OUR IMPACT
For over 15 years, as Africa's first indigenous activist fund, UHAI has invested over $34 million in over 435 LGBTQI+ and sex worker organizations in seven East African countries. We support LGBTQI+ and sex worker community-led initiatives, from health and legal services to economic empowerment and human rights advocacy—while partnering with
Pan-African networks to strengthen our movements.
In 2025, the United States suspended its foreign aid program—and UHAI's grantees faced a perfect storm with numerous other bilateral donors all declined simultaneously. Over 70% of UHAI's grantees lost 75–100% of their external funding overnight.
Anti-rights laws tightened across Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi. Community-based essential HIV/health services ceased. Digital surveillance escalated. Armed conflict in Eastern DRC displaced entire communities.
Yet the movements UHAI serves did not collapse.
They adapted, organized, and held the line — because UHAI stayed with them.
$4M+ disbursed. 157 grants across 437 partnerships. 7 countries.
Not one abandoned!
UHAI's MISSION AND VALUES
UHAI's vision is a world where every person can live freely, fully and thrive.
UHAI exist to contribute to a future where LGBTQI+ and sex worker communities have the collective power, resources and autonomy to shape their own futures and lead change on their own terms.
Our values, encapsulated by the Swahili words in our name UHAI (meaning "existence" or "alive"),
guide how we make decisions, move resources and build relationships.
They show how we put our politics into practice.
▷ Justice: Ensuring resources and support reach communities most often at the margins of the movement
▷ Love & Care: Centering care, compassion and wellbeing in how we support movements and one another.
▷ Integrity: Upholding transparency, accountability and ethical practice across all of UHAI’s work.
▷ Solidarity: Working with LGBTQI+ and sex worker groups and allies, inter-sectionally, from local to global.
▷ Trust: Relationships grounded in mutual respect, accountability and confidence in community leadership.
JOIN US
We invite you to join the movement for equality in East Africa.
Your tax-deductible contribution ensures sexual and gender minorities and sex worker communities across Eastern Africa receive the support needed to cultivate resilience and effect change. We can build a world where people live equally and with dignity for all.
Mukami Marete is currently the Executive Director of UHAI EASHRI and serves as the Treasurer for the UHAI USA Board of Directors. Prior to joining UHAI, she worked for the Kenya Human Rights Commission and was actively involved in the sexual and reproductive health rights program, particularly the right to safe and legal abortion and th
Mukami Marete is currently the Executive Director of UHAI EASHRI and serves as the Treasurer for the UHAI USA Board of Directors. Prior to joining UHAI, she worked for the Kenya Human Rights Commission and was actively involved in the sexual and reproductive health rights program, particularly the right to safe and legal abortion and the rights of LGBTIQ people. Mukami also serves on the Boards of the Black Feminist Fund, the Global Philanthropy Project, the East African Philanthropy Network, and the African Philanthropy Network.
She previously served at the Board of Green Peace Africa as well as the Sex Worker Donors Collaborative. She holds an MBA in strategy and a bachelor’s degree in building Economics and management – both from the University of Nairobi. She has a postgraduate degree in Human Resource Management and is a certified public accountant trained by Strathmore University. Mukami is a mother of two and believes that love makes a family. She wants to be able to bring up her African children to thrive even as they exist in the patriarchal, racist, imperialist and sexist world that she finds herself in.
Originally from Nairobi, Kenya, Milap Patel has lived in the US since 2009 and is currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Milap has worked at the intersections of climate policy, global human rights, and economic justice with an overarching commitment to civil society, internationalism, and to our natural world. Milap has a master’s in pu
Originally from Nairobi, Kenya, Milap Patel has lived in the US since 2009 and is currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Milap has worked at the intersections of climate policy, global human rights, and economic justice with an overarching commitment to civil society, internationalism, and to our natural world. Milap has a master’s in public administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Development Studies from the University of Sussex, UK.
Kent Klindera is a strategic advisor and leader with over 30 years’ experience in global health, working at the crossroads of HIV and human rights. Currently, he serves UHAI US's Chief Philanthropy Officer (CPO), helping UHAI US increase its visibility and support amongst individual and institutional donors in the Global North. Kent is a
Kent Klindera is a strategic advisor and leader with over 30 years’ experience in global health, working at the crossroads of HIV and human rights. Currently, he serves UHAI US's Chief Philanthropy Officer (CPO), helping UHAI US increase its visibility and support amongst individual and institutional donors in the Global North. Kent is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, as well as a consultant focused on the sustainability of community organizations. Kent's career spans continents, including tenures based in the US, Southern Africa and Southeast Asia; and championing human rights, sexual health, youth, gender, and masculinity programming. Currently residing in Brooklyn, NY, USA, Kent holds a Master’s in Public Health degree from the University of Minnesota, and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the
University of Iowa.
