EAPA Awards – Giving.Africa – The East Africa Philanthropy Network

About EAPA Awards

The East Africa Philanthropy Awards were established as a regional platform to recognise and celebrate philanthropy across East Africa. Hosted by the East Africa Philanthropy Network, the awards honour individuals and organisations whose giving and leadership have contributed to social good, while drawing on values of selflessness, goodwill, and generosity. The awards have also historically recognised a wide range of philanthropic expressions, including youth, corporate, community, and faith-based philanthropy.

That foundation remains important. Yet the context in which philanthropy operates has shifted significantly. Across the region and beyond, philanthropy is working through declining trust, changing capital flows, pressure for localisation, the need for stronger institutional resilience, and growing recognition that lasting change depends not only on projects, but also on systems, infrastructure, collaboration, and locally rooted leadership.

The 2026 East Africa Philanthropy Awards therefore build on the original spirit of the awards while responding to the present moment. This edition is intended to celebrate philanthropic action and, at the same time, spotlight the kinds of leadership, institutions, and practices that East Africa needs now: philanthropy that builds trust, mobilises domestic resources, strengthens institutions, supports local leadership, advances collaboration, and contributes to resilient systems for the future.

Role of the Awards in The Ecosystem

The East Africa Philanthropy Awards are more than a recognition platform. They are part of the wider work of shaping and strengthening philanthropy in the region.

The awards elevate actors and initiatives whose work deserves wider visibility. In doing so, they affirm that philanthropy in East Africa is broad and diverse. It includes community giving, youth leadership, faith-based action, family and individual giving, corporate philanthropy, social investment, grassroots solidarity, and institutional philanthropy. By bringing these forms of giving into one regional platform, the awards reinforce a
stronger sense of shared identity across the ecosystem.

The awards also help define what the sector values. What is recognised publicly becomes part of what is encouraged. In this edition, the awards can help signal that East African philanthropy values not only generosity, but also trust, accountability, collaboration, relevance, resilience, and local leadership. This is especially important at a time when the conference agenda is calling for stronger trust architecture, ecosystem infrastructure, collaborative models, innovative finance, and more.