Think Malawi was proud to host its Annual General Meeting (AGM) for 2025, on the 28th of January, and this article highlights the key speakers who attended the events and the important activities of the last year.
This year’s meeting was a celebration of significant fundraising achievements, impactful projects, and bold ambitions, with meaningful contributions from both new and long-standing supporters.
To rewatch the AGM click here: here, or alternatively look at the presentation slides used for the AGM.
This virtual AGM brought together the trustees and volunteers of Think Malawi, representatives from our Malawian grassroots partner organisations;Â Ladder for Learning, Umunthu Plus, STRADE and Umodzi Youth Organisation; and Rachel Chimbwete Phiri, PhD
Principal Secretary (Basic and Secondary Education) from the Malawi Ministry of Education.
Opening Remarks
Co-Chairs, Steve McInerney and Alastair Corbett, kicked off the meeting with a heartfelt welcome, acknowledging the collective dedication of donors, volunteers, and team members who have made the organization’s progress possible.
Steve succinctly highlighted Think Malawi's mission as a charity:
"Our aims are to support education in Malawi. We focus on primary and secondary school projects" through two main pillars: supporting girls education and improving results alongside the Malawian government and Malawian partner organisations.
After general introductions our trustee team was introduced alongside the volunteers with a highlight of this being our new Digital Marketing trustee: Walu Chisenga.
Guest Speaker
Think Malawi is excited to share that the keynote address of the AGM was delivered by Rachel Chimbwete Phiri. She is the Principal Secretary for basic and secondary education within the Ministry of Education who shared profound insights on education policy and the vital role of NGOs in supporting sustainable learning environments in Malawi. Dr Phiri emphasized that lasting educational improvements can only be achieved through strong, ongoing partnerships between NGOs and government bodies, setting a vision for collaborative growth.
Dr Phiri highlighted the struggles and the aims of the Malawian government: "At the moment, the national average is one classroom to 105 but would want to have one to 60 list" and also its successes "the increased transition rate from primary to secondary school, 5 years ago it was only 23% and now it is 49.7%".
Project Updates and Impact
Think Malawi's Trustees, Kate Hauxwell (Trustee of Malawi Partnerships) and Steve McInerny, alongside representatives from our partner organisation, presented updates on the projects from last year.
Katie and Veronica Mapunda, from Umodzi Youth Organisation, UYO, explained UYO's classroom project that was the focus of Think Malawi's Building Classrooms, Building Futures campaign. With 500 children learning outside this project is ongoing with the project funding 2 new classrooms which are currently under construction with UYO's oversight and Think Malawi's financial support.
When describing the project, Memory Pondeponde said: "the the very the biggest need that we saw was insufficient infrastructure" with the lack of indoor learning leading to "high school dropout rates" but with this project there will be an "increase in enrolment... and a decrease in learners dropping out of school"
Promise Msampha from Umunthu Plus described their technology project which targeted 3 schools in the Nkhotakota district in Malawi providing them with computers. Overall, the lack of internet access is a large issue in Malawi with over 30% of students not having access, especially in remote areas. Umunthu Plus provided internet to all 3 of the schools, upskilling the students, teachers and learning resources.
Promise said: "some of the schools, they literally had the one functioning computer.... upon implementing this project we we registered number of successes [for example] the number of students who took computer increased from 37 to at least 68"
Finally, Masida Hastings Ziba represented STRADE and their Building desks for Chibanja Primary School project where the charity built 154 double-desks helping to combat the shortage that had caused absenteeism and poor academic performances.
Before the project "most learners were just sitting on the floor... the desk to student ratio was 25:1 with 1,500 learners but less than 50 desks" and after the project "the desk situation was much improve to 7:1... and absenteeism decreased from 52.5% to 26%"
Marketing and Communications
Our Social Media Trustee, Saniya Patel, discussed the success of Think Malawi's marketing and social media outreach last year.
In a successful marketing campaign there were 43 different donors to the 2024 Building Classrooms Building Futures campaign with over 20 comments of support.
Think Malawi has successfully restarted its monthly newsletter which you can join here, to receive updates on our activity across projects and our social media platforms.
Using Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and X, Think Malawi has seen social media success. Particularly on LinkedIn which has been "a very successful avenue for us" with 5,930 impressions, 183 reactions and 20 reposts.
Fundraising Success and Financial Support
Natalie Mendez, Think Malawi's Fundraising Trustee, discussed specifically the success of 2024 fundraising.
"We raised £23,519 with £18,000 plus was through donations and £5,000 was from a charitable trust called LFT"
This fundraising included the highly successful Building Classrooms Building Futures Crowdfunder, and the efforts of individuals like Tom, who completed an Ironman challenge, and Andrew, who ran a half-marathon- all of whom demonstrated extraordinary commitment to the organisation’s mission.
Elizabeth Rose, the Finance Trustee, presented the financial report, highlighting the significant growth in fundraising efforts. In 2023, funds raised increased to £21,000, up from £6,000 in 2022, and further grew in 2024.
Closing Remarks
Alastair Corbett wrapped up the AGM with a heartfelt expression of gratitude to all attendees, speakers, and supporters. He emphasized that continued collaboration and engagement are critical to building on the organization’s successes and driving future progress.
The meeting concluded on an optimistic note, with a shared commitment to advancing educational opportunities in Malawi. For further details and updates, please visit our website or follow us on our social media channels.