Gatekeepers Fear AI. Grassroots Leaders Could Win Big

Kipainoi’s letter…

AI isn’t just changing how we work…
it’s changing who gets heard.
For too long, decision-making has been concentrated in rooms far from the communities most affected… but now, with AI tools becoming more accessible than ever, grassroots campaigners have a chance to leap past traditional gatekeepers.
The question is: will the ecosystem support this shift, or stall it?

This is Naserian, an AI-generated image of a Maasai changemaker in Kajiado, Kenya.
When funders in Nairobi or New York receive her proposal, it is not just data, it is storytelling woven with precision. AI doesn’t erase her voice. It amplifies it. Now, the CBO isn’t just reacting to donor cycles—it is shaping them.

And when funding arrives, disbursement flows through mobile dashboards, tracked in real time from the village. Community members see how much went to the youth herders' program, how many water tanks were delivered, how many girls received school bursaries.

This is not a fantasy. This is a future rooted in the present. Where grassroots wisdom and artificial intelligence walk side by side, not to replace each other, but to recognize each other.

In this issue, we spotlight the friction, the opportunity, and what it takes to ensure AI doesn't just replicate old power… but redistributes it.

Nonprofits are adopting AI faster than businesses…
and it makes perfect sense why this is happening.
The average number of roles a small nonprofit officer plays is five…
It's common that one person covers the roles of a full department:

• Photographer, editor, website developer…

• Program designer, grant writer…

• Bookeeper, grants manager, admin…

You get it!

On top of this is having to deal with second-guessing the agendas
of gatekeeping organisations or individuals.
Now AI has come to the rescue to the nonprofit space…
where limited resources, long hours and emotional strain are a standard.

This lands square in the nonprofit space.
Lots of organisations and people's titles will lose relevance under AI.
Though we are not at a point where we can say for sure
who will be replaced, AI will definitely level the ground
and democratise access to all manner of resources
across all partnership positions.

And it is already happening!

Most nonprofits are run on lean resources…
and now they are about to get even leaner
with the funding cuts we are witnessing.

I work with grassroots campaigners…
most who have no much training in tech.
And questions like:
"how do I write a proposal" or "please format my CV"
have always topped my list of FAQs.

This struggle is slowly coming to an end.

It's now common say to respond to requests like this with…
list all your achievements and "ask chatgpt"

With the access to internet and a basic phone,
An average frontline campaigner can now write proposals,
they can generate cover letters…
and streamline their CVs with the free version of ChatGPT.
All they need is a good prompt, fill in the flesh…
and a pretty solid document will be generated.

Thanks to tools like CANVA,
once expensive hurdles towards direct funding…
like polished pitches and attractive presentations have been democratized.

Small organisations are now saving on costs significantly
through free pro-version packages for nonprofits.
So, be ready for direct engagement and lots of redundant roles in the near future.

And you could say…
"but there are AI systems that will detect the use of AI"…

True…
but that will only be an issue to the gatekeepers…

The common argument is that frontline campaigners lack organisation and the capacity to manage funds independently even though the ideas originate from them and are implemented by them

So, if we can ascertain that what they are presenting is true…
and AI can sift through documents to help us do that…
they can start receiving even small grants…
which will be much more than what they now receive either way.

Funding entities can train AI to sift through proposals to check for authenticity…
This, of course is not new… but now even smaller funders can own an AI agent for just a few dollars.

Now, frontline organisations can take on large entities
without expensive consultants!
The bigger problem we will face, in my opinion,
will be separating real campaigners from fraudsters…
So, being in touch with the ground is now more important than ever.

See, most funders have been craving direct relationships with frontline organisations…and zoom meetings have clearly not delivered on that.

I’ve run live sessions,
I've run zoom webinars,
I've managed whatsapp groups…
I’ve worked with campaigners in different development sectors…

and you realise that… even with these mutual platforms,
people are still not being authentic…
people are still guarded…

you can hardly find a strong group whose ideologies
are not influenced to fit a certain narrative…
and these are the narratives guiding funding priorities.

So, being truly in touch with the ground will be possible through AI…
and working with individual small frontline organisations at scale
is soon going to be a possibility… and will be a differentiator between
98% of grants reaching the grassroots and 98% lost on the way there.

I started nonprofit communications while still in mainstream media
almost a decade ago… and I dived right into the heat of things.

First it was a nightmare…
combing through scattered information from local organisations…
making sense of conflicting data and oversimplification…
I would pace along my home desk and
I'd have a dull headache before even starting.

Data was simply not meant for use…

At least not by the end users!
I would be trying to make sense out of things like…

"Why in the world do we have 78% prevalence
within a tribe that's found across five counties…
and no data of the tribe’s prevalence per county?

So we pushed for county-specific data...
and now that it is done… we need it even more specific…
Micro-level specific data!

Data cannot be generic anymore…
Because with this,
there is a chance to work directly with micro-level organisations
and take advantage of existing grassroots government structures,
and interventions can be responsive to data in those really small regions where they happen.

but there seems to be no sustainable model to support this…
and this is because of the disconnect between administration and development incentives.

There is simply not enough training and systems to support trust,
which is needed for risk and accountability purposes.
And that's why we end up loosing lots of money through intermediaries.

but…

The major obstacle to trust is just structure…
because we already know that the most effective way is funding the grassroots directly…

How to work with them has been the biggest hurdle.
But AI is levelling this playground.
It will allow funders to simplify the now complex requirements set
by funding institutions and help those on-ground to fulfil them easily.

I say this having worked directly or indirectly with more than 3000 grassroots leaders,
in conservation, climate change, FGM, Child marriage, farmers… I've also worked with governments and nonprofits operating in different levels of intervention.
There is a pool of really experienced and passionate people here.
They are multi-taskers and fighters too!

We have a chance to tap into this energy.. and good thing is…
from how things look like… we have the chance to narrow it down to village level…because, if these organisations can “tick those boxes”,
and everything gets aligned with administrative units…
coordination can happen directly with village administrators,
rather than county commissioners.

Most don’t see this gap… but going forward, the data we collect needs to target micro-programming

and I know data scientists like the sound of this,
because it means more budgets for them, and more ROI for their work…
which is good because statistics and effective programming can now finally come together… and researchers can truly say that their work is now making a true impact at scale.

I did a story for DW some time ago…
covering Zanzibar Island's efforts to eliminate Malaria.
Zanzibar reduced Malaria parasite prevalence from 70% to 1%
through door to door spraying , and rapid tests in health facilities.

The same implementation model could work in our communities…
this time not fighting tiny mosquitoes…
but through programs reaching people on a personal level.
That's why pushing leadership to the grassroots
is the only viable way to truly make a difference in Africa.

No politicians, no intermediaries, no big personalities…
just informed and equipped villagers making their lives better!

Now Zanzibar is changing its target
from control to complete elimination of the Malaria causing parasite from the Island.
If it can be done with tiny mosquitoes,
it can certainly be done with people we can see.

I'll pick this up again next week as it's Saturday today.

I'm happy to hear your thoughts, so please leave a comment
and feel free to share this with your networks.

Asante sana! (thank you)

— Kipainoi.

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Find the need | Communicate like a pro
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