Qwin Mbabazi is rooted in a passion for people and community. Qwin’s work bridges strategy and lived experience, bringing a dynamic background in grassroots mobilization, multi-operational coordination, and advocacy, with hands-on experience organizing Pride events, queer film festivals, and supporting front-line movements in Uganda and
Qwin Mbabazi is rooted in a passion for people and community. Qwin’s work bridges strategy and lived experience, bringing a dynamic background in grassroots mobilization, multi-operational coordination, and advocacy, with hands-on experience organizing Pride events, queer film festivals, and supporting front-line movements in Uganda and now the New England area/USA.
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Currently serving as as GLAD Law’s Senior Manager of Organizational Culture and Community Partnerships, Qwin spearheads engagements with various constituencies within and outside the LGBTQ+ community across New England, and stewards GLAD Law’s internal culture work, particularly with regard to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Her approach is both thoughtful and action-driven, centering connection, representation, and impact. Qwin holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Business from Makerere University.
Peter Twyman is a social impact leader with 30 years of experience working on complex social challenges in the U.S. and globally. He is currently the Deputy Director of Columbia World Projects at Columbia University, a campus-wide effort to support faculty, students, and social entrepreneurs to achieve greater social impact. Peter spent a
Peter Twyman is a social impact leader with 30 years of experience working on complex social challenges in the U.S. and globally. He is currently the Deputy Director of Columbia World Projects at Columbia University, a campus-wide effort to support faculty, students, and social entrepreneurs to achieve greater social impact. Peter spent a decade leading NGOs focused on child welfare in Sub-Saharan Africa, first at Keep a Child Alive and then at Yamba Malawi. He also has more than a decade of experience working on U.S. government-funded global health programs, including 8 years at ICAP Global Health at Columbia, where he managed programs to support ministries of health in numerous African countries to scale HIV treatment and prevention interventions. In addition to UHAI-EASHRI, he serves on the U.S. boards of directors of Yamba Malawi and Friendship Bench. Peter is a graduate of Connecticut College and holds a Master of Arts in Anthropology from the University of California, Irvine, and a Master of Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Joanne Sandler has been working to strengthen women’s rights, gender justice and organizational change strategies in the U.S. and transnationally for nearly 40 years. She is a Senior Associate of Gender at Work – a global network of consultants who support organizations to build cultures of equality. Between 2001 and 2010, Joanne was Dep
Joanne Sandler has been working to strengthen women’s rights, gender justice and organizational change strategies in the U.S. and transnationally for nearly 40 years. She is a Senior Associate of Gender at Work – a global network of consultants who support organizations to build cultures of equality. Between 2001 and 2010, Joanne was Deputy Executive Director for the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and then on the transition team for the creation of UN Women. She is on the Board of Directors of The Common Counsel Foundation and serves as a member of UN Women's Global Civil Society Advisory Group. Joanne hosts two podcasts: Two Old Bitches and the Gender at Work podcast. She has authored numerous books and articles including Gender at Work: Theory and Practice for 21st Century Organizations (Routledge Press, 2015).
Marc J. Sokol is an expert in aligning organizational talent, values, cultures, strategies, departments and resources for maximum success and delivery on mission. As an independent consultant, Marc brings more than 30 years of global and national nonprofit experience to organizations dedicated to arts and culture and social justice, espec
Marc J. Sokol is an expert in aligning organizational talent, values, cultures, strategies, departments and resources for maximum success and delivery on mission. As an independent consultant, Marc brings more than 30 years of global and national nonprofit experience to organizations dedicated to arts and culture and social justice, especially LGBTQI+ rights and gender equality. Marc served at Let’s Breakthrough, Inc. for 15 years as Interim E.D., COO, and CoS, and as Secretary of the Corporation. Other career highlights include serving as VP for Business Development and COO of a spin-off for-profit affiliate of a nonprofit, whole-school reform organization, growing it from $500K to $7M in sales in 5 years, delivering 4,500 training days yearly. Marc also created the nationally replicated Architectural Youth Program, which received numerous awards and multi-year funding from the NEA. As a member of Visual AIDS for the Arts, he co-created and helped produce the first World AIDS Day tribute, Night without Light, in New York City, later globally celebrated. Marc currently serves on the Board of UHAI EASHRI USA, an affiliate of Nairobi, Kenya-based UHAI EASHRI, a feminist, activist, indigenous, LGBTQI+ funder resourcing and supporting African movements. Marc is an enthusiastic, certified practitioner of the MBTI (Myers-Briggs) and holds a master’s in arts administration from Columbia University and an undergraduate degree from
the University of Pennsylvania.