One World’s succession planning trainings hit home for St. Vincent de Paul Community Development Organization (St. Vincent). The organization realized it needed to plan now for a future beyond its visionary founding leader, Lucy Kayiwa (pictured).

For 23 years, Lucy has led St. Vincent in providing a nursery school, rescue center, and scholarships for children in Kibera, Kenya, one of Africa’s largest informal settlements.

While all organizations must grapple with succession planning, very few get support or training help them navigate this important and often existential issue. This is especially true for small grassroots organizations, such as St Vincent. One World fills this gap in philanthropic support.

To help St. Vincent prepare for a successful future, One World awarded them a two-year Sustainability Grant to work with a local consultant to operationalize learnings from One World’s succession planning training series. St. Vincent is also using grant funds to train staff to take on operational tasks historically handled by members of the organization’s volunteer board of directors.  This will position the organization to build the organizational staff expertise required for a long-lasting, impactful future.

With One World’s support, small, but mighty grassroots organizations such as St. Vincent are taking the steps necessary to be there for their communities long term. And children in a community affected by extreme poverty will receive shelter, early childhood education and help with primary school fees for many years to come.

December 2023