Our Story -
About The International Social Impact Institute®

At The International Social Impact Institute® (The ISII), we have a rich and transformative story that spans decades. It all began with our founder’s education at The United Nations International School, Syracuse University iSchool, and Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, and her experiences in the tech marketing industry, where she worked with one of the leading computer manufacturers at the time. These formative experiences laid the foundation for our journey towards driving global social impact enabled by emerging technologies, with a commitment to service excellence.

Inspired by these experiences, our founder, Elizabeth (Liz) Ngonzi, became passionate about making a difference and addressing the challenges faced by marginalized leaders and organizations in the US and developing countries. Drawing upon her extensive experience in the social impact space, including running a consulting firm, serving as a turnaround CEO, and teaching nonprofits, Liz recognized the urgent need for accessible funding opportunities, educational resources, and essential networks for these organizations and leaders.

In 2020, Liz founded The International Social Impact Institute® (ISII) with a clear mission: to inspire, connect, activate, and transform institutions and individuals striving for a more equitable and sustainable world. Guided by our core values of Interconnectedness, Social Justice, Gratitude, Inclusivity, Integrity, Sustainability, and Service Excellence, ISII works to foster global ecosystems that magnify the impacts of these entities, enabling them to articulate and share their stories while forming powerful alliances that amplify their impact.

Our Story — Decades in the Making

From our founder's education at The United Nations International School, Syracuse University iSchool, Cornell University School of Hotel Administration to working in tech marketing with the number two computer manufacturer at the time, to the announcement of our founding on LinkedIn Live and our integration of Generative AI, we have been at the forefront of global social impact enabled by emerging technology and service excellence.

2020

Liz Ngonzi officially launched The International Social Impact Institute (ISII) on LinkedIn and YouTube Live, signifying the beginning of our journey in leveraging technology platforms for global impact. This milestone event allowed us to reach a wide audience and establish our presence as a catalyst for positive change on a global scale. Since then, we have continued to harness the power of technology to connect with diverse stakeholders, deliver impactful programs and services, and operate effectively with a geographically dispersed team and network of partners.

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2020

2021

In 2021, we unveiled a new logo for The International Social Impact Institute (ISII) that beautifully encapsulates our mission. The logo features three spirals, each composed of interconnected dots and spirals, symbolizing individuals coming together to create a ripple effect of impact. This design reflects our belief in the transformative power of individual actions, which can inspire and activate change within institutions and society as a whole. Our logo represents our commitment to fostering a more sustainable and equitable world through collective effort.

2021

Our Story –
HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR FOUNDING IN 2020

Our New Logo

The Institute’s new logo embodies our mission to inspire, connect, and activate individuals and organizations towards making the world more sustainable and equitable. The three spirals, each containing dots with spirals representing individuals, symbolize our belief in the ripple effect of individual impact that can lead to transformation in institutions and society at large.

Our team

The Institute is backed by a dedicated core team and partner consultants who share the organization’s core values and bring together diverse backgrounds and experiences to advise and train clients from various public and social sector areas, including arts and culture, associations, government, public health, education, human rights, impact and traditional investing, philanthropy, social justice, and youth development.

Youth Giving

The global ecosystem powered by The International Social Impact Institute® – Empowering youth to create global impact.

NY NOW® interview

With our founder / CEO, Liz Ngonzi, about the origins and purpose of The International Social Impact Institute®.

Virtual Personal Brand Story Development Workshop for Nonprofit Fundraisers

Development and Delivery of a virtual workshop for members of the National Capital Gift Planning Council (NCGPC) and the Washington DC Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP-DC) on how develop a compelling personal brand story to increase supporter engagement and fundraising support.

Sustainable Leadership, Fundraising and Digital Engagement Coaching and Training Program

Development and Delivery of the Sustainable Leadership, Financial Management/Funding and Digital Engagement Coaching, Peer-to-peer Learning, and Training Program for the 2021-2022 cohort of the CIVICUS Global Alliance Youth Action Lab.

eCornell Keynotes Personal Branding Webinar and Workshop

Development, marketing and delivery of the eCornell Keynote webinar and workshop – Telling Your Story: How to Align Your Purpose with Your Paycheck – for 2,000+ purpose-driven leaders and professionals.

Fundraising Webinar Series for African Nonprofit Organizations

Development, Marketing and Delivery of the African Resource Mobilisation Webinar Series in close collaboration with King Baudouin Foundation US (and other valued partners) for 2,000 nonprofit leaders and professionals in Africa and across the globe.

Virtual Executive Education Program for Nelson Mandela University

Development and Delivery of the Nelson Mandela University “Global Resource Mobilisation and Branding Executive Education Programme” for the university’s senior leadership in South Africa.

What our partners say about us

"Liz's captivating presentation on harnessing the power of generative AI to drive social impact and fundraising was truly eye-opening. Her passion for leveraging technology, specifically AI, for the greater good ignited a sense of possibility within each of us and sparked lively discussions on the endless opportunities that lie ahead."

"Another round of applause for an absolutely INCREDIBLE session yesterday - we are still on a complete high from the interactive, thought-provoking insight you provided our cohort in Fundraising! Thank you for sharing your incredible gift of storytelling and knowledge sharing with us this year, it has kicked off our programmatic year in a very big way.”

“Inspired by the amazing work you are doing Elizabeth (Liz) Ngonzi, CFRE and super proud of USAID's Engendering Industries program for making The Women in African Power Network Sustainability Training and Coaching Programme and so many more AWESOME women-led offerings possible.”

"The capacitation programme with The International Social Impact Institute is important to us to help position our university…The best contribution we can make as Mandela University is to marshal ourselves to be the scholarly articulation of his social and political contribution to the improvement of humanity; to put together institutional arrangements to expand our national, continental and global footprint of scholarly outputs promoting social justice and equality.”

“We partnered with The International Social Impact Institute to deliver a fascinating interview with Tom Higley, who talked about solving the world's biggest problems through entrepreneurial methods. Liz was instrumental in securing Tom as a speaker and did such a brilliant and engaging job of moderating the conversation with him. The whole event really helped to expand Resource Alliance's offerings and audiences, at a time when the sector needs to think about new ways of solving the world's biggest challenges. It was fascinating, timely and vitally important to learn how social entrepreneurship and other new revenue models can help with this. We can't thank Liz enough! :)”

"We were very happy to have Liz present at our Wilmington Trust Philanthropic Speaker Series Virtual Coffee Chat (session #84) on Wednesday, June 30, 2021. Her topic, “Digital Strategies for Funders" was very helpful to Wilmington Trust’s endowment, foundation and nonprofit clients and their trustees. She did an excellent job describing the Digital Storytelling Ecosystem. This is very important to all nonprofits as they pivot back to the new world. She also provided key insights on how to maximize LinkedIn to tell your story. She is a top notch teacher and coach and we were very lucky to have her at our session!"

Thanks again for your help with this successful event and also for sharing on social media. You are a rockstar! I honestly look forward to having more opportunities to collaborate in the future. 🌺

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Our Story - About The International Social Impact Institute®