Governance

How decisions are made. How money moves. How we stay accountable to the communities we serve.

How we work

We are a small foundation. Our governance reflects that.

We do not invent layers of bureaucracy to perform credibility. Instead, we focus on three things: clear roles, independent checks, and public reporting.

Every decision over a defined threshold passes through a documented review. Every dollar moves through a regulated payment processor and a tracked accounting ledger. Every quarter, we publish what came in, what went out, and what it paid for.

Our structure

The foundation operates with three governance layers, each with a defined role.

Founder & President

Sets strategic direction, signs off on programs and partnerships, represents the foundation publicly, and is accountable to the Advisory Council and to donors.

Advisory Council

Provides independent input on programs, funding decisions above threshold, and risk management. Council members serve in an advisory capacity and do not receive compensation from the foundation.

Program Partners

Community-based organizations who deliver our work in the field. They are selected through a documented diligence process, sign written grant agreements, and report against agreed milestones before subsequent disbursements.

We do not currently maintain a paid executive team. Operations are run lean, with external specialists engaged on a contract basis where their expertise is needed.

How money is overseen

Bank and treasury. All foundation funds sit in regulated banking and payments infrastructure. We do not hold cryptocurrency or speculative assets.

Payment processing. Donations are processed by Stripe and Donorbox, both PCI-compliant providers. The foundation never sees or stores donor card details.

Accounting. Every transaction is recorded in our accounting ledger and reconciled monthly against bank and processor statements.

Management accounts. We publish unaudited management accounts on our Transparency page at the close of each half year. These show exactly how funds were received and spent, with category-level breakdowns.

Audit. Our first full-year financial statements (FY 2026) will be reviewed by an independent auditor and published in Q1 2027. The audit relationship is being established through a competitive selection process.

Related-party policy

We hold ourselves to a clear standard on conflicts of interest:

• No payments are made to family members of the Founder, Advisory Council, or program decision-makers, except where a formal written waiver is documented and the conflict is disclosed in our public reporting.
• Any potential conflict is disclosed before the relevant decision is made, not after.
• Vendor selection above a defined threshold requires at least two competing quotes and a documented rationale.
• We do not lend money to insiders, related parties, or affiliated organizations.

If a related-party transaction occurs in any reporting period, it will appear in the management accounts for that period with a plain-language explanation.

How we report

We commit to four public artifacts:

1. Half-year management accounts (unaudited, published on the Transparency page).
2. Quarterly impact briefs describing programs, costs, and outcomes.
3. An annual letter from the President covering strategy, lessons learned, and forward priorities.
4. An audited annual report beginning with FY 2026 (publication target: Q1 2027).

If we miss a deadline, we will say so and explain why.

Questions

If you are a current donor, prospective donor, journalist, regulator, or partner organization with a governance question, write to [email protected] and we will respond within five working days.

For specific concerns about misuse of funds, fraud, or ethical misconduct, please mark your message “GOVERNANCE — CONFIDENTIAL” in the subject line. These are reviewed directly and confidentially.