In 2017 and 2018, Resource Equity, with support from the Ford Foundation, explored the idea that civil society organizations in Eastern Africa are uniquely positioned and qualified to enter into collaborative partnerships with private sector actors, communities, and governments to bring about socially responsible investments in extractive resources and land. With a particular emphasis on women, the project was aimed at exploring and articulating the potential for beneficial collaborations between CSOs and the private sector, to identify challenges to such collaborations, and to propose possible solutions to these barriers. This situation summary describes the project and the results.