Last September I joined the Aga Khan Foundation U.S.A. (AKF USA) as the Impact Investing Fellow. Upon receiving confirmation of my acceptance into the first cohort of AKF USA’s Fellowship program, I remember feeling overwhelmingly grateful for the opportunity to join an organization as distinguished as AKF USA, part of a network of agencies that I personally benefited from through my time growing up in Tanzania. I attribute many of my altruistic values and achievements to my long-time involvement, both personal and professional, with the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).
As I approach the end of my time at AKF USA in Washington DC, I have an even stronger appreciation for the magnitude of the work the AKDN does throughout the world. While previous experiences exposed me to a range of social enterprise-related work, including my summer as a marketing intern with Dial 1298 for Ambulance in India, the fellowship has taught me a lot about impact investing. I learned both how impact investing works in sectors such as health, and more broadly, how AKF USA makes its impact investments. AKF USA’s Mission Related Investment (MRI) portfolio aims to mobilize investment capital for high-impact social enterprises within the AKDN, with deals in support of AKDN enterprises and/or beneficiaries. AKF USA’s impact investing team supports efforts to remove barriers that have prevented the impact investing sector from scaling up.
One of the most interesting aspects of my work in this department is how it has influenced my opinion of the potential for market-based solutions to address development challenges. I have learned by assisting with a variety of aspects of the portfolio’s investments, because the deals in the portfolio are at very different stages along the spectrum from research to implementation and monitoring.
One aspect about AKF USA that I value better now is the persistent drive for innovative programs that promote sustainability. This is especially important given the declining trend in official development assistance. I have witnessed a consistent commitment to sustainability in everything we do, even in the way in which deals are structured. These structures involve new approaches in blended finance, such as the Multi-Input Area Development (MIAD) approach. AKF USA makes a thorough evaluation of synergies where they exist, and brings together donor and implementing organizations, both inside and outside of AKDN, toward a shared goal. I will be certain to carry this mindset with me into my next placement and beyond.
Beginning this September, I will start my second phase of the fellowship, joining the Aga Khan Foundation,Tajikistan as the Monitoring and Evaluation Fellow in the Evaluation and Learning Unit, based in Dushanbe. While I have already directly witnessed and been a beneficiary of the AKDN’s health and education work in Tanzania, I am particularly looking forward to spending time in another frontline of development. After the last ten months in Washington, I want to see the contrast between the workings of donors and their corresponding implementing field staff and hopefully gain an appreciation for the opportunities that lie therein.
My experience with my colleagues has enhanced my abiding respect for the work that the AKDN does, and its immensity and reach will never cease to amaze me.
The AKF USA Fellowship Program offers a unique two-year experience combining two consecutive placements: first at AKF USA and then with an overseas AKDN office. The first placement of 11 months is spent in Washington, D.C. with either the Programs, Impact Investing, or Communications team. For the second placement of 12 months, fellows will be matched up with an AKDN agency office in Asia or Africa where they will acquire first-hand knowledge on a range of global development issues and gain invaluable international experience working alongside professionals on program implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
By Farnaz Gulamhussein, Impact Investing Fellow at the Aga Khan Foundation U.S.A.