Charlotte Wagner leads Wagner Foundation, a Cambridge, MA-based foundation working with partners around the world to create healthier communities and a more just, vibrant world. Credit: Wagner Foundation
“Building deep partnerships and placing value on shared learnings along the journey towards systems change drives our approach to giving,” says Charlotte Wagner, a leader in a trust-based model of giving she calls “Accompaniment Philanthropy”. Since 2005, Charlotte and her Foundation have been walking alongside organizations committed to supporting a thriving and equitable society.
“We believe those closest to the problem are best placed to imagine and shape the solutions,” explains Charlotte. “We place trust and authority in our partners, and as we work alongside them, we focus our support where it is needed most.”
Root Capital has been privileged to work, learn, and share in partnership with Charlotte and the Wagner Foundation for 15 years. In fact, the Foundation’s trust-based, first-in capital for the Women in Agriculture Initiative catalyzed what has become one of Root Capital’s main pillars of work.
The Challenge
In the philanthropic sector, many speak about the need for unrestricted and trust-based funding. This type of support creates the opportunity for social sector organizations like Root Capital to fully focus on mission-critical work. However, recent data suggests that it generally accounts for a mere 20% of the philanthropic landscape.
To shift the power dynamics of traditional models of philanthropy, Wagner Foundation takes an accompaniment approach. As Charlotte explains, “It centers on the really important practices of trust-based funding, like multi-year, general operating support, transparency, and simplified reporting, which have been an important evolution, moving the field in the right direction.”
Charlotte was first introduced to the idea of accompaniment in the global health context, through Dr. Paul Farmer and how his organization Partners In Health described the way in which they worked with their patients. She was inspired to see how she could apply accompaniment in grantmaking. As Charlotte describes, “[This model] centers on the importance of building trust with our partners through many of the practices previously mentioned and standing shoulder to shoulder.”
She continues, “It recognizes the complexity of the challenges our partners are addressing and believes that we as funders should have a sense of mutual accountability in the impact and outcomes of the work.”
Charlotte sees the funding as only the beginning of an accompaniment approach. “Our partners appreciate that we can be a thought partner or a sounding board to navigate challenges together, that we can help amplify their stories and advocate for their work, and that we can serve as a connection to the wider philanthropic network.”
When selecting partner organizations, she says, “We invest in creative leaders working to build vibrant and robust communities… leaders who are considering the bigger picture.”
The Foundation also looks for organizations that put communities at the center of their work. As Charlotte explains, “We want to understand how they engage with the communities they serve, and that community voice/perspective is guiding the work.”
And on top of this, they invest in organizations that balance immediate needs with a long-term, root-cause approach. As Charlotte notes, “Systems change doesn’t happen overnight.”
Charlotte Wagner (fifth from left) visits Root Capital client Musasa in Rwanda. Wagner Foundation funding has supported several locally-led solutions to promote greater women’s inclusion and benefits through the cooperative. Credit: Root Capital
Our Collaboration
When Charlotte met Root Capital’s founder, Willy Foote, she was inspired by his leadership and the organization’s innovative model in agriculture communities.
“I was particularly interested in understanding how Root Capital was supporting women farmers,” she said. “Women play such a critical role in their communities and within their families in addition to serving as the backbone of agricultural systems.”
From here, ideas were exchanged and a vision solidified. With Wagner Foundation’s support, Root Capital launched its Women in Agriculture Initiative in 2012.
The Impact
Together for more than 10 years, we have been successfully testing and creating gender-inclusive solutions for women working in agriculture in some of the hardest to reach and most vulnerable communities. Since 2020, with Wagner Foundation support, Root Capital provided business training to more than 1,700 women and improved the livelihoods of over 600,000 women farmers.
“Our partnership exemplifies the accompaniment approach,” says Charlotte. “There is a true sense of partnership and mutual accountability.” She adds, “Root Capital has allowed us to learn alongside them and those learnings have been instrumental in shaping our work in many areas of our funding.”