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United Nations Refugee Agency's Refugee-Led Innovation Fund Winner

Why We Do This

Our story starts with Malish James, a South Sudanese refugee in Uganda's Bidibidi Refugee Settlement. Exploring the challenges in Bidibidi with Malish and his community, we discovered a problem we wanted to solve: international organizations are cutting food rations, and refugees struggle to afford other essential items like clothes for their children, so they often sell or exchange the little food aid they receive.


Globally, 1.4 billion adults lack banking services, making them ineligible for conventional loans. Almost half of these people worldwide live in Sub-Saharan Africa, concentrated in conflict-affected and rural areas where poverty is the hardest to eradicate.

Our journey

To address aspiring unbanked entrepreneurs, we introduced a groundbreaking new business model: the first-ever pay-it-forward community microloan, merging charity and microfinance. With Malish as our co-founder, we identified potential entrepreneurs, conducted a co-created pilot, and established our first community loan groups in Bidibidi. Since starting in 2022, we have developed our digital platform to secure donations from the Global North, which are then transformed into microloans in the Global South. As businesses thrive, loans are paid forward to new entrepreneurs in the same community, creating a sustainable ripple effect of new initiatives and independent local financial structures.

What sets us apart

Bridging Gaps mitigates recipient indebtedness by providing interest-free microloans and allowing for business restarts in crises. Our focus on "shifting the power" empowers communities, establishing their financial structures and fostering self-sufficiency through the pay-it-forward model.

 

We foster close relationships with our loan recipients through entrepreneurship training, business incubation, coaching, and long-term mentorship. The strong support of local partner organizations further increases our success rate due to existing relationships and trust within the local communities.

These are our

Core Values

Innovation

At Bridging Gaps, we take immense pride in our innovative and unique approach, cherishing it's adaptability that allows us the freedom for boundless creativity.

Trust

We promote trust through transparency towards all our partners and by maintaining personal relationships.

Optimism

As an entrepreneur from the world's poorest communities, optimism is vital. That’s why it's a key element at Bridging Gaps, where doing good is easy and fun.

Shifting the Power

Co-founded and co-led with the initial refugee community, Bridging Gaps prioritizes inclusive decision-making and community-led projects for empowering and sustaining supported communities.

Connection

We build connections between the Global North and the Global South, striving to nurture enduring relationships for everyone involved.

Compassion

In our diverse team, we prioritize care and compassion for each other, our partners, and microloan recipients, fostering an inclusive and respectful environment.

Our Team

Janina Peter

Founder and CEO

🇩🇪 Germany

Malish James

Co-Founder & Chief Impact Officer (CIO)

🇺🇬 🇸🇸  Uganda / South Sudan

Chiara Moslow

Strategy & Project Manager

🇺🇸 United States

Bridging Gaps Team - Aida

Aida Letaru

Facilitator

🇺🇬 Uganda

Danielle Marques

Diversity, Inclusion & Localization Advisor

🇧🇷 Brazil

Bridging Gaps Team - Andreas

Andreas Kästner

Legal, tax, finance advisor (Germany)

🇩🇪 Germany

Art Director & Brand Designer

🇩🇪 Germany

Anne Thürnau

Art Director & Illustrator

🇩🇪 Germany

Maria Ida Palmieri

Marketing & Growth Advisor

🇮🇹 Italy

Anousha Khosravi

Google Ads & Marketing

🇮🇷 Iran

Kseniia Shestopalova

Operations Manager

🇷🇺 Russia

CSR Partnerships

🇮🇩 Indonesia

Lili.webp

Lili Roza Tihanyi

Community Manager

🇭🇺 Hungary

Divya.webp

Divya Prem

Finance Co-Lead

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

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Marco Antonio Iturri

Finance Co-Lead

🇧🇴 Bolivia

Adnan.webp

Adnan Aliasghar

Impact Measurement

🇵🇰 Pakistan

Emmanuel.webp

Emmanuel Wanyoike

Accounting

🇰🇪 Kenya

Mustapha Photo.webp

Mustapha Minteh

Reporting & Automations

🇬🇲 The Gambia

ruby.webp

Rubikha Kamalarajah

Reporting & Automations

🇮🇹 Italy

doga.webp

Doga Bircan

Designer

🇹🇷 Türkiye

Sidney.jpg

Sidney Carvalho

NGO Partnerships Manager

🇮🇳 India

Nashita.webp

Nashita Hussain

Community & Partnerships Manager

🇮🇳 India

Yesha.webp

Yesha Oza

Fundraising, Impact Reporting & Digitization

🇮🇳 India

Aishah.webp

Aishah Natumbwe

Grant Writer

🇺🇬 Uganda

Alex.webp

Alexander Wright

Fundraising & Grant Manager

🇦🇺 Australia

Gremary.webp

Gremary Aza

CSR Partnerships

🇵🇪 Peru

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Steeve Wilson

CSR Partnerships

🇮🇳 India

Ambassadors

Ambassadors

Zachery.webp

Zachery Onyango

Regional Lead Uganda

🇺🇬 Uganda

Bridging Gaps Team - Charlene

Charlene Mwangi

Ambassador

🇰🇪 Kenya

Katharina Korte

Ambassador

🇩🇪 Germany

Quatama Moore.webp

Quatama Moore

Regional Lead Subsahara Africa

🇱🇷 Liberia

Raghda_Ali.webp

Raghda Ali

Regional Co-Lead MENA

🇸🇩 Sudan

Sara Hamrani.webp

Sara Hamrani

Regional Co-Lead MENA

🇲🇦 Morocco

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Shayan Tupsee

Climate Lead

🇲🇺 Mauritius

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Regional Co-Lead Asia

🇧🇷 Brazil

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Regional Co-Lead Asia

🇵🇰 Pakistan

Geeta_Dangol.webp

Geeta Dangol

Regional Co-Lead Asia

🇳🇵Nepal

Open Positions

Legal Operations

Volunteer position (unpaid)

🇩🇪 Germany

  • You have a background in law, administration or a related field? 
We are looking for someone to navigate us through the German legal jungle, support our ongoing processes, annual administrative and legal requirements, support internal processes like contracts with partners or volunteers, support design and structure of other legal documents, an HR handbook, donation receipts, and other processes as needed.
     
  • Opportunity to grow into the role of COO based on successful completion of the first assignment.
     
  • Ideally you will bring some experience within the German non-profit sector.
     
  • Volunteer 5-10 hours per week

Fundraising

Volunteer position (unpaid)

🌍​ Global

  • We are looking for someone to support us in finding and applying for grants, identifying and managing high level individual donors and company donors, and supporting our overall fundraising strategy.
     
  • Volunteer 5-10 hours per week

Finance Manager

Volunteer position (unpaid)

🌍​ Global

  • We are looking for someone to join us as a Financial Manager, plan and carry out our annual budget, manage our team of fundraisers and partnerships managers, and support in the creation of budgets for grants and funders.
     
  • Opportunity to grow into the role of CFO based on successful completion of the first assignment.
     
  • Volunteer 10-15 hours per week

Our Vision for
the Future

We want to see a world in which everyone has the means to create the life they dream of.

 

Beyond immediate economic benefits, our approach ensures long-term livelihoods. Each business, following our social business approach, contributes to the community's well-being. This way, we not only create new local financial structures but also empower the next generation of social entrepreneurs.

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