of the larger global perspective, but then demonstrated how armed with that knowledge, partners could use it in the precise application of practical solutions to their everyday problems. Partners sensed hope in the sharing of ideas and the meaningful engagement and connection with each other, which has led to some new substantive solutions and ideas. We are witnessing just how strongly this connective root system will impact the growth of the Rockflower garden as we build our “seed to canopy” funding model. Please read more for some of the key takeaways from each workshop. 

Economic Empowerment

Partner Workshop on Economic Empowerment with Roseline Kamden, Haja Talawallay, Charlot Magayi & Constance Mugari

Roseline, Haja, Charlot and Constance started us off with a vibrant and lively conversation on Economic Empowerment. Not surprisingly with four powerhouse African women leaders, the discussion was frank, heart centered and of course filled with a great deal of humor.   

The discussion began with an opportunity to talk about what it really meant to be “empowered”, and more specifically “economically empowered”.  An overused word in many instances, we focused on the growing need for access to capital, training and business opportunities that actually lead to funding, and the best way to access markets. This laid bare the fundamental reality of just how much women contribute to the foundational strength of the economy of any nation. 

Charlot shared her deep frustration at the misconception that African women entrepreneurs need to receive ongoing training before they can access funding. She reflected on a quote that summed it up for her:

 “The most over-mentored and underfunded woman is the African Female Entrepreneur.”

As a young mother of 16, growing up in the slums of Mukuru in Nairobi, she had trained herself on the skills of entrepreneurship out of the sheer necessity of having to feed her child. 

This was echoed by Lucy Odiwa, of WomenChoice Industries later in the Q&A section, who shared the countless number of times she had been asked to attend training so that she could “train” to be a viable candidate to receive funding, only to be told to go on another training.  Whereas men are trusted to be given the funding right from the start without the requisite “training”. 

 “The problem with the world is imagining that if we are going to give women the chance we first have to set them up for success, but they have already set themselves up for success and all you have to do is trust them and get out of their way” - Charlot Magayi 

Roseline and Haja shared similar experiences in accessing funding for their community based organizations -  African Youth Alliance in Cameroon and FOWACE in Liberia. The barriers included being unable to receive funding without an audit or extensive list of previous project impact, but as they aptly pointed out, how can you show that before you have been given funding to bring your vision to life? The suggestions of  “go create some impact and then come back and tell us how you did so we can decide if we want to fund you”, are so frustrating when you cannot do that without funding in the first place. 

Additional practical advice for the partners on the call from Roseline was to suggest that they maintain an internet presence even with the simplest of websites and/or social media. Continue to keep growing networks and always ask for referrals, this is what builds trust and confidence. 

Haja described the importance of women’s savings groups in being not only a place to learn and be mentored on business management and savings but as a way to come together and share problems and experiences. This sense of community and distributed leadership is what has inspired so many of the women to continue with the program. 

Constance was keen to express a plea to financing institutions at all levels to acknowledge the unequal processes in place for women entrepreneurs. Stop asking for collateral and instead see women’s bold visions for what they are worth. Empowerment for Constance means the ability to make decisions for yourself and this is what led to her vision for the Women Advocacy Project. To prevent child marriage in four districts around Harare, Zimabawe, finding a way to provide economic empowerment was essential. This led to the creation of Clean Girls Soap, a social enterprise, run and managed by girls who had previously been on track for child marriage. 

The conclusion: It's not very complicated - give women the money and they will return it ten fold to their communities.  

Maternal & Reproductive Health

artner Workshop on Maternal & Reproductive Health with Lucy Odiwa, Dr. Chris Ugwu, Somto Ugwu & Audrey Anderson Duckett

The conversation on Maternal & Reproductive Health was extremely informative, whilst also deeply personal.  Lucy, Dr. Chris, Somto and Audrey, shared wide ranging perspectives on the cultural taboos, personal challenges and direct assault on menstrual health hygiene, family planning, and choice and consent over women’s bodies. 

Despite these organizations being very different in size and mission, they share a common goal - to ensure that more girls and young women have access to reproductive education and menstrual hygiene products, which results in greater retention in secondary school, greater accessibility to higher education and increased employment opportunities. Lucy and Audrey who both run menstrual hygiene social enterprises - WomenChoice based in Tanzania and Be Girl currently working in several countries in Latin America and Africa, shared their personal experiences as to what led to their involvement in menstrual health.  

Lucy gave a brutally honest assessment of her own experience of starting her menstrual cycle, and the accompanying shame and embarrassment that led her to want to ensure that other girls did not suffer a similar fate by developing affordable menstrual hygiene products and education materials. 

