Strengthening Impact Through Shared Learning: Reflections from the African Region Summit
From 3–5 June 2026 in Harare, Zimbabwe, colleagues from across Teach For All African Region, gathered for the Building Understanding of Our Theory of Change and Impact Summit, an internal convening focused on deepening shared learning around how we communicate our Theory of Change and strengthen impact storytelling.
In attendance from Teach For Sierra Leone were our CEO, Madam Josephine M Saidu, MERL Manager Baio Conteh, and Communications Lead Jeneba Samura.
This year’s African Region Summit strongly emphasized the growing importance of collaboration between MERL (and Development teams, reinforcing how both functions work together to strengthen impact understanding, communication, and scale.
Across the sessions, our participants explored how closer alignment between MERL and Development can bridge the gap between internal evidence generation and external storytelling. The discussions moved from strategic dialogues with CEOs and partners to practical working sessions focused on tools, collaboration, and evidence-based communication.
A key takeaway was the importance of strengthening partnerships through evidence, ensuring that data, learning, and storytelling are integrated to clearly communicate the change happening in classrooms and communities.
Reflecting on the experience, Jeneba Samura highlighted the importance of translating evidence into clear, compelling stories that amplify impact and connect deeply with external audiences.
Baio Conteh emphasized the need for stronger data systems and collaboration to ensure evidence is effectively generated, shared, and used to guide decision-making and communication.
Overall, the convening reaffirmed the value of cross-functional collaboration in building stronger, clearer, and more compelling impact narratives across the network.
