Special edition: The real funding gap isn't money
Devex Podcasts

Special edition: The real funding gap isn't money

B2Upper-intermediateSeptember 15, 202632 min

In this special episode of the This Week in Global Development podcast, sponsored by Rippleworks, Devex Senior Editor for Special Coverage Catherine Cheney sits down with Doug Galen, CEO of Rippleworks, and Azeez Gupta, co-founder of Rocket Learning, to reimagine how philanthropy thinks about scale. As foreign aid budgets shrink, most conversations stop at the number cut. This one asks a different question: What if the real constraint isn’t how much capital is available, but what that capital is allowed to pay for? Unpacking Rocket Learning’s growth through sustained operational support, the conversation makes the case that flexible, foun...

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And usually it means there simply isn't enough money, especially now.

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There's a phrase thrown around constantly in global development, the funding gap. And usually it means there simply isn't enough money, especially now. Of course, we all know that aid budgets are shrinking, philanthropic dollars are stretched, organizations are being asked to do more with less.

0:18

But in some cases, the problem isn't just how much money is available, but actually what organizations are allowed to do with that money. So for years, RippleWorks has worked alongside high-impact social ventures around the world backing entrepreneurs with flexible funding and practical hands-on operational support.

0:39

And their model is rooted in long-term partnership, trust, and deep investment in leaders who are closest to the challenges they're working to address. I'm Katherine Cheney, Senior Editor for Special Coverage at DevEx. And in this episode of This Week in Global Development, DevEx and RippleWorks will

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