How life has changed since the last time we had a conversation, Rachel Kolisi said, sitting down with Alberto Lidji on the Do One Better podcast for a reflective conversation about the new direction her work has taken. Having co-founded and led major impact work at the Kolisi Foundation, she has now stepped into a different kind of role — one focused not on building new programmes, but on amplifying the small, under-resourced organisations already doing meaningful work across South Africa.
The initiative, called Falling Forward, has a simple premise. There are so many small, incredible foundations doing phenomenal work in South Africa, but they have very little access to exposure, she said. I have been very privileged to grow a platform that does have a lot of eyes on it. I really want to showcase the phenomenal work that organisations are doing.
Why she stepped away
Kolisi was candid about her reasons for leaving the foundation she co-founded. As it grew, she said, it became more structured and corporate — valuable in its own right, but increasingly distant from the way she wanted to work. I found that it was further and further away from the way I wanted to work in the non-profit sector, she explained, noting that bigger organisations often lose the ability to see an issue and address it immediately.
Where large charities might take months of paperwork to fix something as simple as a roof, Kolisi wants Falling Forward to be able to step in and solve practical problems without delay. I want to create campaigns, I want to create opportunities for an everyday individual that wants to do good, she said, adding that for the organisations receiving that support, a big issue for them is a big issue for me too.
Navigating the hard days
Charity work, Kolisi acknowledged, is emotionally demanding, and she has had to develop her own ways of staying grounded through it. I have learnt on my journey in the last two years that two completely different things can co-exist at exactly the same time, she said. There are days when I feel completely disheartened and frustrated, and then I need to realign myself and focus on why I started this work in the first place.
Her approach on difficult days is to return to first principles — what is your heart for SA and what is your heart for people, for serving, for loving, and just go back to the basics, she said.
Drawing inspiration from global figures like Melinda French Gates, who has built a reputation for funding areas others overlook, Kolisi is focused on trust, kindness and the idea that meaningful change does not require fixing everything at once. Sometimes, she suggests, it begins with one person, one kind act and one moment of care.
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