“It is really important for a woman and a young girl to understand themselves initially, first of all as an individual, to know their worth, to know how they should be handled actually…Girl empowerment is nothing dangerous, it simply tells a girl that you are free to have a dream of your own, you are free to have a vision.” - Lucy Odiwa 

Audrey, although based in Washington DC, had spent time working on cross-sectoral issues in Ethiopia and saw how menstrual health for young girls was a key leverage point in ensuring access to education and mental well being.  She shared how Be Girl is extremely focused on ensuring young girls receive the education they need to know and understand their bodies and showed us an example of the manual period tracker that Be Girl has developed. 

Dr. Chris and Somto from the Society for the Improvement of Rural People in Enugu State, Nigeria, were delighted to be able to contribute to the conversation, given that there is so much taboo around men discussing these topics. 

Dr. Chris explained, “It’s a taboo almost, to talk about issues around menstrual poverty or menstrual issues” and went on to describe how they work to address many of the myths around menstrual hygiene and the misinterpretation of religious and cultural beliefs which can sow disinformation and doubt on an already complicated topic. 

As Gender Lead for SIRP, Somto reiterated:  “The importance of men and boys can not be overemphasized …It is so important to have men and boys as allies.” - Somto Ugwu 

It was indeed extremely gratifying to see so many men on this call.  Tonny from Hope for the Future, Uganda made the extremely salient point that individuals and communities should continue to question why governments spend trillions of dollars on defense when the equivalent spent on the health and wellbeing of women and children would generate exponential benefits in security for nations. This was an issue we would revisit in our next three workshops. 

Education

Education Partner Workshop with Tania Rosas, Siddique Hussain, Miriam Foley and Dancan Onyango

Despite a great deal of progress in ensuring more girls have access to education, today there are still 130 million girls who lack the ability to go to school. One of the most devastating side effects of the COVID pandemic has been the impact it has had on girls education worldwide, particularly in countries such as Uganda where schools were closed for over 2 years. 

However, this period of time has also seen a fast tracking of many innovative solutions in the delivery of education. By upending traditional formats and looking at cost effective ways to ensure those in rural communities with little access to the internet gain access to learning, there has been a real momentum to use this crisis as an opportunity. 

With Tania, Siddique, Miriam and Dancan, we were able to hear from leaders from a cross section of understanding and experience regarding the value of education across different cultural and social contexts from Colombia, Pakistan, Kenya and the USA.

We talked about existing barriers to accessing education including the impact of poverty, access to technology and digital education and how to broaden the types of education girls receive by looking toward global future needs. 

One of the most important themes to emerge from the workshop was the concept of role models and representation. When discussing the hugely significant impact of the election of Francia Marquez, the first female Afro Colombian to hold the office of Vice President, Tania stressed how monumental this was for poor indigenous women to understand that there was actually a path out of poverty through education and mentorship, together with sheer bravery and determination. 

“It is always important that we keep representation in mind, because we cannot be what we can not see” - Tania Rosas

Another big topic was that of access to information. Dancan wanted to point out that similar to representation you do not know what you are capable of until you have a better understanding of what resources are available to you. Key to his work with Jiwo Paro is to ensure a wider distribution of information so that women can access their own inborn talent. 

Siddique stressed the importance of engaging the decision makers at the government level who have control over the gender budgets. A key component of the success of the Bridging the Digital Divide: from Colombia to Pakistan, the Rockflower pilot project being implemented by Tania and Siddique, has been the ability to act as a catalyst for the Ministry of Education to scale up the project. 

Miriam’s perspective as a lawyer brought a wider lens to the subject of Education by linking to an understanding of fundamental laws and rights, “There are laws in place for a reason, you are entitled to live a better life… and this can often lead to more political and civic engagement… If you understand your fundamental rights… then you can engage in the political process” - Miriam Foley 

But time is running out and as Tania reminded us at the end of the workshop, there are so many young people whose potential is being stymied through sheer lack of access and opportunity. 

Access to Food & Water

Access to Food and Water Partner Workshop with Brianna Parsons, Lucas Worsdell, Twisi Mwaighogha and S.P. Anandan

The number of people classed as “acutely food insecure” by the UN before the Covid crisis was 130 million, but this has since increased to 345 million due to the crisis in Ukraine. 50 million people are just one step away from famine. The rising cost of fertilizers and fuel, and the ongoing threat of catastrophic weather, is adding to an already heightened sense of fear and chaos, creating the perfect storm for social unrest, political instability, forced migration and the continued deep suffering of already marginalized communities. 

