Organisations
77 organisations have taken part in the Innovation Fellowship since 2018
These organisations work in different spheres of the civil society sector in South Africa.
Click on the logos below to find out more about each organisation.
Activate's aim is to contribute toward the capacity building of young people towards social solidarity and to ensure they become active citizens who drive positive social, economic and political change for South Africa and the global good.
AVA embraces volunteering as a tool to unlock the potential of unemployed youth (18-25 years) by training and placing them in full-time volunteering positions in a variety of contexts. Through these sustained volunteering opportunities, enriched by a unique personal development programme, the volunteers gain experience and are empowered to become economically independent and socially responsible citizens.
bumb’INGOMSO is an HIV Prevention Project which aims to reduce the incidence of HIV by ensuring that vulnerable groups, especially adolescent girls and young women, make increasing use of appropriate multi-sectoral services and support measures (including counselling and testing) that lead to positive changes in knowledge, attitudes and practices.
CIE supports over 2 000 learners in 40 under-resourced schools ensuring that they have access to quality education in independent schools in rural and township settings. Each child in the school is helped to recognise his or her potential and, in a safe and encouraging environment, explore where that might lead.
The Development Action Group (DAG) works to create equal, inclusive and sustainable neighbourhoods and cities through development processes that foster human rights, equity and dignity.
Their mission is to facilitate the creation of resilient, diverse, equitable and democratic cities through the proactive participation of civil society, government and the private sector to address spatial, social and economic inequalities.
The Greyton Transition Town initiative is a community-based organisation that seeks to unlock and cultivate the resourcefulness of the people of Genadendal, Greyton, Voorstekraal and Bereaville to better work together to build a resilient, sustainable and united community, redressing the past and walking into the future together, in the face of climate change and economic crisis.
enke: Make Your Mark (enke) is a leadership development organisation that generates and incubates youth-led social impact.
They have a vision of a world that is an enabling environment for young people to recognise their own value, thrive and mobilise for meaningful change. They work towards achieving this vision through leadership and entrepreneurial skills development programmes that provide young people (15-35 years old) with theoretical and practical skills to be active engaged citizens that thrive socio-economically.
Our mission is to promote safety in communities, to reduce the trauma experienced by rape survivors, to encourage the reporting of rape and to work actively to address flaws in legislation.
We are a creative team of people who invest in rural CP services and offer innovative solutions to improve the quality of life of children with CP and their families. Our strength lies in the fact that our team consists of therapists, parents of children with CP and a young adult affected by CP. Together with our dedicated board of directors, we are able to contribute a range of perspectives and ideas when tackling the current challenges faced by children with CP and their families.
SmartStart was established in 2015 to close the access gap to early learning opportunities. These remain out of reach for the majority of children, especially those in underserviced communities
We are a community-based organisation that provides innovative solutions for sustainable development. We aim to create safer, stronger communities by providing educational and skills-building opportunities to individuals. Our mission is to empower people to create positive change – change in individuals, change in their communities and eventually changes that impact the world.
Established in 1998, Tshikululu is a social investment fund manager and advisor, working alongside investors and other development partners to maximise the power of social investment. We define social investment as any financial commitment – from grant making to impact investing – that seeks to drive and measure social impact. Our service offering is underpinned by a deep and hands-on understanding of the complexities of development and social investment.
