Panga Sanaa

Panga Sanaa Fellowship is a program hosted at Sarakasi Trust, and co-developed by Masson Associates in partnership with industry experts in social innovation, organisational development and advocacy. The fellowship is supported by GIZ (the German Development Cooperation, Kenya Office) in collaboration with Goethe Institute. Built for action-oriented leaders of creative sector associations in Kenya, the program aims at strengthening the leadership and membership capacities of participating associations.

We are building stronger associations by:

About the Fellowship

What is the definition of associations and leaders?

In the context of ‘Panga Sanaa’ associations include: unions, societies, guilds, community based organizations, public benefit organizations, NGO’s, trusts etc. Leaders include founders, chairpersons, secretary general, chief executive officers (CEOs), directors, treasurers, chief operating officers (COOs), communications managers, product designers, membership officers etc.

Who is behind the Panga Sanaa fellowship?

Panga Sanaa fellowship is a program hosted at Sarakasi Trust, and co-developed in partnership with industry experts in social innovation, organizational development and advocacy. The fellowship is supported by GIZ (the German Development Cooperation, Kenya Office) in collaboration with Goethe Institute.

What informed the development of Panga Sanaa?

Panga Sanaa is inspired by the general desire and persistent struggle observed among creative sector associations that would like to unite and lobby for common goals and shared aspirations, but lack the knowledge, skills and abilities to do so.

Additionally, the Ubunifu Report developed by HIVOS East Africa (released 2015) identified that artists lack awareness of the existence of unions, while fragmentation and disorganization of unions has led to rivalry between unions and duplication of roles by different associations. The report further highlighted that failure to attract membership due to a lack of leadership and management skills in the fledgling organizations as well as services and value for the members.

The findings of Ubunifu report are affirmed by the Heva Fund COVID-19 Survey Report (released April 2020) where 61% of the respondents indicated that they did not belong to any collective representation association relevant to their sector or sub-sector, while 39% of the respondents indicated that they were affiliated with some form of collective representation organizations.

What is Panga Sanaa offering?

Through this program, the leaders will have access to

– Experts, specialists, trainers, mentors, peers & policy makers.

– A well equipped co-working & learning space at the Sarakasi Dome.

– Meeting venues and digital tools for convening members.

– Internet connectivity, phone data and digital tools for virtual engagements.

– Technical support to integrate lessons learnt to their respective organizations.

What is the process of being part of the fellowship?

The following criteria will be applied in selecting who join the program:-

– Does the association support music or fashion or digital arts or a combination?

– Does the association convene other associations or seek to be an umbrella body?

– Is the association currently located in Nairobi?

– Is the association legally registered? Does it have legitimate office bearers?

– Can the association nominate 3 action oriented leaders to join the fellowship?

How can I apply to join the Panga Sanaa fellowship?

If the answer to the questions above is YES, submit your application on behalf of your association and nominate 2 other members to join the program through this link https://bit.ly/3E4tOCu

What does this cohort look like?

We are expecting 3 leaders to be nominated from 10 associations to engage in the project (refer to qn 2 for the definition of leaders) A total of 30 leaders will be selected to join the first cohort of the fellowship. They will sign a commitment to undertake and complete the fellowship.

What is the level of commitment from leaders that join the fellowship?

The fellowship will run over a period of 9 months and will be broken into two parts.

Part 1: Three (3) months intense phase of working with experts and peers to find solutions to common challenges facing associations in Kenya.

Part 2: Six (6) months of technical support to the leaders as they integrate lessons learnt into their respective associations.

What will be expected of the leaders once they join the fellowship?

For the period from February to May 2020, the selected leaders will commit 4 days in a month to work with experts, peers and to engage with policy makers. The fellowship will balance between weekdays and weekends so that it is easier on everyone. From June to October 2022, the leaders will apply the learnings to their organizations and continue to have regular check-ins to receive technical support from the experts.

What areas of development will be addressed under the program?

The program will explore the following areas of development;

Advocacy tools & tactics for policy reform
Campaigning for shared goals & aspirations
Business modeling & sustainability
Essentials of strategic planning
Branding & strategic communications
Good leadership & governance
Value added services for members

What does success look like for Panga Sanaa?

The fellowship will be successful if the first cohort of leaders have:-

Improved leadership knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes
Enhanced skills in mobilizing, organizing, leading and collective bargaining.
Understood the application of policy research to dialogue with government, private sector and civil society.
Developed value added services for their members
Successfully applied the lessons learnt into their respective associations