The network

Nobody does this alone.

Ubuntu Gale is designed to hold together the pieces that usually sit apart — funding, delivery, technology, skills and community relationships. The organisations below are the reason that is possible.

12partners in the network1founding partners2programme partners3delivery partners

The full network

Everyone contributing right now.

Founding PartnerIllustrative

Example Community Development Trust

An illustrative grant-making trust funding the first Small Business Digital Foundations cohort.

  • Programme funding
  • Restricted grant
Technology PartnerIllustrative

Example Cloud Services Provider

An illustrative technology partner contributing cloud credits and engineering time.

  • Cloud credits or licensing
  • Specialist professional skills
Skills & Employer PartnerIllustrative

Example Regional Skills Institute

An illustrative skills partner supplying mentors and hosting work-shadowing days.

  • Mentors
  • Employer host or work shadowing
  • Workshop facilitation
Delivery PartnerIllustrative

Example Community Radio Network

An illustrative delivery partner carrying local relationships and participant referral.

  • Participant referral
  • Venue or hosting
  • Community reach
Programme PartnerIllustrative

Example Professional Services Firm

An illustrative programme partner contributing enterprise and supplier development spend.

  • Enterprise & supplier development spend
  • Specialist professional skills
Technology PartnerIllustrative

Example Connectivity Cooperative

An illustrative partner contributing connectivity and data for participants.

  • Connectivity or data
  • Hardware
Delivery PartnerIllustrative

Example Women's Business Forum

An illustrative delivery partner co-facilitating and referring members.

  • Participant referral
  • Workshop facilitation
  • Mentors
Programme PartnerIllustrative

Example National Foundation

An illustrative funder supporting research and learning design.

  • Restricted grant
  • Research or evaluation
SupporterIllustrative

Example Accessibility Collective

An illustrative supporter contributing accessibility review of materials.

  • Specialist professional skills
SupporterIllustrative

Example Language Services Group

An illustrative supporter contributing translation of programme materials.

  • Specialist professional skills
Delivery PartnerIllustrative

Example Municipal Enterprise Office

An illustrative public-sector delivery partner providing venues and referral.

  • Venue or hosting
  • Participant referral
SupporterIllustrative

Example Alumni Practice Group

An illustrative alumni group contributing mentoring and case studies.

  • Mentors
  • Research or evaluation

Recognition

What partnership involves at each level.

Tiers describe what a partner receives, not what they must give. A community organisation contributing delivery capacity and a company contributing a restricted grant can both be Programme Partners.

01

Founding Partner

Organisations that commit before there is evidence to point at — funding or enabling the first cohort of a programme.

Contribution might look like

  • Funding a complete pilot cohort
  • Underwriting a programme's first full cycle
  • Providing the core delivery capacity to run one

Recognition

  • Named as a Founding Partner on the programme page and this showcase
  • Full profile page with contribution timeline
  • Named in the programme's published evidence pack
  • Invitation to partner roundtables and cycle reviews

Reporting: Quarterly narrative and financial reporting, plus the full end-of-cycle evidence pack.

02

Programme Partner

Sustained support for a named programme — funding, delivery capacity, or the specialist capability a cycle depends on.

Contribution might look like

  • Restricted grant to a named programme
  • Delivering a workshop strand across a cycle
  • Supplying mentors at scale
  • Hosting cohorts at your premises

Recognition

  • Named on the relevant programme page and this showcase
  • Full profile page
  • Contribution reflected in cycle reporting
  • Invitation to partner roundtables

Reporting: Six-monthly narrative reporting and the end-of-cycle evidence pack.

03

Delivery Partner

Organisations that do part of the work: co-designing, facilitating, hosting, referring participants or carrying local relationships.

Contribution might look like

  • Co-designing and co-delivering a programme strand
  • Referring and supporting participants locally
  • Providing venues, facilitation or logistics
  • Carrying the community relationships a cohort depends on

Recognition

  • Named on this showcase with a full profile page
  • Credited in delivery documentation for the work you did
  • Invitation to delivery network forums

Reporting: Joint delivery review at each cycle boundary.

