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Date: 2025-05-10 Page is: DBtxt001.php txt00017070

Initiative
Firelight Foundation

Something about what the Firelight Foundation has done since its founding in 1999

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess


Dear Firelight Friends,

My heart is full of gratitude as I share the news that my husband Dave Katz and I are stepping down from active service on Firelight Foundation’s board of directors after twenty years. Since founding Firelight together in 1999, Firelight's work to support community-driven change for African children has grown in ways we never could have imagined. We are excited more than ever for the future of Firelight as it enters its third decade.

Firelight was initially created as a private foundation focused on the devastating impact of HIV and AIDS on children and families in Africa. Within just a few years, its innovative approach to community-based grantmaking attracted the attention of both institutional and individual funders, and in 2010, Firelight became a public charity in grateful recognition of this widening base of support.

Since Firelight’s founding in 1999, it has:
  • Made over 1600 grants, totaling more than $24 million;
  • Provided over $20 million in program support, including helping organizations build their capacity, deepen their services, and expand their reach;
  • Granted in 12 African countries: Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe;
  • Supported 365 community-based organizations (CBOs), including many Community Grantmakers that have supported countless additional CBOs;
  • Raised over $33 million since 2010 when Firelight became a public charity;
  • Impacted millions of children, parents, caregivers, professionals, and community members.
Over the years, Firelight’s focus has expanded to address other areas of vulnerability impacting children and youth, such as girls' access to education, ending child marriage, and early childhood education.

Today, we proudly celebrate the fact that Firelight is a multi-donor public charity fund which has helped community-based organizations to support millions of children, families, and communities by raising funds from foundations, philanthropists, and individual donors.

Thank you to all those who have been and continue to be a part of this incredible journey: past and present staff, board of directors, advisory council members, donors, grantee partners, family, and friends. None of this would have been possible without you. It's been a blessing to do work that I'm passionate about alongside so many wonderful people who share a vision for community-driven change for children.

Firelight remains close to my heart and we retire from the board knowing that Firelight's mission and work continue to grow from strength to strength and as Founders, we could wish for nothing better. In the coming year, I look forward to remaining a resource to the Firelight team and to joining others in sharing reflections on twenty years of Firelight!

With many thanks, Kerry Olson

Copyright © 2019 Firelight Foundation, All rights reserved.

This newsletter is for friends of Firelight.
  1. Burundi
  2. Ethiopia
  3. Kenya
  4. Lesotho
  5. Malawi
  6. Mozambique
  7. Rwanda
  8. South Africa
  9. Tanzania
  10. Uganda
  11. Zambia
  12. Zimbabwe
  1. Cameroon,
  2. Ethiopia,
  3. Kenya,
  4. Lesotho,
  5. Malawi,
  6. Namibia,
  7. Rwanda,
  8. South Africa,
  9. Tanzania,
  10. Uganda,
  11. Zambia,
  12. Zimbabwe;

The text being discussed is available at
https://mailchi.mp/firelightfoundation/kerry-retirement-letter?e=11d945b318
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