Against this rather gloomy backdrop, we had an opportunity with Brianna, Lucas, and Anandan (Twisi was unable to join us on the day) to provide some insight into the different types of food and water security issues at a local level, in the very different geographies of The Gambia, Nicaragua and India. 

Lucas and Brianna discussed their respective experiences and approaches to working as outsiders in community based programs and social enterprises. As a vet and social entrepreneur, Brianna has been able to bring her expertise without enforcing or prescribing solutions not generated by the community. Lucas shares this ethic and has worked closely with the women of L’Astillero to ensure that all decisions were participatory, in particular the budgeting and agroecology center planning.  Humility was the key word, and prompted discussion on the value of the traditional and indigeneous learned experience. 

Anandan held particular expertise in this regard,  detailing his work in ensuring indigenous knowledge on how to purify water is preserved through oral and written tradition. Local knowledge is key to transforming systems and communities. 

Lucas and Anandan also both referenced the ability of communities to build seed banks as a practical tool to ensure food security. Lucas detailed his own revelations when building the Center of Agroecology, that the reason that he could not access seeds was because they were all controlled by a few large multinational corporations. These were the same choices available to the local community of Astillero. The other partners on the call really liked the idea of seed banks and made plans to cross pollinate ideas in this regard. 

We also discussed localization vs globalization of food supply chains and the importance of diversifying farms and livestock as one form of mitigation against the effects of climate change. Brianna highlighted the difference between food security and food sovereignty, and how because of international food and trade policy so many people in emerging economies do not have ownership over their food production. Nutritious foods are cost prohibitive, for example milk is 16 times more expensive than rice in The Gambia, which is why the focus at Gambian Goat Dairy is to deliver cost effective animal source protein. 

We touched on the issue of land rights for women and referenced a recent Landesa paper "Women and Dirt"  in which they make the case for gender parity in land rights as a solution to issues of food security. 

One thing was clear  - waiting for the international community to fix climate change was too much of a long shot for so many of our partners. They need solutions today. 

“If the community of Astillero waits for the global community of politicians and diplomats to solve climate change, they are all going to be dead by the time that’s done so we need to prepare for building resilience on the ground” - Lucas Worsdell

Peace & Security

Peace and Security Partner Workshop with Dr. Alice Lukumbu, Rajaa Altalli, Sahana Dharmapuri and John Prendergast

By providing a broad overview as to what peace and security means in different contexts and settings, but then to show how this directly affects communities and individuals, we were able to ensure that the partners on the call could draw a line between the information shared and their daily experiences. 

Peace and Security is not just the absence of war, it is a multi-layered understanding of the needs and wants of different groups and communities, at a personal, local, national and international level. 

With Dr. Alice, Rajaa, Sahana and John, we had a wide ranging conversation on what it takes to develop systems and strategies to counter violence, greed and injustice.  All of them have deep experience and a personal commitment to building a world in which peace is paramount.

Dr. Alice delivering her remarks in French, (our grateful thanks for translation by Will Burgat)  brought us into the heart of the issue, by describing the daily task of helping victims of atrocities become survivors and then contributors in the redesign of their communities through their lived experience.  There was a deep weariness in her voice as she described the continued witnessing of rape and murder and the daily repercussions of a reality in which Security Resolution 1325 does not actually live up to its intention. There are still not enough women involved in the concrete actions to bring about peace. In 2020 she was involved in talks with armed groups in order to bring more women to the discussion but was met with push back and the suggestion that they should only come if they bring women with weapons to the talks. Her plea was to ask how the UN can find a way to insist that more women from civil society are present at the “real peace talks” not just the secondary track two discussions. 

Rajaa shared the deeply personal experience of her father, a policial and human rights activist, having been detained and tortured in a Syrian prison for almost ten years of her life. When the uprising began in Syria in 2011 she was studying for her PhD in Mathematics in the US, but returned home to Syria knowing that she had to be involved in documenting the human rights abuses. She started CCSD with a group of activists determined to see a better future for the women of Syria, and continues to engage with civil society activists, youth leaders and all those wishing to see a greater emphasis on the women, peace and security agenda. She is extremely keen to ensure that all the lessons learned from the last ten years of work in Syria be shared with those in conflict situations so that all of the rich resources and learnings can be put to good use. 

 Sahana gave us a detailed analysis of the work of bringing multi stakeholders together in order to ensure the agenda of Women, Peace and Security is put front and center in the minds of policy decision makers. She applauded the partners on the call for their bravery and willingness to imagine a better and more peaceful world and for their consistent daily work to make this a reality.  Indeed, Security Council Resolution 1325 came from women in the Global South saying to those in the North - “What you are doing is not working, we need a better way” . She also reiterated the need for a collective vision of what peace would look like, and to take a step back to assess what is working and what is not.  By being willing to co-create something better there exists a real potential for a more secure world. .  

