Center for Social Innovation

Published: June 14, 2014 Download  31 minutes,

By a simple twist of fate, Jacob Leif found himself in post-apartheid South Africa, staring at a big paradoxical break in philanthropy - success was measured in numbers instead of long-term impact. While working at a local school, he found time, money, and aid were plentiful, along with supplies of books, computers, and daily lunches for the school children. However, once the nonprofit organization supporting the school left after the funding cycle finished, the school returned right back to where it started. Lief decided to found Ubuntu Education Fund, an organization that supports children in Port Elizabeth, South Africa through an integrated system of medical, health, educational and social services. In this episode of The Social Disruptors, Ned Breslin and Jacob Lief discuss the struggles of funding for long-term sustainable impact within the current philanthropic system of 12-month grant cycles and the power of saying “no” when funding requirements do not meet the outcomes.

Edward D. (Ned) Breslin is the CEO of Water For People, widely considered a force for positive change by challenging status quo approaches to water and sanitation, philanthropy and aid transparency and offering concrete alternatives, and received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2011.

Jacob Lief is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ubuntu Education Fund, a nonprofit organization that takes vulnerable children in the townships of Port Elizabeth, South Africa from cradle to career. In 2009, Lief was selected as an Aspen Institute Global Fellow and, in 2010, he was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader. In 2012, he was asked to join the Clinton Global Initiative Advisory Committee. Later that year, Lief was named one of the world’s 101 Most Innovative Visionaries at the Decide Now Act Summit. He is currently a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania.