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The Joblessness Fund

65% of Africans are structurally jobless, yet Africa is home to the world’s fastest-growing and youngest population. The solution? Increase economic productivity.

The Strategy in a Nutshell
The Problem

Poverty exists because of a lack of good jobs

The Solution

Building the infrastructure that enables Africans to access good jobs

“Let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”

Ephesians 4:28

Let’s chat

We’d love to walk you through the strategy behind the fund. Join us for a next-step conversation designed for prospective givers who believe job creation is more than economic development: it is one of the most powerful ways to break the cycle of poverty.

01:The Problem

At its core, poverty is more than a lack of resources: it is the loss of opportunity to live and work as God designed.

65%
of people in Sub-Saharan Africa are structurally jobless
2.02B
of the 5.2 billion people aged 15-64 are structurally jobless worldwide

Nowhere is this more visible than in the absence of productive employment. Societies with the highest levels of flourishing consistently have the highest rates of meaningful work. That’s why solving joblessness is the most direct way to break the cycle of poverty.

Conventional economic analysis puts the official global unemployment rate between 5 and 6%, representing 190 to 210 million people (International Labor Organization). This underestimates the reality.

The SWGP Joblessness Fund uses a different metric as our starting point: Structural Joblessness, working-age people without stable work that supports a family. That includes people of working age with no employment at all, and people working far below their productive potential, earning insufficient income.

When accounting for all of the above, the global Structural Joblessness rate is 39%, representing 2.02 billion of the 5.2 billion people aged 15-64. But the highest rate of Structural Joblessness is in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 65% of people fall into that category.

02:The Strategy
The Definition

What is Structural Joblessness?

Official unemployment numbers miss most of the story. This fund measures the problem the way families experience it:

Structural Joblessness means working-age people without stable work that supports a family.

Worker in Africa

Structural Joblessness takes two forms:

01 · Jobless

People of working age with no employment: the unemployed plus discouraged workers. The person who lost a job and is looking, the person who lost a job and quit looking, and the person who never had a formal job.

02 · Underproductive

People working far below their productive potential, earning insufficient income. The engineer driving a motorcycle taxi, the street vendor making $3 a day, the subsistence farmer.

Solving joblessness is the most direct way to break the cycle of poverty. The solution? Increase economic productivity.
The Solution

Backing Africa’s greatest problem solvers

The SWGP Joblessness Fund will deploy capital in a four-part, top down and bottom up strategy to holistically engage the continent’s workforce:

01

Sustaining Jobs

Sustaining jobs provide dignity by serving and sustaining the local community.

02

Growth Jobs

Growth jobs increase the wealth of a community by serving markets outside of that community, bringing new dollars into the community.

03

Jobs of the Future

Jobs of the Future are jobs and industries that are expected to be a significant place of job creation in 3 to 5 years.

04

Enabling Work

Enabling Work is about catalyzing the development of infrastructure and policy that enables work to be done effectively.

The Opportunity

Turbocharging progress

Through the strategic combination of Capital, Content, and Community, we’re rallying the world around Africa’s greatest problem-solvers.

We facilitate collaborative ideation and raise capital through collaborative giving DAFs that are deployed in a comprehensive capital stack of grants and investments best suited to solve the problem. Any returns made on investments are circulated back into the fund to further solve the problem.

We define winning as

Catalyzing a solution to the point where market forces take over. In working towards those goals, success is defined by proving or disproving theories of change and scaling the winners until commercial markets can carry them forward.

We measure
01

The number of jobs created.

02

The income generated from those jobs.

03

The increase in productivity from those jobs.

03:Initial Allocations

The Joblessness Fund exists to systematically catalyze a spiritually vibrant and economically flourishing marketplace across Sub-Saharan Africa, where 65% of working-aged people are structurally jobless.

