ScaleUp Africa

ScaleUp Africa resources overlooked, locally-led community economic development in West Africa, scaling scalable solutions and achieving direct impact via: key sector strengthening, narrative change, climate change, workforce & livelihood initiatives for women and youth leaders, cooperatives and organized groups.

Led by Philanthropy Action, Social Justice, Venture Builder and Ecosystem Building expert, Amma Gyampo, ScaleUp Africa is a nonprofit - a movement that provides hands-on technical assistance services for communities, and direct implementation support for progressive philanthropists interested in reaching local leaders and high-potential opportunities in overlooked regions like West Africa. In this underserved region, millions of people face historical barriers that limit their access to opportunities, perpetuating cycles of poverty, and inequality. 

Mass youth unemployment, gender-based discrimination, soil / environmental degradation, climate change and low productivity are just some of the pressing challenges that demand urgent attention and action, especially in terms of resourcing community economic development and institutional effectiveness.

Furthermore, less than 1% of global grants go to African-led nonprofits with only a handful of grants going directly to women-led Climate and Gender initiatives.

Diversifying Global Philanthropy Towards Proximate Leaders and Causes - ScaleUp Africa is showing the field of Philanthropy how to diversify and support proximate leaders in local regions beyond the same pool of grantees that receive global philanthropic funding. In Philanthropy, there is a growing desire among progressive young donors and endowments to not keep funding the same pool of people but rather to focus on the people who are proximate and working close to the problem - to understand how to connect to proximate nonprofit and institutional leaders solving problems locally.