Cycle 2 Projects
Have a look at our six projects for this cycle.
Nigeria: Mani
Focus: Designing a financing strategy for a mental health organization based in Nigeria
Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI) is Nigeria’s largest youth led and youth focused mental health organization. In 2019, MANI offered free virtual counselling sessions to over 5000 people and has trained over 8000 parents, teachers, and SME owners on mental health over the past six months.
MANI’s activities are focused in three broad areas: 1) Training, 2) Outreach, and 3) Engaging with government bodies. MANI’s strong presence online combines with its use of offline media channels such as TV and radio for outreach.
The scope of this project is to design a fundraising strategy for MANI. Currently self-funded, the organisation is looking to explore opportunities for further funding. With numerous possible funding channels available such as private, public and philanthropic, MANI aims to identify opportunities that support their work. In designing this strategy, MANI’s own existing operations will be evaluated to provide funding recommendations that fit their needs.
.png)
Australia: NATSIHA
Focus: Assessing policy progress on housing for under-served native populations in Australia
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Authority (NATSIHA) is the peak national body dedicated to advancing the standards of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing conditions in Australia.
​
In this project, you will assess policy progress towards acceptable and appropriate housing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This project will be based on the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) housing policy, recognising that safe and appropriate housing is a major determinant of health and well-being.
The final deliverable will be a report highlighting the history of ATSI housing policy, the outcomes of these policies, their tangible impacts on the ATSI population, and the overall progress (or lack of) made by ATSI housing policies towards the end goal of acceptable and culturally appropriate shelter.
India: Givfunds
Focus: Improving on an impact measurement system for social enterprises (SE) at scale
Givfunds is a non-profit based in India and Singapore that provides low cost loans to social enterprises (SE) at scale, partnering with South Asian SE aggregators to conduct ecosystem level deals to fund pools of SEs, bridging the gap in capital that thousands of SEs face.
​
Currently, Givfunds is developing a holistic impact measurement system for SEs to accurately measure their impact, in so doing improving the processes and resource allocation both for the SEs and itself.
​
In this project, you will study existing social impact evaluation methods, and catch up with Givfunds’ impact evaluation model and approach. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to go on a field trip to Mumbai/Delhi to implement the impact measurement system on selected SEs Givfunds is working with, obtaining key datasets and identifying relevant market benchmarks to provide recommendations on how the impact evaluation framework could be improved
Vietnam: AIP Foundation
AIP foundation is an organisation that focuses on road safety, using road safety policies and practices to have a positive impact on low and middle income countries. Through efforts such as access to safe equipment, global and legislative advocacy and research, the organisation seeks to save lives.
AIP has a collaborative approach that focuses on creating synergy in the efforts of private corporations, government agencies and the public sector to create change. Currently based in Vietnam, the organisation has been targeting road safety issues since 1999.
The project will entail identifying potential causes the organisation can focus on. The organisation seeks to identify the relevance of Climate Action, Gender Equality and Health and Well-Being Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to their efforts. This would allow team members to gain exposure to the influence of the United Nations’ SDG on global development. Beyond this focus, the project will involve identify possible funding strategies to support the expanded scope of the organisation.
South Africa: Phakamani Foundation
Focus: Evaluating the viability of developing an individual lending product and designing a roadmap for doing so
Focus: Identifying the potential for the organisation to adapt and expand its focus based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Phakamani Foundation work solely with impoverished women in the rural areas of South Africa by providing micro-financial and other services to micro-enterprises. The Foundation is strongly social-driven and aims to tackle the chronic unemployment in underdeveloped areas by aiding families in creating their own self-sustaining businesses.
Steadily growing since its launch in 2008, the organisation uses meetings held in homes, churches, courtyards and other public spaces to reach out to new communities. Offering guidance, role models and encouragement to potential micro-entrepreneurs shows the soft touch of an organisation seeking to help.
In this project, you will explore the potential of expanding the foundation's financial products to include individual lending, culminating in a recommendation for or against. The team would research past cases of organisations expanding from group to individual lending services in different countries. The focus will be on their development model and the impact on organisations during the process. If the team advocates an expansion, the report would include a roadmap to prepare the organization for the implementation of the new product.
Australia: Synergy Nation
Focus: Assessing the effectiveness of government policy on Indigenous Affairs
Synergy Nation Group is an Indigenous Australian company that supports Indigenous led solutions to sustain cultural leadership and improve community lifestyles. They work in sectors such as sustainable housing, cultural sustainability solutions and consulting among others. They seek to offer culturally appropriate, sustainable, prefabricated homes and community infrastructure buildings.
​
The overall goal of the project is to review and assess the performance of Federal Ministers of Indigenous Affairs from 1967 until now and its alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The deliverable will be based on resources such as the government’s Annual Closing the Gap Reports. The final deliverable will be a report highlighting the history of government policies and comparisons between what is said to be done and what has actually been done, in light of the UN SDGs.
