Back to the home pageEducational transformation cannot be achieved by one organisation alone. By investing in relationships, partnerships, and shared learning, TNF is helping build an ecosystem where schools, non-profits, educators, young people, and communities are better connected, better supported, and better positioned to drive change themselves.
Convener
Bringing organisations together around shared challenges.
Connector
Linking young people, schools, and non-profits to opportunity.
Amplifier
Elevating grassroots organisations and local solutions.
Contributor
Participating in national and global conversations on education transformation.
Skoll World Forum & Microsoft Partnership
In 2025, TNF's role as an ecosystem enabler became visible through its grant-making approach and how it repositioned itself in the broader sector. KNIF's announcement at the Skoll World Forum in Oxford in April 2025 placed TNF's trust-based philanthropy model in a global conversation, drawing attention to the scarcity of flexible capital in South Africa's education sector and inviting co-funders and impact investors to join the approach.
The response confirmed the model's credibility: Microsoft committed US$2 million over three years through its Elevate initiative, combining financial support with software licences, AI training, and capacity-building tools. This extended the reach of KNIF beyond what TNF's own capital could achieve alone and positioned all 19 KSP partner school teachers to be trained in AI tools to improve student outcomes.
The trust-based operating model is itself the sector contribution. By replacing compliance with learning conversations and introducing unrestricted funding, KNIF created the conditions for grantees to adapt in real time, surface problems early, and focus on outcomes. Grantees participate as a learning cohort, exchanging practice and solving problems collectively. Partners describe KNIF not as a funder, but as a thought partner. That is what TNF is demonstrating is possible, and what it is modelling for the sector.
Skoll World Forum (Oxford)
Placed TNF's trust-based philanthropy model on global platforms, inviting co-funders and impact investors to join an ecosystem-first funding approach.
Microsoft Elevate Initiative ($2M)
Microsoft committed $2 Million over 3 years, combining capital with AI tools and software licenses to train teachers across all 19 KSP partner schools.
The Trust-Based Operating Model
Demonstrating and modelling how flexible capital and thought partnership accelerate social impact.
Compliance-Focused
- Strict, rigid reporting mandates
- Restricted project funding limits adaptability
- Transaction-focused funder-grantee dynamic
- Siloed, isolated program delivery
Trust-Based Philanthropy
- Replaces rigid compliance with learning conversations
- Unrestricted funding allows real-time adaptation
- Partners describe TNF as a active thought partner
- Grantees operate as a collaborative co-learning cohort
