Mulago Foundation

Founded in 1993 by investment banker and philanthropist Henry Arnhold, the foundation was originally envisioned by his brother Rainer Arnhold, who died before it could be officially established. ¹ In 2015, the Mulago Foundation reported an $80 million grant to the Arnhold Foundation, which was also established by Henry Arnhold. ²

The Mugalo foundation is entirely funded by the wealth of the Arnhold family. ²

Background

The Arnhold brothers, Henry and Rainer were born respectively in 1921 and 1924 to a Jewish banking family from Dresden, Germany. During World War II, Henry was taken by the Nazis while he was in occupied Norway, but he escaped into Sweden and was able from there to journey to the United States. ¹ Rainer had moved to Switzerland in 1937 where he first studied, before escaping to Portugal and then to Brazil before entering the U.S. in 1941. ¹ Both Arnhold brothers joined the U.S. Army in 1943 during WWII and obtained U.S. citizenship. ¹

In New York, the Arnolds recreated their bank, Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder, which had been seized by the Nazis.³ Henry later in 1960 became chairman of that bank, and from 1963 to 1973, he helped start the financial career of George Soros, the well-known billionaire known for funding left-of-center political advocacy institutions and causes. ⁴ Henry over time built a reputation as a philanthropist with interests in the arts, education and the environment. ⁴

Arnold retired as the bank’s chairman in 2015, and he died at the age of 96 in August 2018. ³

Meanwhile, Rainer had setup a medical practice in the San Francisco area but also engaged in public health advocacy, travelling around the world. ¹ Rainer spent time primarily in the less-developed countries of South America and Africa.¹

The foundation is named in his honor and specifically for the healthcare-related work he did in the Mulago neighborhoods of Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Rainer later went abroad in Bolivia, where he died in a hiking accident in 1993. ¹

Purpose

Henry Arnhold upon his brother’s passing, established the Mulago Foundation to promote the vision of Rainer in the areas and locations that he had worked in. ¹

The foundation’s purpose was to fund “high-performance” groups that are “best able to create change” concerning poverty in the underdeveloped countries of South America, Africa, and Asia.⁵

The Mulago Foundation provides “unrestricted funds” to non-profit and for-profit startup groups that support its broader goals of global poverty alleviation in a number of sectors, including agriculture, energy, healthcare and primary education. ⁵ The foundation focuses on finding so-called “social entrepreneurs” that are making an impact through proven solutions but are in their early stages of development as organizations. ⁶

The Mulago Foundation openly states that it is “obsessed” with measuring impact, which is their most important criteria for choosing who to fund: “We only invest in organizations that measure impact.” ⁷ Also, they want groups that offer them solutions that can be “easily replicated,” that are “designed for scale” and are “cheap enough.” ⁷

Programs

The Mulago Foundation’s portfolio includes six major programs.

The Livelihood Program provides funds to organizations that deal with supporting impoverished smallholder farmers who work in the field of agriculture.

This program has included the global One Acre Fund since 2007, in which it has invested over $3.2 million. ⁸ Also, $3.2 million were given to global Proximity Designs since 2007. ⁹ Since 2013, Mulago has invested $1.3 million into the BOMA Project which focuses on Africa. ¹⁰ In addition, $2.9 million was given to Vision Spring since 2007 which operates globally. ¹¹ Root Capital received $2.3 million since 2010, which works specifically in Africa and South America. ¹²

The Health Program supports 25 organizations that work to provide primary healthcare globally. Mulago has funded Living Goods, which since 2007 has received $2.95 million for its global operations.¹³ Mothers2Mothers has received $2.1 million since 2010 for its work in Africa as well. ¹⁴ Last Mile Health has received $2.2. million since 2012.¹⁵ Development Media International since 2013 got $1.35 million. ¹⁶

The Conservation Program is oriented towards environmental conservation and includes 5 organizations, including COMACO which has received since 2008, $2.95 million for its work in Africa, ¹⁷ and  Blue Ventures, which has received $1.15 million since 2012.¹⁸

The Education Program has 4 organizations that focus on primary education, among them is a $2.1 million investment in Educate Girls, which works to mobilize communities to encourage female inclusion in local education efforts in India and Asia, since 2013. ¹⁹ Also, Educate! has received $450,000 since 2015 to focus on youth education in Africa.²⁰

The Energy Program includes only 2 organizations focused on electrification; Zola has received $300,000 equity since 2012 for its work in Africa²¹ while Inyenyeri has been given $800,000 in loans since 2013.²²

The Amplifiers Program focuses on solutions to make organizations more effective, and includes only 3 organizations; one of which is Nexleaf Analytics which has received $1.1 million since 2013 for its global operations.²³

People

The foundation also runs a Fellowship Program, created by its current managing director, Kevin Starr who was mentored by Rainer Arnhold prior to his passing. ²⁴

The Fellowship Program is designed to recruit young professionals and/or scholars who are committed to carrying out the ideals of the foundation.

The Rainer Arnhold Fellowship was founded in 2003 focuses on “scalable solutions to poverty” ²⁵ whereas the Henry Arnhold Fellowship founded in 2016, focuses more on environmentalist project support.²⁶