“Women want to change the dominant security narrative  … for the benefit of everyone. We can change the narrative of what is possible by seeing through a feminist lens” - Sahana Dharmapuri

John took us deep into the reality of the “captured state” - which is what happens when war economies take hold and become a perpetual money making machine for a few corrupt individuals. In order to tip the balance for those living in these countries who want an even playing field, the importance of using the tools of network sanctions and challenging the incentive structures that reward violence and authoritarianism cannot be overstated.  John’s decades of work in the DRC meant that he was particularly in tune with Dr. Alice’s deep feelings of frustration and shared how his own journey had evolved as an activist, to focus on dismantling the means by which war machines and kleptocracies thrive. This was a timely discussion, as his piece in Project Syndicate last week demonstrated on the occasion of Secretary Blinken’s visit to the Congo and Rwanda. 

We finished with a conversation on why Peace and Security is so difficult to fund, and not just in the world of philanthropy. As the world keeps spending trillions of dollars fighting wars only to rebuild after the destruction, a tiny portion of that invested in prevention would bring untold dividends.

“It's so hard to quantify the results of investments in peace” - John Prendergast

Conclusion: 

This was just the beginning of a series of workshops that Rockflower will be producing throughout the year as we digest the conversations and dig deeper into other ways to ensure that our partners have access to a shared platform of tools, techniques and approaches that can continue to contribute to the improvement of life and well being for so many women and girls and their communities. 

We are grateful to everyone who participated and thank all of our speakers for their insights, vision and clarity. 

Rockflower congratulates Board Director Charlot Magayi on being named one of Forbes Africa 30 under 30 for 2022

Rockflower is delighted to congratulate Board Director, Charlot Magayi, on yet another well deserved recognition of her work to bring clean cooking technology to underserved communities through her organization, Mukuru Clean Stoves

Charlot was just named as one of Forbes Africa 30 under 30 2022. With over 600 nominations and an in-depth referral process the competition was high, but Charlot’s story and the magnitude of her achievements proved to be a winner. 

“Our journey with Charlot began in 2017 when she was raising initial investment for her Mukuru Clean Stoves social enterprise. We provided very early funding for a proof of concept, from which she was able to leverage other sources of funding and bring her vision to life. I could not be more thrilled for Charlot for this recognition, as she is the embodiment of grit, resilience and determination. She brings a unique perspective to all that she does and blesses all those she meets with her empathy and understanding.  We were fortunate to have her join the Rockflower Board of Directors in February 2021. As I was quoted in the Forbes piece - watch this space - she will be President of Kenya before too long!”  - Tine Ward, Founder and CEO, Rockflower Partners Inc. 

In addition to this recognition from Forbes, Charlot was also awarded the Waislitz Global Citizen Award in 2019, The World Bank’s Inaugural SDG’s and Her First Prize and the 2019 AWIEF Empowerment Award for her work empowering marginalized women in Kenya and her fight against indoor air pollution.

This past Mother’s Day Rockflower highlighted the importance of the Mothering Economy in celebrating mothers and those tasked with mothering. Looking at our current economic structures from the perspective of mothering, there are many other ways to measure progress that are not limited to traditional metrics of growth.

Within the Rockflower partner family, there are so many mothers and other individuals tasked with mothering who demonstrate daily the deep breadth of knowledge available in how to keep households, communities and nations thriving. By listening to their wisdom as they insist on a different future for their children and grandchildren, we can place ourselves at the center of their willingness to nurture, not just your own child, but every child, with a capacity to imagine a future based not on “getting” but on “giving”, and an intrinsic ability to predicate all of this on a practical and achievable framework.

Charlot is the embodiment of this future and this mindset, something that has been known by so many women for decades, understanding that a new economic paradigm really is possible if those who are best positioned to direct the funds are given the opportunity to do so. 

“It [the mothering economy ] would mean that the economy as a whole world would function to serve and nurture the most underdeveloped economies within it, that the accumulation of wealth from one economy at the expense of another that has not yet matured, would not be looked down upon. The 'maternal gaze' would be a more selfless, rather than selfish approach to obtaining and distributing wealth.” - Charlot Magayi 

Rockflower's 2022 Partner Survey

In January 2022, Rockflower sent out a short survey of ten questions to our current and past partners. We received 28 responses from 16 countries. What we found was a common thread of mutual respect, understanding and a fierce determination to keep going against all odds. 

