Through the Weaving Resilience work, Humentum provided training to senior level management from a variety of organizations on topics around finance and sustainability, which CivSource attended.
“It was great to be part of a community of other leaders who were learning,” said Jackie. “The more I attended the sessions, the more I learned and that triggered us to strengthen our own systems.”
Jackie worked with Shila Nhemi, a Technical Director with Humentum, to request a diagnostic, which led to a series of related work, from training to coaching.
The Humentum team partnered with CivSource to:
- Provide an independent, evidence-based review of existing financial systems
- Identify strengths, risks, and areas requiring strengthening or alignment
- Enhance coherence between executive leadership, finance functions, and board oversight
- Develop a practical roadmap for strengthening long-term financial sustainability
- Strengthen strategic financial leadership capacity within the organization
The diagnostic results highlighted opportunities for growth and outlined actionable steps for improvement. The leaders then used data and tools from the report to hold themselves accountable for making progress.
“In fact, I just looked at our improvement plan,” said Jackie. “I check it every quarter, going through it face-to-face with our finance leader. It gives us a good roadmap, internally and to present to the board, for them to keep us accountable for how we’re managing and improving our financing and policies.”
Beyond access to expertise, as part of the Weaving Resilience East Africa Hub, the team at CivSource was able to learn together with colleagues. “Those conversations helped us in terms of compliance, and also with thinking about a path toward an endowment.”
But the gains go further than financial sustainability, and a network of peers.
“Through this process, we’ve been freed to be able to think about what resilience looks like in this moment,” said Jackie. “Last year might have been different; next year will be. What does it mean to increase the chorus of voices thinking about resilience, creating that community, thinking on your feet. It’s become more central to how we think and plan.”
Moving from assumptions to answers
Uzima’s Program Goal: To strengthen the organization’s operational backbone through step-by-step consultancy guidance, get access to practical tools, and be trained on how to build strong systems and diversify funding streams.
Uzima South Africa provides holistic care to the Ezimbuzini community through a model of immediate relief and long-term empowerment. By integrating four pillars from daily nutritional security and early childhood development to essential healthcare access and professional psychosocial support, they ensure that children and vulnerable adults receive the specific, layered resources they need to thrive.
Through Weaving Resilience, Uzima worked with Humentum on different capacities including financial management, sustainability, and standardizing policies delivered through online training, consulting, and curated tools and templates.
“We found the strategic planning, the annual budgeting to be most helpful,” said Gershom Kabaso Jr, the national coordinator. “Financial sustainability (like having an income reserve and so forth), was also very helpful, and lastly, the financial matrix, looking at risks and remedies.”
We’ve all experienced going through a training, getting excited, but then falling back into our old systems because they’re more familiar to us. Did anything change at Uzima after the coaching and training?
We’ve all experienced going through a training, getting excited, but then falling back into our old systems because they’re more familiar to us. Did anything change at Uzima after the coaching and training?
“We now do many things differently,” said Gershom.
