Friday, July 4 – Uganda 🇺🇬

When I first stepped off that tiny plane and into the heat-humming air of rural Uganda, the red dirt clung to my boots like it had a message for me. And I listened. You see, this wasn’t my first dusty runway. I’ve been on rooftops in Rio stringing wires for solar routers and helped wire pop-up telehealth centers in the bayous of Louisiana. But there was something in this village—something pulsing just under the surface. Urgency. Determination. Destiny, even.

They didn’t have broadband. Or 5G. Or a stable power grid. But what they did have was something I’ve learned to chase over the course of securing more than half a billion dollars in funding: vision and grit. The kind that doesn’t wait for perfect conditions. The kind that builds anyway.

🌆 Setting the Scene

The village sat about 90 kilometers northeast of Kampala, where the roads get bumpier and the air smells like woodsmoke and jackfruit. Children played with toy cars carved out of banana stems. A chalkboard in a schoolhouse held a half-erased lesson from the day before, and the local clinic used notebooks—literal ones—to track patient history.

No Wi-Fi. No digital classrooms. No way to call for help during an emergency. That’s not just inconvenient—that’s injustice.

What hit me hardest wasn’t the infrastructure gap. It was the invisible ceiling over this community’s future. Brilliant kids with no way to Google their curiosity. A nurse, Ruth, who told me she lost a mother last year because she couldn’t get remote access to a specialist in time.

🎯 The Visionaries

Enter Grace Namatovu. If ever there was a woman who carried fire in her voice, it was her. Principal of the local primary school, mother of four, and self-described “tech dreamer in a no-signal zone.” She’d been advocating for digital education since 2012.

And then there’s Luka Akena. A local engineer who could MacGyver a satellite dish from scrap metal and bicycle spokes. Luka once built a wireless radio tower using leftover rebar and a car battery.

Together, they founded Connected Futures Uganda, a scrappy coalition determined to prove that their community wasn’t too remote, too poor, or too “developing” to step into the future.

Their dream? To create the country’s first Digital Village—powered by solar, connected by mesh Wi-Fi, and designed for community-first access.

💼 Enter Mr. Grant Money

Grace’s email hit my inbox on a Sunday morning. Subject line: “We’re ready. Are you?”

I’d just poured a cup of strong Kenyan coffee and was reviewing disaster relief funding for a post-hurricane community in the Gulf. But something about her message pulled me in.

The opportunity was clear. This wasn’t just a connectivity project—it was health, education, gender equity, workforce development, and climate adaptation all braided together.

✍️ Crafting the Winning Application

We built the proposal like we were building a movement. We led with human stories—like Ruth, the nurse, and Sanyu, who borrowed a neighbor’s phone to teach herself long division from a YouTube video.

We outlined how the Digital Village would work—solar-powered routers, mesh network, public Wi-Fi zones—but we framed it as an equity tool.

📢 The Approval & Aftermath

First, a $150,000 pilot grant from USAID. Then, EU and UNICEF came through. But money isn’t the measure. Impact is.

Young women were being trained to manage the network. Luka became a TEDx speaker. Paul, 74, Skyped his daughter for the first time in 11 years.

🔑 Grant Money Takeaways

Now, if you're a dreamer reading this from a crowded nonprofit office, a village under the radar, or a library with a slow signal, I want you to know—you’re not too far, too small, or too under-resourced. The key is how you tell your story, who you bring to the table, and how hard you're willing to push.

👋 Your Turn

So now I’m looking at you.
What’s your version of the Digital Village?
Where’s your community waiting for connection, healing, momentum?

Drop it in the comments.

📍 Charging Forward: Mr. Grant Money & the EV Revolution in Tulsa

Tulsa wanted to flip the script on who benefits from clean technology. This wasn’t just an infrastructure challenge. It was a resurrection.

🌆 Setting the Scene

Tulsa is a city of paradoxes. It gave the world the Black Wall Street. It fueled America’s car culture and watched its public transit decay.

When Kayla Jefferson, Tulsa’s Director of Sustainability, reviewed the city’s EV infrastructure, she found every charger was concentrated in high-income areas. Meanwhile, North Tulsa had none.

🎯 The Visionaries

Together, Route Spark, Kayla, and GreenRoots Tulsa dreamed up Tulsa ChargeNet—a locally managed EV charging network installed in public places where it would matter most.

💼 Enter Mr. Grant Money

Tulsa needed $7 million. I built a funding framework anchored in Justice40, emissions reduction, and state energy match funds.

✍️ Crafting the Winning Application

We included maps of pollution and income inequality, stories from rideshare drivers and youth programs. This was more than a tech proposal. It was a case study in equitable innovation.

📢 The Approval & Aftermath

Tulsa won $7.2 million. Route Spark launched. Local residents became site managers. Third graders helped paint the first charger mural.

Des Moines and Sacramento took notice. Tulsa became a model for mid-sized green revolutions.

🔑 Grant Money Takeaways

Here’s what Tulsa taught me:

• Don’t pitch a project—pitch a prototype.

• Equity is a multiplier.

• Stories sell. Data tells.

• Be specific.

• Build solar-ready solutions.

👋 What About You?

What neighborhood still breathes dirty air while watching others zip by in electric sedans?

You bring the idea. I’ll bring the juice.

💬 Discussion Questions

1. How would access to fast, affordable internet change your community—or one you care about?

2. What challenges or solutions in this story stood out most to you? Could they apply where you live?

3. How can funders better center local voices and lived experience in tech projects?

4. If you designed your own “Digital Village,” what would be the first three services you’d include—and why?

5. What’s a challenge in your world that might actually be a hidden gateway to innovation—if it had the right support?

👋 Now It’s Your Turn

Got a digital dream burning in your back pocket?
Want to bring Wi-Fi, solar, or tech equity to your town, village, or block?

Reach out.
You bring the vision.
I’ll bring the funding roadmap.

Until next time—
– Mr. Grant Money

👉 Want more funding journeys like this?

Explore stories like these to see how ordinary people are unlocking extraordinary change—with the right support.