Rockflower began a decade ago with the simple intention to get more money into the hands of women and girls on the global margins,through a holistic Five Key framework. This would then provide them with agency and opportunity to make decisions about their lives.

We are a small team with a mighty will to ensure that we do all we can to provide funding and support to our partners. We are called Rockflower Partners Inc. for the simple reason that we are the sum total of our partners' needs and their subsequent successes. 

This survey provided a great deal of insight into the challenges our partners are facing, their visions for growing their organizations, views of Rockflower and its own plans for growth, and their strong desire to collaborate across organizations and nations. 

One of the questions asked was about receiving follow-on funding from other organizations after receiving funding from Rockflower. We were delighted to find that 92% of our partners who responded to the survey, the majority of whom had no access to international funding before partnering with Rockflower, were able to attract follow-on funding from other global organizations. This clearly demonstrates the value of being the first to fund small community based organizations and social enterprises. 

The ability of our partners to obtain follow-on funding is a clear demonstration of the Currency of Mind™. Rockflower’s philosophy is that the Currency of Mind™ is the most valuable and powerful currency that exists, everything of value starts with an idea created in someone’s mind and when shared it increases, expands and takes on energy. We place the Currency of Mind™ at the center of all of our work. 

We asked our partners to describe what the concept of The Currency of Mind™meant to them.  YSWID in Uganda shared that, “Even when we don't know where money will come from we listen to people in our community and offer to find a solution to their challenges. The ideas people have about their challenges are very important for the success of the project so we respect them and we offer to help them even when we don't have money."

Another key finding from the survey was our partners’ strong desire to collaborate and learn from one another. Over 90% of our partners indicated a desire to communicate and collaborate with other partners within the Rockflower Family and demonstrated a willingness to network across areas of expertise and different geographies. With this insight, we are planning to create virtual spaces for collaboration and growth.

JWAS, a partner organization based in Nepal told us, “We would also like to increase our networking with like minded organizations. We believe that knowledge sharing, learning exchange and networking help us to grow. So we would like to share the impact of our work to the global audience, this could be done by in person visit as well as virtually. Similarly, we are interested in conducting the learning exchange event and to share the outcomes to the global audience."

The survey also asked about the biggest challenges faced by each organization. Our partners have persevered through extreme obstacles including war, famine, political unrest, and most recently by supporting their communities through the pandemic. What is abundantly clear is their need for additional resources.  

Organizations like Gambia Goat Dairy, have gone on to meet with great success, but this was not always the case, they credit Rockflower with funding them in the gaps when it was really difficult to obtain mid-level funding. 

They told us, “[One of our biggest challenges has been] mid-scale funding. We had an influx of seed funding but struggled to find funding to scale our results from 5 years of work in Gambia – Rockflower completely supported this transition first with targeted smaller-scale funding for necessary projects (2019-2020) which catalyzed our development as a teaching and research program. Then they stepped in to help us scale through Penn Global HAREF matching support – an essential component of mid-scale funding that will allow us to expand over the next three years.”

Responses like these have illustrated the need for a Seed to Canopy™ funding model, something we have been developing for a number of years and plan to implement in the near future. This model will provide ongoing restorative financing opportunities to those at all stages of the investment process, strengthening capacity and longevity for all involved. 

One last key finding from our survey was less tangible, but for us, one of the most important. Partners indicated their respect for Rockflower’s willingness to consistently engage in honest, meaningful conversations. They felt that the team was approachable, and that they could be transparent in their requests and engagement. When asked for five words to describe Rockflower, the most repeated words were: Trustworthy, Authentic, Reliable, Practical, Loving and Empathetic.

Overall, the partner survey proved to be an incredibly useful tool that will help shape our future endeavors. It is evident that our partners truly feel part of the Rockflower Family knowing that they all have valuable insights and knowledge to share. As we work consistently towards increasing investment capital to fund our future Seed to Canopy™ model, creating collaborative spaces for our partners and continuing to develop the Currency of Mind will be uppermost in our minds.  

Please consider becoming a monthly gardener to bring these visions to life:

Marking the start of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, in celebrating Wai Wai Nu, Founder of Women's Peace Network, Receiving the DVF Award

Thursday 25th November marks the start of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. Started in 1991 by activists at the inaugural Women’s Global Leadership Institute, it continues to be coordinated each year by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership and is used as an organizing strategy by individuals and organizations around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.

Whilst the violence against the Rohingya in Myanmar has been going on for decades, the levels of state sanctioned violence against girls and women has increased dramatically since the coup on February 1st, 2020. Rockflower partner, Women’s Peace Network has made it a priority to keep track of every incident possible.