Fast. Cheap. Scalable Talent Engine

Learn2Earn

SWGP invested in Learn2Earn to support one of the fastest and most affordable alternatives to traditional higher education for African youth. Learn2Earn identifies high-potential talent through aptitude-based assessments, provides AI-enabled training and work experience, and places graduates into high-value jobs, creating a scalable pathway from untapped talent to employment. Through this investment, SWGP aims to help demonstrate a new investable model for training and placing talent, creating a blueprint for solving structural joblessness at scale.

GeographyNigeria
Expected ImpactInvestable and scalable path to training and monetizing talent established
The Infrastructure for Africa’s Informal Sector

Pika Insights

SWGP invested in Pika Insights to help build the data infrastructure for Africa’s informal economy. Pika enables informal traders to digitize their businesses, creating valuable data that catalyzes economic activity, expanding access to markets, financial services, and distribution networks while generating insights for companies and institutions. Through this investment, SWGP aims to help unlock economic opportunity for millions of small businesses that have historically operated outside formal systems.

GeographyNigeria
Expected ImpactEconomic opportunity and mobility unlocked for the informal sector
04:Stories

We’re rallying the world around Africa’s greatest problem-solvers.

The Power of Building, Investing and Giving Together

The Solving Joblessness Fund

SWGP Giving Funds unite world-class portfolio management with the Faith Driven content and community you trust, transforming generosity into impact.

God calls us to radical generosity: not obligation, not guilt, but an invitation to the joy-filled adventure. When you’ve been rescued you want to rescue others, this is your moment.

You want to give. You want to find that cause to rally around. But we don’t have the time or tribe to be intentional.

Busy lives don’t leave room to analyze every investment or vet every charity. We’re overwhelmed, pulled in a hundred directions: wallets clenched, hearts tugged, minds skeptical. Deep down, we know there has to be a better way. That’s why we’re building collaborative giving funds, uniting content, community, and tools that make it possible to do more, together.

05:The Team
Independent Strategic Review: Every 2 Years

We are committed to excellence and transparency, which is why we engage independent third-party organizations, including Calvin Edwards & Company, All Access International, and Brightlight Impact, to evaluate our work. Every two years, each fund undergoes an external review made available to prospective donors and partners. This review outlines the fund’s theory of change, portfolio analysis, governance, operations, and grantmaking practices. It also reviews investment activity and verifies the accuracy of reporting, ensuring donors can give with confidence and clarity.