04

Technology Partner

Providers of the tools, credits, connectivity or hardware that make low-cost delivery possible.

Contribution might look like

  • Cloud credits or discounted licensing
  • Hardware for cohorts with no device access
  • Connectivity or data for participants
  • Specialist engineering time

Recognition

  • Named on this showcase with a full profile page
  • Credited where the technology is used, with its role described plainly

Reporting: Annual statement of what was contributed and where it went. We publish the role a tool played — never an endorsement of it.

05

Skills & Employer Partner

Employers and professional bodies supplying mentors, reviewers, site visits and progression routes.

Contribution might look like

  • Releasing staff to mentor or facilitate
  • Hosting site visits and work shadowing
  • Reviewing portfolios against published criteria
  • Considering graduates for real openings

Recognition

  • Named on this showcase with a full profile page
  • Credited in the skills programme's reporting

Reporting: Annual summary of hours contributed and learners reached. Ubuntu Gale does not report, imply or promise employment outcomes.

06

Supporter

Organisations and individuals making a one-off or smaller contribution, in cash or in kind.

Contribution might look like

  • One-off donations once donations open
  • In-kind goods or services
  • Pro bono professional support
  • Amplifying a call for participants or mentors

Recognition

  • Listed on this showcase
  • Acknowledged in annual reporting

Reporting: Annual acknowledgement.

Ways to contribute

Money is one route of fifteen.

Some of the most useful contributions Ubuntu Gale receives never appear on a bank statement.

  • Programme funding
  • Restricted grant
  • Enterprise & supplier development spend
  • Skills development spend
  • Bursaries
  • Cloud credits or licensing
  • Hardware
  • Connectivity or data
  • Specialist professional skills
  • Mentors
  • Workshop facilitation
  • Venue or hosting
  • Participant referral
  • Research or evaluation
  • Employer host or work shadowing

How corporate funding works, including tax and B-BBEE treatment

How we partner

Six commitments that shape every partnership.

Partnership is not a logo exchange

A logo placement or an equipment donation alone is not an implementation partnership, and we will not describe it as one. What appears on this page reflects work that is actually happening.

Due diligence runs both ways

We check mission alignment, legal identity, beneficial ownership and the risk of dependency or undue influence. You should check us just as carefully — our registration documents are published.

No partner sets programme content

Funding a cohort does not buy influence over curriculum, participant selection or what the evidence says. Where a partner's product is used, that is disclosed and it is never presented as an endorsement.

Participants are not a marketing asset

No partner receives participant contact details, and no participant appears in partner material without their own separate consent. Case studies are agreed with the person in them.

We report what happened, including when it did not work

Reporting follows the published evidence ladder. A partner who funds a cohort that underperforms will be told that plainly, because the alternative makes every other report worthless.

Independence is a condition, not a courtesy

We will decline or end a partnership that would compromise our independence, create undue dependency on a single supporter, or require us to claim something we cannot evidence.

The process

From first conversation to appearing on this page.

  1. 01
    Conversation

    What you want to change, what you can contribute, and whether Ubuntu Gale is genuinely the right route for it. Sometimes the honest answer is that someone else is a better fit.

  2. 02
    Scoping

    The specific contribution, the programme or cohort it attaches to, the reporting you need and the timeline. Written down before anything is agreed.

  3. 03
    Due diligence

    Mission alignment, legal identity, beneficial ownership, conflicts and dependency risk — on both sides.

  4. 04
    Agreement

    Terms, restrictions, recognition and reporting cadence. Restricted funding is tracked separately from the point it arrives.

  5. 05
    Delivery and reporting

    The work happens. You receive reporting on the agreed cadence, and the evidence pack at the end of the cycle.

  6. 06
    Publication

    Your profile appears here once the partnership is active and you have approved the wording. Nothing is published before both are true.

Join the network.

Tell us what you want to change and what you can bring. The first conversation costs nothing and commits neither of us.

Start a conversation