With international aid budgets shrinking, the “who” at the top of social impact organizations has never mattered more. Recently, we sat down with Dela Atubra, Founder of NGO Recruit Partners, to discuss the high-stakes world of leadership and governance.
Since 2024, donor countries have significantly reduced budgets for international aid, putting increased pressure on social impact organisations to do more with fewer resources [1]. In such an environment, leadership and governance structures carry heightened weight for organisational sustainability, and ultimately for the outcomes delivered for communities.
Dela Atubra, Founder and Managing Director of NGO Recruit Partners, works closely with boards and senior leadership teams to support organisations through leadership transitions, succession planning, and moments of strategic change.
She focuses on ensuring that social impact organisations have leadership and governance structures capable of carrying complexity, accountability, and long-term impact across Africa, Europe, and beyond. We sat down with Dela to explore her journey of building a firm at the intersection of leadership, governance, and the social impact sector.
1. What inspired you to start your firm? Share a story or incident that reaffirmed your vision of the firm.
“I started off with a simple but persistent observation. Across the African continent, I repeatedly saw highly capable local leaders overlooked for senior roles, often in favour of international hires/expats brought in by default rather than by necessity. The gap wasn’t a lack of talent; it was a lack of trust, visibility, and intentional recruitment practices. Leadership decisions were being made without fully engaging with the local context, and the consequences were felt by organisations and communities alike.
That gap is what prompted me to start NGO Recruit Partners. The response from senior professionals across the continent was immediate. Leaders reached out not because of branding or visibility, but because they felt seen. Their experience was being taken seriously in leadership conversations, often for the first time. That response confirmed that the need for shaping leadership decisions within social impact organisations was real, and that there was value in approaching leadership recruitment differently.
In the past decade, shaping leadership decisions has been a privilege and responsibility for me.”
2. What helped you grow and scale the impact of your firm? How did you go about attracting investors and partners?
“Many of the organisations that NGO Recruit Partners collaborated with were international, operating across Africa, Europe, the United States, and elsewhere. Over time, they began to ask for our support in several regions where they operated. So it was trust that helped us expand the firm.
One thing I would like to highlight is that we did not seek external investment or rapid expansion. We kept the firm intentionally small. This allows us depth, discretion, and close collaboration with boards and senior leadership teams, particularly during sensitive moments such as succession, transition, and organisational change.”
3. Who has influenced your thinking around leadership and judgement and what role have mentors and trusted networks played in your journey?
“My thinking around leadership and judgement has been shaped less by formal models and more by proximity to people carrying real responsibility. For example, board members, founders and senior leaders navigating complexity under pressure. Over the years, mentors have played a quiet but decisive role, particularly those who modelled restraint, long-term thinking and integrity in moments where shortcuts were tempting. Trusted networks, peers, advisors and fellow founders have served as a sounding board to sharpen judgement and perspective.”
4. Does being a woman in this space come with unique challenges or insights?
“Building the firm as a Black woman founder in a space that has historically been dominated by others often meant needing to establish credibility early on. There are a small number of Black women globally who have led leadership and executive search work within the social impact sector, including mentors whose work paved the way. But largely, this remains a notably underrepresented space. That reality sharpened my commitment to quality, judgement, and consistency, knowing that the work itself has to ultimately speak louder than position or profile.”
5. What lessons would you share with other women building their own path?
“One of the most important lessons for me has been to claim space without apology. I also feel that building something with clarity and confidence, and staying rooted in the value you bring, creates its own momentum.”
At a moment when funding is scarce, appointing leaders who understand mission complexity, the local context and organisational culture, is one of the most consequential decisions for social impact organisations. Dela’s systems-level perspective on leadership and governance highlights how consequential leadership decisions truly are for social impact organisations.
References
[1] OECD (2025). Policy brief: Cuts in official development assistance: OECD projections for 2025 and the near term.
This article is based on a written interview with Dela Atubra, dated February 10, 2026.
Thank you Dela for your unique insights! Connect with Dela Atubra on LinkedIn.