Calvin Edwards & Company
All Access International
Brightlight Impact

Investment Committee

Efosa Ojomo

Efosa Ojomo

Author | Prosperity Paradox

Henry Kaestner

Henry Kaestner

Serial Entrepreneur + VC Investor

Board of Advisors

Suzanne Daniel

Suzanne Daniel

The Pilgrim Foundation

Chelsea Lernihan

Chelsea Lernihan

Executive Director, MIGMIR Fund

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji

3x Unicorn Founder

Ndidi Nwuneli

Ndidi Nwuneli

Former President and CEO, The ONE Campaign

Peter Greer

Peter Greer

President and CEO, Hope International

Fope Adelowo

Fope Adelowo

Principal, Helios Investment Partners

Johan du Preez

Johan du Preez

African Turnaround CEO + PE Investor

Charity Wallace

Charity Wallace

Former Executive | US DFC, White House, State Department

Sadiq Edu

Sadiq Edu

Entrepreneur Transforming the Informal Sector

Daryl Heald

Daryl Heald

Founder | Generosity Path

Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes

Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes

CEO | Aruwa Capital

Ebehi Iyoha

Ebehi Iyoha

Professor, Harvard Business School

Jon Halverson

Jon Halverson

Partner, Talanton

Dale Dawson

Dale Dawson

Investment Banker Turned African Business Expert

Kwami Williams

Kwami Williams

MIT + NASA Turned Superfood Producer in Africa

Kathy Drake

Kathy Drake

Large Scale Asset Manager

Matthew Rohrs

Matthew Rohrs

CEO, Sinapis

Carl Treleaven

Carl Treleaven

Principal, Westlake Ventures

Jeff Kahler

Jeff Kahler

Longtime CFO + African Investor

Dana Wichterman

Dana Wichterman

Faith Driven Impact Investor

Anthony Farr

Anthony Farr

Venture Builder

Kola Aina

Kola Aina

Venture Capitalist

Suzanne Daniel

Suzanne Daniel

The Pilgrim Foundation

Chelsea Lernihan

Chelsea Lernihan

Executive Director, MIGMIR Fund

Solving the World’s Greatest Problems Leadership Team

We feel humbled by the opportunity to support this movement behind the scenes. This Leadership Team has a unique combination of proven scale in Content, Community and Funds.

Henry Kaestner

Co-Founder of Bandwidth and Sovereign’s Capital, a private equity and venture capital firm with over $1B in assets investing in faith-driven entrepreneurs.

Henry Kaestner

Co-Founder, Faith Driven

Justin Forman

Launched RightNow Media, delivering world-class content and community to more than 30,000 churches and 5 million people, supported by a $35M business model.

Justin Forman

Co-Founder and President, Faith Driven

Tom Baldwin

Brings 20+ years building market-shaping platforms and driving growth with Mars and the Belmont University Innovation Lab.

Tom Baldwin

VP of Fund Strategy

Rebecca Yuschak

Brings over a decade of experience in corporate grants management and operations within Prudential Financial, along with a background in nonprofit management.

Rebecca Yuschak

VP of SWGP Integration & Fund Partnerships

Clay Osburne

Former SVP at National Christian Foundation Orlando and President of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Florida.

Clay Osburne

VP of Mobilization

Nils Smith

Brings 20 years of digital strategy and entrepreneurial leadership across ministries, startups, and high-growth organizations.

Nils Smith

VP of Marketing

Megan Morris

Combines strategic marketing expertise with a passion for high-impact content production and storytelling since 2015.

Megan Morris

Director of Content

Zac Sicher

Former Credit Trader at Goldman Sachs with deep experience in international markets, structured products, and global financial strategy.

Zac Sicher

Solving Hunger & Joblessness Fund Manager

Landen Enns

7+ years of Venture Capital and M&A experience at a $3B AUM fund and a Fortune 100 technology company

Landen Enns

Solving the Evangelism Gap Fund Manager

Alexis Cook

Brings global nonprofit experience, entrepreneurial leadership as founder of a social enterprise supporting women survivors, and investment experience shaped through her MBA at Stanford.

Alexis Cook

Solving Trafficking Fund Manager

06:Give Together

Transfer from your DAF

The Solving the World’s Greatest Problems Giving Funds will be hosted through a Donor Advised Fund (DAF). Contributions can be made directly or from an existing Donor Advised Fund at trusted partners like:

National Christian Foundation Fidelity Charitable DAFgiving360 (Schwab) Vanguard Charitable Bank of America Charitable and more →
Get Involved

Behind every fund is a group of people who decided that caring wasn’t enough. You want to give and a cause to rally around, but busy lives don’t leave much room to be intentional. No one was built to do this alone. This is where you find your people, and where generosity becomes something you do together.

The Foundation Course

A free, five-session course to find your why, discern your where, and build a plan for how you, your family, or your business will give. No cost. No catch.

Start the Course
Fund Premier Events

Live, 90-minute Fund Premier Events, one problem at a time, with the entrepreneurs, investors, and ministry leaders already in the fight. Come to learn and feel free to bring a few friends.

See Upcoming Events
Partner Summits

Partner Summits are invitation-only gatherings for Champions and Partners: about 50 to 60 givers, fund managers, and problem solvers in one room for deeper relationships and real collaboration.

Explore In-Person Events

A growing community of families and organizations is already giving together. There’s a place in it for you.

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From the Community

Stories that started with givers like you

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