The decades long impunity continues to embolden the military as it uses sexual and gender based violence, including rape, gang rape, sexual mutilation and sexual slavery as a tool against the ethnic minority. Women’s Peace Network is calling upon the international community “to take swift action to provide protection and support to the women of Myanmar, and hold the Myanmar military accountable for its brutality.”

521 Myanmar civil society organizations are calling upon the UN Security Council to convene an urgent meeting on this crisis and impose a global arms embargo on the country as the military continues to increase its use of rape as a weapon of war.

"It is our responsibility to ensure that justice is served for all refugees," Nu shared during a speech at the Sedona Forum in April. "We must hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes, including sexual violence and genocide. If we fail to end all impunity, the cycle of violence and refugee exodus will continue."

Women’s Peace Network (Myanmar) was founded in 2013 by human rights activist Wai Wai Nu. The organization is composed of lawyers, community leaders, and peace activists from Myanmar and around the globe who share a common goal: to peacefully promote and protect human rights. It’s mission is to protect the rights, enhance the status, and increase the inclusion of marginalized women, youth, and communities in the Rakhine state and across Myanmar, so that they can live peacefully and prosperously.

Alyse Nelson and Wai Wai Nu attend the 2021 DVF Awards at Opera Garnier on November 17, 2021 in Paris, France.

Last week in Paris, a spotlight was shining on Wai Wai Nu’s tireless work as she presented with the prestigious DVF International Award. This award, supported by the The Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation, honors women who have displayed leadership, strength, and courage in their commitment to their causes. Every year, each Honoree receives a $50,000 grant from the Foundation to further their work as well as exposure and resources necessary to extend their efforts on behalf of women all over the world. 

Nu’s feature in People Magazine explains, “[Nu] spent seven years as a political prisoner in Burma, and since her release from prison in 2012, she's dedicated her life to championing for democracy on behalf of marginalized women and members of her ethnic group, the Rohingya.”

"It is our responsibility to ensure that justice is served for all refugees," Nu shared during a speech at the Sedona Forum in April. "We must hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes, including sexual violence and genocide. If we fail to end all impunity, the cycle of violence and refugee exodus will continue."

Rockflower is extremely humbled by the groundbreaking work of our partners, in particular Wai Wai and the team at Women’s Peace Network. We extend our sincere congratulations to Wai Wai and our deep gratitude to the DVF Foundation for continuing to recognize those around the globe who are fighting for women’s rights and safety.

Rockflower Joins Peace and Security Funders Group

Rockflower is delighted to announce we have joined the Peace and Security Funders Group. It is a privilege for Rockflower to become a member of this network of public, private and family foundations, and individual philanthropists who make grants or expenditures that contribute to peace and global security. The Peace and Security Funders Group aims to enhance the effectiveness of peace and security philanthropy.  This is in direct alignment with Rockflower’s guiding principles of ensuring every dollar spent is amplified by a commitment to expanding networks and a deeper understanding of the issues of conflict and peace building.  

Currently less than 1% of philanthropic funding supports peace and security . A recent study by Candid seeks to shed light on what prevents funders from engaging in this often catalytic and transformative funding. 

Lauren Bradford, senior director of global partnerships at Candid, said, “This study starts to answer foundational questions for the sector. What we've learned from those doing peacebuilding work is that effective approaches are grounded in the intersection of social justice, human rights, and peace, and carefully considers dynamics that stand in the way of achieving a more peaceful society.” 

“This field of peace and security philanthropy is vast, encompassing diverse issues and stakeholder groups. However, all PSFG members are united in working towards a more peaceful, secure world. In addition, peace and security funders exert impact in ways that exceed the scope of their financial investments; they have outsized impact. With their $357 million in annual giving, peace and security funders contribute to monumental changes across the globe – from the historic Iran nuclear agreement to atrocity prevention in Africa”  Peace and Security Funders Group  

"Peace and Security is part of the holistic Five Key Framework through which we work to ensure access to funding for women and girls on the global margins. Indeed in many ways it is the lynchpin connecting all of the keys of maternal and reproductive health, education, access to food and water and economic empowerment. We are delighted to have been recommended by Rockflower board member Sahana Dharmapuri to join the Peace and Security Funders Group and look forward to listening, learning and sharing in this mighty but powerful community of funders who appreciate the deep intrinsic value of a world built on systems of justice and peace"  - Tine Ward, Founder and CEO, Rockflower Partners

Rockflower welcomes Pablo Freund to the Board of Directors

Rockflower is delighted to welcome Pablo Freund to the Board of Directors. Pablo brings to Rockflower a deep understanding of the current global financial systems and practices and how they have contributed to gender inequality and inequity. He understands the fundamental core paradigm shifts that need to occur in order for change to happen at the local level. 

