Welcome to World Connect's 2022 Annual Benefit

World Connect's grassroots grantmaking in Malawi began with a $1.4M grant from USAID in 2018. Over the past five years with an investment of $2M, World Connect has invested in 235 locally designed and led projects to improve health, education, and economic opportunity for Malawians. Our results in Malawi track to our global performance: 98% of funded projects in Malawi have achieved their intended goals, despite 70% being led by grantees who have never led a grant-funded initiative before. 30 enterprises have been launched that created 5,000 jobs, 13 health centers have been built or renovated that now service 10,764 people, and 70 school settings have been improved to the benefit of 47,690 students. 85% of the initiatives we have invested are sustaining at 2+. years out from grantmaking. In 2021, Malawi Connect became a locally incorporated NGO and is now governed and led by a Malawian Board and staff. Not only are the grants World Connect makes in Malawi locally-led, but the grantmaking and grant management is now entirely locally-led. One area where our work in Malawi stands out as a result of the dedicated local leadership of our team in Malawi is in the area of community partnership and co-investment. World Connect requires that 10% of every grant we make be matched in cash by communities. Globally, this figure winds up being higher: 16%. In Malawi, this figure is 94% -- communities we are investing in in Malawi are nearly matching our investment dollar for dollar. This tells us that not only is our model of grassroots investing effective in getting vital development work done, it is engaging communities, which is critical to success and sustainability.