The Agency Fund

🚀Know a global leader in mental health research? One of our incredible grantees, Shamiri Institute, is hiring! Shamiri Institute have already run numerous RCTS and are bringing their research capabilities to the next level through The Shamiri Lab. They are seeking a visionary leader to head the lab and guide groundbreaking work in mental health interventions and scalable care processes. 🔗 Learn more here: https://shorturl.at/3eZau If you know someone who fits the bill, don’t forget to tag them in the comments 👇 #MentalHealth #Research #Hiring #JobOpportunity

🗺️ Stories are possible worlds. Nya Mona M. from Shujaaz Inc talks about how relatable stories in the media can help people imagine possible futures, open up new meanings, and find purpose.

🔍 The legacy of Albert Bandura In our latest blog, Zezhen Wu, PhD, Behavioral Scientist at The Agency Fund, examines how social cognitive theory and “wise interventions” can equip students with the tools to overcome difficulties in a classroom. By focusing on students' sense of belonging, understanding, and self-worth, this approach encourages educators to move beyond conventional support strategies. 🔗 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/giFyZQjQ #BehavioralScience #Psychology #Education

🔎 Does career guidance impact students’ future success? New evidence on this below: In the mid-2000s in New Brunswick, a Canadian non-profit ran a randomized control trial with over 4,000 high school students. These students, primarily from lower-income families, were assigned to one of three groups: a career guidance program, financial aid, or a combination of both. Years later, Laëtitia Renée analyzed the long-term impacts. She found that career guidance workshops, delivered over three years, led to a 10 percentage point increase in four-year college enrollment among low-income students, a 50% rise from the baseline. The financial aid alone had a smaller impact, raising four-year and community college enrollment by 5 percentage points each but without significant income benefits in adulthood. In contrast, the guidance intervention increased participants’ adult income by about CA$2,700 annually by ages 27-29. Check out the paper here:  https://lnkd.in/gDRM-p_5 (paywalled) or  https://lnkd.in/gTc6kkpK (author’s site)   If you know someone who would find this useful, don’t forget to tag them below⬇️

Introducing our Strategy Fellows - Siddharth Jain Siddarth describes agency as “the power to make choices both in the mundane and in life-defining decisions.” As a summer fellow, he’s been focused on the life-defining side of things, researching the part that coaching components play in ultra poor poverty graduation programmes. He’s also been exploring how to create an accelerator ecosystem of nonprofits on the principles of collaboration and open sharing Currently studying international development at the @Harvard Kennedy School, Siddarth was previously a Senior Research Associate at Inclusion Economics India Centre and EPoD India. His work has focused on policy research in gender, governance, technology and education. After graduation, he’s interested in scaling evidence-based solutions in philanthropy or collaborative platforms that can amplify social sector impact. Share any questions for Siddarth in the comments below ⬇️

🚀Funding opportunity: Last week to apply for Fast Forward’s Startup Accelerator 2025 Are you a tech or AI-powered nonprofit founder on a mission to change the world? Then this one’s for you. Fast Forward’s Startup Accelerator program is specifically tailored for builders dedicated to tackling global challenges — from health and education inequities to poverty and climate change. What’s in it for you? 👉Coaching- Get mentorship from industry leaders in tech and social impact sectors 👉Community: Immerse yourself in a dynamic network of founders who have been in your shoes and join their network of 100+ alumni. 👉Capital: Receiver $25K grant and learn fundraising techniques, specifically for tech nonprofits. Deadline: Monday, Sep 9, 2024 🔗Apply here: ffwd.org/accelerator If you know any organizations that fit the bill, don’t forget to tag them in the comments.👇

💡How do scientific theories become practical tools that improve people's lives? This path is familiar in natural sciences but less so in social sciences. In our latest post, Zezhen Wu, PhD, Behavioral Scientist at The Agency Fund, shows how the theory of personal agency, based on Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory, provided a foundation for designing evidence-based “wise interventions,” such as growth mindset, aimed at meeting people's psychological needs. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dJgbsZAY #Agency #WiseInterventions #BehavioralScience #Psychology #EvidenceBased

Large language models are transforming service delivery, but is only available in a very small number languages. That’s why Nairobi-based Jacaranda Health has developed UlizaLlama, a revolutionary suite of large language models tailored specifically for African languages. For the first time, speakers of Swahili, Hausa, Yoruba, Xhosa, Zulu, and English can engage with cutting-edge AI in their native tongues, thanks to Jacaranda's innovation. These models, fine-tuned from LLama3, represent a monumental step in bridging the language gap and democratizing access to AI technology across the continent. We’re incredibly proud to have Jacaranda Health as one of our grantees. https://lnkd.in/gGS8rYwd

Introducing our Summer Fellows - Shelby Wailes Twenty years into the empirical revolution in development economics, we now have hundreds of studies. To convert the science into actionable insights, we need technical advisors who can find the "so what" across bodies of evidence. That's what our incredible Strategy Fellow Shelby Wailes has been doing this summer. To Shelby, agency means “being empowered to make decisions about one's life, community, and the broader societies to which one belongs.” At The Agency Fund, she’s been developing a policy report for the on cash plus programs for agricultural households, by consolidating impact evaluations of these programs and analyzing how their design and implementation affect desired outcomes. Currently studying for an MPA at the @Harvard Kennedy School and an MBA at the The Wharton School of Business, Shelby brings lots of corporate NGO and government experience. She previously worked in public and social sector management consultancy for McKinsey & Company, worked for the Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone, and for the NGO Financing Alliance for Health in Nairobi. After graduation, she hopes to leverage all this experience and continue her work in international development, focusing on the intersection between poverty and gender. Share any questions for Shelby in the comments below ⬇️

🌟 Grantee Spotlight: Turn.io recently hosted an inaugural Chat for GenAI Accelerator Demo Day with over 160 attendees. The event featured ten trailblazing organizations that have developed novel chat solutions to advance global education, health, and economic mobility. Since May 2024, a diverse group of non-profits has received support from expert mentors and accessed technical resources from OpenAI and Turn.io to leverage chat for social impact: 💡 Acceso (El Salvador) – Connecting smallholder farmers to markets. 💡 Angaza Elimu (Kenya) – Empowering African youth through skill-based learning. 💡 Aquí Estoy Chat (Argentina) – Offering chat-based emotional support. 💡 Associação Nova Escola (Brazil) – Supporting public education teachers. 💡 Educate Girls (India) – Mobilizing communities for girls' education. 💡 I-Stem (India) – Enhancing access for blind and low-vision communities. 💡 Nivi, Inc. (Nigeria) – Enabling scalable health promotion. 💡 Pinky Promise (India) – AI clinic for women's health. 💡 Quipu (Colombia) – Providing working capital loans to informal businesses. 💡 Yoco & Harvard Business School (South Africa) – Empowering small business entrepreneurs. Try out their different chat solutions and watch the full recording here: https://lnkd.in/dFZsdM_Z