Work

Work

One commitment runs through every field: equity and development, shaped by questions of power, participation and progress.

Hosh Ibrahim and Rajiv Joshi at the head of the table during the intergenerational dialogue they co-hosted at the 2023 Ibrahim Governance Weekend in Nairobi

Hosh’s Approach

Hosh speaking and gesturing with both hands during an Alliance panel discussion
On the panel at Alliance magazine’s 30th anniversary debate, London, 2026. Photo: Alliance.
  1. Understand the Institution First

    Start with its purpose, history and unspoken assumptions before proposing change. In practice, that means spending real time with people in both formal and informal roles before offering a view.

  2. Bringing People Together

    Bring the perspectives, generations and forms of knowledge missing from a decision into the same room. Institutional leaders alongside younger practitioners, funders alongside community voices, so decision-makers can see what they might otherwise miss.

  3. Make Disagreement Useful

    Build enough trust for a difficult question to sharpen the work rather than destabilise the relationship. This means naming the assumption that has gone untested, directly but without turning disagreement into rupture.

  4. Carry Decisions into Practice

    Connect people, decisions and resources so a direction can actually move. This requires sequencing, ownership and a clear next step, the follow-through that keeps a good decision from stalling.

  5. Know When to Make Room

    Treat leadership as stewardship: contribute fully, strengthen the institution and recognise when renewal requires new people. Building succession as part of the mandate from day one, not an afterthought.

Governance & Leadership

Hosh’s grounding in governance was shaped by his work at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, where he served as Director of Special Projects and now sits on its Council.

Hosh speaking in a discussion with Mo Ibrahim Foundation and NGN branding behind the participants
Hosh Ibrahim at a Mo Ibrahim Foundation board meeting with Festus Mogae, Mary Robinson and Graça Machel
The African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa under a clear blue sky

Clockwise from top:Interviewing Hanan Morsy at the Now Generation Forum, Ibrahim Governance Weekend, Nairobi, 2023; With Festus Mogae, Mary Robinson and Graça Machel at a Mo Ibrahim Foundation annual board meeting, Cannes. Photograph by Solen Feyissa (opens in a new tab) on Unsplash (opens in a new tab).

He also chairs the Foundation’s Now Generation Network, bringing younger African perspectives into conversations about governance, leadership and the continent’s future.

That intergenerational instinct runs through much of his work: helping boards and leadership teams recognise the perspectives they are missing, think through moments of transition, and create the conditions for more informed decision-making.

Ways he can help:

  • Strategic and governance counsel
  • Leadership transition support
  • Facilitated conversations at moments when an institution needs to reconsider what comes next

Philanthropy & Systems

Hosh’s philanthropy work sits at the intersection of people, capital and institutions.

Hosh speaking with a microphone at an African Philanthropy Forum event
A smiling shopkeeper in a yellow headscarf using her phone at her stall
Hosh with guests gathered in front of a large painting at a dinner

Clockwise from top:Speaking at the African Philanthropy Forum, Nairobi, 2023; A dinner in London in support of Brand63Africa, September 2026. Photograph by Ali Mkumbwa (opens in a new tab) on Unsplash (opens in a new tab).

Through Synergos and his membership of the Next Generation Giving Pledge, he has worked across environments where funders, civil society, business and public leadership need to understand one another better if resources are to reach the places where they can have lasting value.

His interest is not simply in giving, but in the architecture around it: how families and organisations decide what they want their resources to do, how values become funding choices, how relationships are built across generations, and how funders understand the communities and contexts they enter.

Ways he can help:

  • Identifying organisations and initiatives aligned with a family’s or institution’s purpose
  • Connecting capital with local leadership, knowledge and networks
  • Helping funders understand the cultural and institutional context in which they want to work

Global Health & Development

Hosh’s experience in health begins with institution-building.

Hosh standing beside Elmo with his hand raised
A young researcher in safety glasses and a mask taking notes at a laboratory bench
Three schoolgirls in headscarves reading a book together at a classroom desk

With Elmo in New York. Hosh serves on Sesame Workshop’s Global Advisory Board. Photographs by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography (opens in a new tab) and Fatima Yusuf (opens in a new tab) on Unsplash (opens in a new tab).

That experience gave him a practical understanding of what institutional ambition requires once it meets real conditions: systems, partnerships, operational discipline and the capacity to adapt without losing sight of purpose.

That experience now sits alongside his role on Sesame Workshop’s Global Advisory Board and his work with Africa CDC. In 2026, Africa CDC invited him to join the African High-Level Ministerial Committee on Global Health Architecture Reform as a Key African Strategic Voice. He has also participated in Africa CDC and WHO AFRO coordination around the response to the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

Across these roles, his focus is on the relationship between institutional ambition and practical delivery: how health and human development initiatives are shaped by local knowledge, how partnerships are built, and how programmes reach the people they are intended to serve.

Democracy, Rights & Culture

Hosh works with organisations navigating unfamiliar geographies, constituencies or political and cultural contexts, helping them understand the landscape before acting within it. His regional briefings currently include South Africa, and he is advising the Global Black Economic Forum on impact investment opportunities and development support.

Hosh taking part in a panel with a Global Black Pride Paris 2026 banner beside the speakers
Sculptures and paintings by African artists displayed in a museum gallery
A woman checking for her name on a voters list posted on a wall during Nigeria's 2019 general elections

With Micheal Ighodaro and Vincent Jones at the Global Black Pride Human Rights Conference, Paris, 2026. Photographs by Blessfield John (opens in a new tab) and Nnaemeka Ugochukwu (opens in a new tab) on Unsplash (opens in a new tab).

Hosh’s work across human rights, civic space and culture includes current service with the Fund for Global Human Rights and Outright International, alongside earlier roles with the Sigrid Rausing Trust and The Africa Center. His support of the arts in the UK grounds his commitment to culture, human rights and the exchange between Africa and its diaspora.

Across these institutions runs a recurring concern: organisations working across countries and communities need more than good intentions. They need cultural knowledge, trusted relationships and enough contextual understanding to recognise what they do not yet know.

Maximising progress and joy through tolerance, respect, cultural diversity, exceptionalism and wisdom.

Ways he can help:

  • Country and regional briefings
  • Connecting institutions with trusted local expertise
  • Advising on cultural and contextual entry into new geographies
  • Reviewing programmes, partnerships and communications for local relevance

He also convenes: private salons, board discussions, moderated panels and roundtables across generations, at a deliberately human scale.

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© 2026 Hosh Ibrahim. All Rights Reserved.

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© 2026 Hosh Ibrahim. All Rights Reserved.

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© 2026 Hosh Ibrahim. All Rights Reserved.

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