FIRELIGHT FOUND ATION

Also important to Johnson & Johnson is Firelight’s emphasis on strengthening community-based organizations. “In our experience,
community-based organizations have unique insight into local needs and the solutions that will work,” she says.
Johnson & Johnson emphasizes working through partnerships with community-based organizations because the company recognizes
that local organizations are critical to addressing the root causes of problems and creating sustainable change over the long term. The
company has partnered with hundreds of local organizations on philanthropic programs.
“From our perspective, the Firelight Foundation is effectively supporting orphans and vulnerable children, and doing it in a community
context,” says Dr. Gupta.
Johnson & Johnson funds also supported Firelight’s work to strengthen grassroots organizations. Increasingly, international donors
require evidence of performance. With Firelight’s help, small grassroots organizations are learning efficient ways to evaluate their efforts
and demonstrate the impact they are making, in order to refine their work and expand it by attracting additional funding.
“Firelight’s emphasis on monitoring, evaluation, and technical assistance distinguishes it from a lot of other organizations,” Dr. Gupta
notes, calling Firelight’s work building the capacity of small, grassroots organizations a “model” strategy.
And it is Firelight’s long-term investment in and commitment to community-based organizations that is crucial to “making a difference in
the vast subcontinent of Africa—in both urban and rural communities—given the number of orphans and vulnerable children, and the
need for food, shelter, health care, and access to education,” she says.