Section Editor: Kimi Uegaki Breaking barriers in sustainable development in East Africa: How Lightup Impact is leveraging communications to shift the power to the right actors Authors: Nicole Bezuidenhout, Valeria Santoro, Jeniffer Muganda Abstract Lightup Impact is an online community of 125 early-stage, locally led nonprofits (also known as grassroots organisations) focusing on gender and health in East Africa. As part of the grassroots movement, these organisations represent everyday people coming together to address local challenges, like poverty, lack of healthcare and education, and discrimination against marginalised groups. They mobilise resources and develop projects and programmes to drive social- and systems change from the ground up, focusing on addressing root causes rather than symptoms. Lightup Impact shifts the power to these young visionary leaders, located across Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania, and supports them with networking, trust-based partnerships, skills development, and guidance to increase their visibility and long-term success. Medical Writing. 2024;33(1):103–109. https://doi.org/10.56012/bgqk8712