Pablo Freund is a Senior Advisor with the Criterion Institute, a non profit think tank that works with social change makers to demystify finance and broaden their perspective on how to engage with and shift financial systems. He is an experienced financial services professional focusing on women’s financial inclusion and the development of gender lens financial services. He is the founder of Bare Maximum, a boutique advisory firm helping international financial institutions, nonprofits, and start-ups advance the emergence of an equitable, ethical, and sustainable global economy. He is also the co-founder of Be Girl, a social enterprise focused on making high-performance menstrual hygiene products radically accessible for women and girls globally. 

Pablo is the Gender Financial Inclusion technical expert for Inter-American Development Bank’s technical assistance program supporting Public National Development Banks’ effort to collect and report sex-disaggregated data and the UN Foundation’s Data2x Women’s Financial Inclusion Partnership, leading their sex-disaggregated data harmonization efforts. He also serves as the Financial Alliance for Women’s data science lead, managing the largest global private sector gender lens supply-side sex-disaggregated financial services survey for the publication of the annual “Economics of Banking on Women” report.

In addition to Pablo’s work in the financial inclusion space, he has extensive experience at the intersection of gender and energy access. Over the past several years, he has worked with organizations on the development of gender mainstreaming policies to increase women’s participation in the energy sector as well as access to electricity programs across Sub-Saharan Africa. 

He started his career in financial services with UBS in New York, prior to which he received Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics and History of Art and Architecture from Brown University, and a Master of Science in Sustainability Management from Columbia University’s Earth Institute.

“ I could not be more excited to welcome Pablo to the Rockflower Board of Directors. He brings a unique perspective and insight into the work of getting more money into the hands of women and girls on the global margins. His knowledge and expertise will deepen our capacity to get to the root of the problems Rockflower is seeking to address, primarily, how to ensure that those with the best ideas have the capacity and capability to see those ideas come to fruition. Thank you so much Pablo for really understanding the work we do at Rockflower and being willing to throw your hat in the ring to help us do so much more.” Tine Ward, Founder and CEO, Rockflower Partners Inc. 

“Given the interrelated nature of everything happening in our world, a whole systems perspective is more important now than ever before if we are going to resolve humanity’s most pressing challenges. Rockflower’s “Seed to Canopy” vision demonstrates a unique commitment and integrity of purpose to the future of our world that I believe is the antidote to despair and essential to manifesting the equitable and just world we hope for.  It is my honor to support Rockflower’s work towards this end.” -Pablo Freund



Rockflower welcomes Sahana Dharmapuri to the Board of Directors

Rockflower is delighted to welcome Sahana Dharmapuri to the Board of Directors. 

Sahana Dharmapuri brings a wealth of experience to Rockflower having been a prominent voice in the Women, Peace and Security arena for many years.  Sahana is Director of Our Secure Future, a program of One Earth Future Foundation. From 2006-2016 she was an independent gender advisor on gender, peace and security issues to USAID, NATO, The Swedish Armed Forces, the United States Institute for Peace, International Peace Institute, and other international development organizations. She has published widely on Women, Peace and Security issues including with CNN, Christian Science Monitor, The Fletcher Security Review, Hedaya and The Center for Global Counter-Terrorism, Women’s E-News, Human Rights Quarterly. 

Sahana understands precisely the nature of Rockflower’s work and appreciates the practical application of translating policy recommendations into tangible assistance in the form of fundamental and critical investment in the real lives of women.

"Today, it's clear that we cannot create security for ourselves at the expense of so many others' daily insecurity. Unfortunately, there is no place on Earth where women and girls enjoy equal status, or equal security with men. That's why Rockflower's work is so important. Lifting up women and girls around the world is our path to a more peaceful and secure world for everyone."  Sahana Dharmapuri, Director, Our Secure Future

“I am thrilled to welcome Sahana to Rockflower’s Board of Directors. It will be a gift to listen to her wisdom and perspectives on the fundamental principles of securing a more peaceful and just world for everyone, and to align these insights with our holistic approach to investing in women and girls”  Tine Ward, Founder and CEO, Rockflower Partners 



Crypto Philanthropy: Why We Accept Crypto via The Giving Block

Rockflower began accepting donations in cryptocurrency back in 2017, and in 2020, Rockflower began partnering with The Giving Block. This partnership has allowed our organization to diversify its donation streams and increase our audience, while providing donors the potential to recognize additional tax benefits with easy, secure transactions. Through this partnership, supporters can donate several forms of cryptocurrency including BitCoin and Ethereum.