Axium Education is led by South Africans Michelle and Craig Paxton. Besides being passionate educators they have extensive experience internationally and in the corporate world. Axium Education is based in the rural village of Zithulele in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The village is located - from an educational perspective - in a country that is underperforming compared to its poorer neighbours on international assessments, in one of this country’s worst performing provinces, in a former homeland area characterized by the worst socioeconomic deprivation, and within this homeland in some of the worst performing districts. CAP is an agile, pioneering, and honest non-profit situated in the Western Cape, South Africa. We exist to create opportunities and growth in rural communities through leading learning and teaching, focused methodologies, uplifting relationships, and impactful engagement with society. We are outcome-driven: producing resilient learners in schools, committed youth in growth, thinkers in social care, problem-solvers in education, and leaders in community building. Beyond offering real excellence in our programs, CAP is active and proactive; optimistic and transformative. Since our establishment in 2011, we are known to identify, realise and unleash potential. We are invested in human happiness: our care extends as much to the individual as it does to the quality of their personal development experience and to global best practices in research, theory, and application. We are accountable: we say what we mean and we do what we say. As CAP we promote ubuntu and keep our promises. Founded in 2009 our goal is to ensure that hundreds of thousands of young people become alive to their potential and recognize their ability to lead change in their own lives, their schools and communities. We also aim to ensure that high schools in South Africa are capacitated to make values, youth engagement and youth-adult partnerships part of the school culture and thereby foster conducive environments for development, learning and teaching. After leaving schools, Columba alumni are connected to an purpose-led network of peers for support, to collaborate in action that can serve society, and be connected to employment or bursary opportunities or showcase their own businesses with others. Our purpose is awakening the leader within to change lives and their communities. We work in close association with the Department of Education, building the capacity of high schools, serving economically disadvantaged communities to embed our values-based leadership model. ELMA aims to improve the lives of children and their families, with a primary focus in Africa. ELMA Philanthropies provides philanthropic advisory services to The ELMA Group of Foundations. From Cape Town, Johannesburg, Kampala, and New York, our team develops and manages philanthropic investments and partnerships for the foundations. We invest in high-impact organizations that further the objectives of the foundations within the ELMA Group of Foundations Nal’ibali (isiXhosa for “here’s the story”) is a national reading-for-enjoyment campaign. It seeks to spark and embed a culture of reading in children from birth to 12 years of age, across South Africa, through cultivating, enticing reading content in all South African languages. Nal’ibali promotes the use of home languages in nurturing and strengthening reading culture in children as home language is transparent, easy to learn and is the first language that children connect with, in order to socialise and make sense of the world around them. Nal’ibali stories build a healthy ongoing appetite in children to engage more with reading, and to develop other important literacy skills while creating their own reading experiences. Children who develop strong relationships with books and reading materials early, are more likely to adopt and sustain a culture of reading. Adults who are in children’s spaces have the responsibility to nurture a love of reading in children as early as possible, to advance children’s development. REAP’s constitution provides that: Since 2001 REAP has worked in close partnership with state funding entities (notably NSFAS and National Skills Fund) as well as a variety of South African and international donors to enable thousands of young South Africans from low income households in rural areas to access and succeed in post school education and training (PSET). We are a community-based organisation that provides innovative solutions for sustainable development. We aim to create safer, stronger communities by providing educational and skills-building opportunities to individuals. Our mission is to empower people to create positive change – change in individuals, change in their communities and eventually changes that impact the world. Founded in 2009 and formally registered in 2011, Waves for Change is a South African non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting the mental wellness of adolescents facing significant adversity in high-stress environments. Operating in the Western and Eastern Cape, with a support hub office in Cape Town, we fuse the rush and therapeutic benefits of surfing with Take 5 evidence-based activities to create a fun, culturally relevant and youth-led service for adolescents. Waves for Change grew from voluntary weekend surfing sessions run at Muizenberg Beach, Cape Town, by founders Apish Tshetsha and Tim Conibear. The findings of early research conducted at Waves for Change highlighted the importance of effective recruitment, training, and supervision of caring coaches to whom adolescents could relate. Waves for Change worked with adolescents, universities, and mental health practitioners to develop a coach training and supervision protocol, as well as a simple teaching routine and fun activities that could be integrated with surfing and support adolescents in coping with stress. Founded as the Isiqalo Foundation Trust, Waves for Change now delivers free, 10-month Surf Therapy courses to 2,800 adolescents growing up in high-stress environments across 5 beach hubs in South Africa. Waves for Change also shares the active ingredients of our award-winning Surf Therapy programme with the world for use in other settings and physical activities through the Take 5 programme. Women & Men Against Child Abuse is a non-profit Child Protection Organisation committed to fighting for the rights of the child and to end the abuse of children in South Africa, through a multifaceted, dynamic and aggressive offensive against any form of abuse and gender violence. ORGANISATION MAIN PROJECT OBJECTIVE OF THE KIDZ CLINICS To provide a one-stop holistic basket of services to abused and vulnerable children and their parents, and to educate and empower other children, to prevent abuse. Wordworks is a South African non-profit organisation that focuses on early language and literacy development in the first eight years of children’s lives. Since 2005 we have worked in under-resourced communities with those adults best positioned to impact on young children’s language and literacy development – parents and caregivers, family and community members, home-visitors, early childhood development practitioners and Grade R to Grade 3 teachers. We offer five main programmes, which are used by our network of partners which include preschools, schools, libraries, community organisations, training and resource NGOs, tertiary institutions, education districts and other government departments.
The Rural Education Access Programme shall embrace the call for the community serving humanity. It shall strive to meet the educational needs of those marginalised by poverty, geographical location, gender and disability. