FIRELIGHT FOUND ATION

This letter is adapted from Jennifer Astone’s remarks delivered on March 20, 2008, at the farewell dinner held in her honor, in Santa Cruz, California.
...............................................................................
Just over eight years ago, Kerry Olson and Dave Katz made a generous decision to set up a foundation for disadvantaged
children. While most small, new foundations in the US focused on domestic issues, Kerry and Dave made the bold choice to
focus on children affected by AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa by making small grants to communities.
In October 2000, I found myself sitting around a kitchen table with Kerry, Natasha Martin, Tammy Moody, and Suzi Peel
at Firelight’s first Advisory Board meeting. We drank tea, talked for two days, and made 23 grants totaling US$370,000.
I remember our excitement at the potential of these small grants to enhance the work of community-based groups serving
children and their families.
Little did we know at the time how seminal that meeting was. Many other meetings followed, the organization grew and
evolved, and in the next eight years, Firelight awarded more than 700 grants totaling more than US$8.6 million dollars to
community-led efforts. Donors came to recognize the crucial role of communities in supporting children affected by AIDS.
As I look back over seven amazing years at Firelight, I am struck by a few insights and lessons from the past, as well as some
thoughts about the future.
Effective grants are about more than money. At the beginning, we were focused on the details of how to write an award
letter, evaluate an organization’s legal status, and transfer funds to a grantee. Yet, from the grantees’ perspectives, it was our
encouragement, e-mails, and site visits that made the grants truly effective. In response, we instituted networking meetings for
grantees as part of our regular site visits, and later, organized technical assistance workshops and exchange visits to enhance
grantee learning and information-sharing.
I will never forget Odette Mukansoro’s (Rwanda) response, when asked what made the biggest difference to children: “We
provide children with a place to play and counseling, but what they need most is love. No dollars can ever buy that. Our
volunteers genuinely love and care for the children—that is the best thing about this organization.”
Individuals working together can support community initiatives.Firelight reached out and responded to hundreds of people
who wanted to make a difference by investing in community-led solutions. In so doing, we managed to mobilize a community of
individuals who brought their passion, expertise, and resources to the issues faced by children and families affected by HIV/AIDS.
Staff, board members, donors, friends, volunteers, interns, African-based organizations, consultants, advisors, colleagues, and granteepartners
have all contributed to building the network, resources, and capacity that make Firelight the driving force that it is today.
Communities and their leaders are doing extraordinary things. Over the years, I have had the privilege of meeting
and spending time with some of the most dynamic and unsung heroes and heroines of the AIDS movement. Their creativity,
sacrifices, and courage inspired and pushed me to see that Firelight could do more. One key to these leaders’ success was
their ability to listen to their community members, both young and old. They listened and developed programs that were based
on local ideas, innovations, and efforts.