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Cryptocurrency holders donating to Rockflower are directly impacting the organization’s efforts to ensure more money gets into the hands of women and girls in emerging economies by supporting our partner's innovative and entrepreneurial ideas to transform their communities and lives. Beyond supporting this critical funding stream for the improvement of life outcomes for so many women and girls, there are additional incentives to donating crypto.

“There are two major factors for why people donate cryptocurrency,” according to Alex Wilson, Co-Founder of The Giving Block. “The first is the tax incentive. Because the IRS classifies cryptocurrency as property, that means that donors do not have to pay capital gains tax and can write off the donation on their taxes. If they sell to cash first and then donate, that means getting hit with 20-30% in taxes. Second, donating crypto is faster and easier than using traditional methods. For most people, it takes just seconds to pull up their wallet and send a donation to their favorite nonprofit.”

Additionally, upon crypto donation your contribution will be immediately exchanged into U.S. dollars. This allows us to receive the financial value intended by the donor at the time of the donation while avoiding volatility in the market. It also makes it simple to put funds to use immediately to support our mission of ensuring that essential funding reaches those women and girls living at the margins with as little impediment as possible.

You can easily make a cryptocurrency donation to support our mission by clicking here or visiting the “Give” page on our website.

Charlot Magayi joins the Rockflower Board of Directors

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Rockflower Partners Inc. is delighted to welcome Charlot Magayi to the Board of Directors.

Charlot is CEO and Founder of Mukuru Clean Stoves, a social enterprise that designs, produces and distributes improved, reliable and affordable cook stoves for low-income households. She grew up in Mukuru, one of the biggest slums in Nairobi. Charlot won the Waistlitz Global Citizen Award in 2019, the World Bank’s inaugural SDGs and Her award in 2018 and the AWIEF Empowerment Award in 2019. Charlot believes in a toxin and smoke-free world and has dedicated her time, skills and experience to fighting household air pollution. Charlot is also a 2020 Echoing Green Fellow.

"Rockflower Partners Inc. enables social entrepreneurs to accelerate their social impact. They did that with Mukuru Clean Stoves and I am proud and honored to join their Board of Directors, to lend my voice in their decision making process and contribute to their impact by ensuring that we provide better access to financing and resources for female entrepreneurs in under-served markets." Charlot Magayi, CEO and Founder, Mukuru Clean Stoves

Charlot has served as both a Global Ambassador and on the Partner Advisory Council for Rockflower over the last four years, and brings invaluable perspective and experience to our work.

“I have had the privilege of knowing and working with Charlot for a number of years. I was instantly struck by her drive, ambition and more importantly her heart. She has a unique set of skills to bring to the decision making of Rockflower and we feel extremely fortunate to have her on the Board. “ Tine Ward, Founder and CEO, Rockflower Partners Inc.

Prevention, Protection and Preparedness for COVID-19 for 200 Rural Girls and Women in Nepal

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Sunday, the 11th of October is International Day of the Girl and Rockflower is pleased to announce a new partnership with Janaki Women Awareness Society (JWAS) in Nepal. 

JWAS, a community-based organization established in 1993 by a group of women social workers, is undertaking a project to educate and protect the most marginalized of women and girls through a virtual and listening program on the threat of COVID-19. 

By utilizing the power of radio, picture books, and small community listening groups, JWAS is creating effective channels of communication to inspire and protect those most at risk. Information about COVID-19 prevention, preparedness and protection, and how best to access health services during this pandemic are of paramount importance in these communities. Read more about these girls and young women who are at high risk for child marriage and gender-based violence and how through this simple but effective means of communication JWAS will be stemming the tide of an inevitable surge in COVID-19 cases. 

Rockflower Welcomes Caroline Bracken to the Catalyzer Collective

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Rockflower is pleased to announce the addition of Caroline Bracken to our Catalyzer Collective.

Caroline is a recent graduate of the College of Charleston where she studied Political Science with a minor in International Studies and Geography. While at Charleston, Caroline studied Modern Standard Arabic and dedicated her senior year to write a thesis about the different peace and security outcomes of the Arab Spring of 2010. She is passionate about the social, cultural, and political dynamics of the Middle East and North Africa and is interested in pursuing a career in research and policy related to the region. Caroline firmly believes that peace and security isn’t possible without the empowerment of women and girls.

We are excited to welcome her to our Catalyzer Collective!