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Our Story
INSPIRE • CONNECT • ACTIVATE • TRANSFORM
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” ~ Nelson Mandela
The International Social Impact Institute was launched on July 31st, 2020, with the announcement of our first partnership with Hunter College in the City University of New York. Since then, we have developed many new partnerships with organizations and companies around the globe, with whom we work to amplify the voices of and create opportunities for social impact leaders from historically marginalized communities (in the US and around the world), facilitate interactions among such leaders, and assist in training more of them.
Our accomplishments during our first year – as well as our values, our team, and our lineup of partners and offerings – reflect decades of previous work on the part of our founder. Below you will find an overview of our first-year results, followed by a timeline representing our founder’s earlier professional impact and achievements. Finally, we present highlights of our first-year programs and engagements, for which we are very grateful and upon which we will continue to build in the future.
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Social impact leaders and change makers coached
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Webinars delivered
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Leaders and Professionals Reached through our webinars
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Client trainings and courses developed
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Continents reached through our work
Our Story — Decades in the Making
1974
Our founder – the daughter of Dr. John Ruganda (Uganda’s preeminent dramatist) and Hilda Rwabazaire Paqui (a diplomat who later became a senior communications official with the United Nations Development Programme) – moves from Uganda to New York City.
1974
1988
Our founder graduates from the United Nations International School, which she attended for 13 years and at which she developed the foundation of her social awareness and global orientation.
1988
1992
Our founder is recruited into Digital Equipment Corporation’s prestigious Marketing Development Program, after graduating from Syracuse University as part of the second group of students to complete its Information Studies undergraduate degree program.
1992
1994
Our founder is recognized as the highest grossing first year salesperson in the history of MICROS Systems Inc., where she later becomes a top 10 salesperson on a companywide basis.
1994
1999
Our founder graduates from Cornell University with a hospitality focused management master’s degree and joins Arthur Andersen, where she becomes a Business Consulting Manager overseeing merger integration and strategy development projects.
1999
2001
Our founder launches Amazing Taste LLC as a catering and events consulting firm serving corporate and private clients.
2001
2003
Our founder begins teaching an Event Planning and Meeting Management course at Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey. As course instructor she doubles the course’s enrollment and later develops an emergency preparedness/ disaster management conference with a grant from the Department of Homeland Security.
2003
2004
Our founder re-positions Amazing Taste LLC as a marketing and fundraising consulting firm focused on the nonprofit sector. The firm develops its first event website and its first email marketing campaign for a fundraiser, launching two of its core offerings.
2004
2007
Amazing Taste LLC repositions the “Pink Tie Ball” fundraising gala hosted by Susan G. Komen’s Northern New Jersey Affiliate as a “Green” gala for 1,100 guests. The event raises $1.1 million to provide underserved women with access to early breast cancer detection and treatment services.
2007
2009
Our founder begins teaching her online fundraising course at the NYU Heyman Center for Philanthropy & Fundraising (then under the leadership of Executive Director Naomi Levine). A version of this course is still offered, and in 2021 our founder (i) received an NYU Distinguished Teaching Award for her work on the course, and (ii) developed a professional certificate program in Digital Fundraising that is centered around the course.
2009
2011
Amazing Taste LLC is selected by the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration as strategic marketing and events consultant for the Cornell Hospitality Icon and Innovator Awards, the School’s premier event at which it recognizes industry leaders while raising funds for scholarships.
2011
2012
Our founder co-develops a panel at SXSW titled “Africa, Tech and Women: The New Faces of Development”. The panel focuses on African women’s application of technology in ways that advance Africa’s development – and it directly confronts persistent negative stereotypes associated with African women and their place in the economy and in society.
2012
2014
Our founder is selected by Vital Voices Global Partnerships to develop fundraising and marketing training for its African Businesswomen’s Network and 200+ VVGROW fellows from around the world.
2014
2014
Our founder joins South Africa-based youth development organization Afrika Tikkun as CEO of its North America representative, Afrika Tikkun USA. She begins transforming the US entity into an in-demand nonprofit, developing partnerships with AmerisourceBergen, Delta Airlines, Facebook and McCann Worldgroup, among others.
2014
2015
Our founder arranges for Afrika Tikkun to participate in the US Commerce Department’s “Trade Winds Africa” trade mission. As a result of that participation, an Assistant Secretary of Commerce and a delegation of American businesspeople visit Afrika Tikkun’s Alexandra Township community center. Photo by Michael Oro.
2015
2018
Our founder participates in the 10.10.10 Startup Accelerator Program in Denver, Colorado and works with a life coach to develop clarity about her life and priorities and to sharpen her own coaching skills.
2018
2019
Our founder launches Liz Ngonzi Transforms, a coaching, speaking and training firm serving clients such as Candid, ENGIE North America, Cornell University and the JCC Association of North America.
2019
2020
Our founder launches The Institute during a live broadcast on LinkedIn Live and YouTube Livestream, announcing its first partnership with Hunter College.
2020
Our Story – highlights from year one
Our New Logo
The Institute’s logo represents our work with numerous individuals for whom we seek to offer inspiration, connection and activation, with the goal of helping them to transform their communities, their countries and ultimately, the world.
Our team
We have assembled an outstanding team of experts from the United States, the United Kingdom, the African continent and Asia, who share the Institute’s core values – a belief in interconnectedness / Ubuntu and a commitment to social justice, environmental stewardship, integrity and excellence – and have dedicated their lives to moving the social sector forward.
Our Advisor Emerita, Naomi B. Levine
As a mentor to our founder, Mrs. Levine facilitated the introductions that led to the Institute’s first partnerships. A fundraising legend, she also provided invaluable guidance to our founder during our founder’s first ten years at the NYU Heyman Center for Philanthropy & Fundraising.
CIVICUS Global Alliance Youth Action Lab
Development and Delivery of the Sustainable Leadership, Financial Management/Funding and Digital Engagement. Coaching, Peer-to-peer Learning, and Training Programme for the 2021 cohort of the CIVICUS Global Alliance Youth Action Lab.
Wilmington Trust Philanthropic Speaker Series
Development and Delivery of the Digital Strategies to Attract Funders Webinar as part of the Wilmington Trust Philanthropic Speaker Series to 100+ nonprofit leaders, philanthropists and wealth management professionals.
The African Resource Mobilisation Webinar Series
Development, Marketing and Delivery of the African Resource Mobilisation Webinar Series in Close Collaboration with King Baudouin Foundation US (and other valued partners) for 2,000 Nonprofit Leaders and Professionals.
eCornell Keynotes Personal Branding Webinar and Workshop
Development, Marketing and Delivery of the eCornell Keynotes webinar and workshop – Telling Your Story: How to Align Your Purpose with Your Paycheck – for 2,000+ purpose-driven leaders and professionals.
Nelson Mandela University Executive Education Programme
Development and Delivery of the Nelson Mandela University Global Resource Mobilisation and Branding Executive Education Programme for the University’s Senior Leadership.
NYAVA Keynote: Digital Engagement to Engage Volunteers
Development and Delivery of a Virtual Keynote Address on Digital Engagement to Inspire, Attract and Engage Volunteers for the leaders and members of the New York Association for Volunteer Administration (NYAVA) Annual Meeting.
"The capacitation programme with The International Social Impact Institute is important to us to help position our university…The best contribution we can make as Mandela University is to marshal ourselves to be the scholarly articulation of his social and political contribution to the improvement of humanity; to put together institutional arrangements to expand our national, continental and global footprint of scholarly outputs promoting social justice and equality.”
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