Ignite Philanthropy: Inspiring the End to Violence Against Girls and Boys

Based on our Theory of Change, Ignite has embarked on a journey of learning with our partners around :

  1. the structural drivers that most affect violence;

  2. the pressure points that can be acted on to lead to change; and

  3. the strategic opportunities that inform and influence international stakeholders and entities

We do this through trust-based participatory grantmaking, strengthening field-level agency, and partnering with donors and field leaders, while applying learning across our work.

.strengthening for agency

Engaging partners for them to define their own priorities for building greater connectivity, resilience, and sustainability so that their agency increases to effectuate ever greater change.

.resourcing for change

Encouraging grantee partners to be accountable to their base, fostering trust-based relationships that integrate power-sharing approaches and primarily award multi-year core operating support.

.partnering for action

Bringing funders closer to the changemakers on the ground and the impact that matters the most by fostering trust, community, and learning that aligns partners’ priorities with funding strategies.

.learning for impact

Employing an iterative learning agenda across the other work strands, supporting partners in identifying and adapting to their contexts the most powerful drivers of transformative change.

 

Focus Areas and Initiatives 

Ignite Philanthropy has set out two broad focus areas for our efforts: 

Childhood Sexual Violence (CSV): Over the years, we have accumulated a significant body of work in the CSV space and we are now laying the foundations for a new way of working, a way that connects CSV to the wider issues: the structural drivers at play, the context, and intersecting areas. In recent years, a new openness to lived experience-led groups has emerged, with bold leadership by adults who experienced sexual violence as children, but also by youth with more recent experience of sexual violence. 

Exploration of Structural Drivers: Our Theory of Change assumes that violence against children is driven by structural factors, and that only system change can lead to transformative change. Social, economic, political and environmental factors link in different ways in different contexts to enable violence. But bold on-the-ground leaders can break these chains. We aim to convene and create space to proactively explore connections with our partners – targeting the structural drivers that they identify as most critical in and across their contexts – to chart new paths for intersectoral and intergenerational alliances.

Among other programs, Ignite Philanthropy is currently engaged in two key initiatives within these focus areas:

Thrive Together

Thrive Together is a ground-breaking grant-making initiative aimed at supporting organizations led by survivors of childhood sexual violence and their allies.

Sprout

Sprout is a transformative leadership program aimed at nurturing the next generation of system leaders dedicated to children’s well-being and safety.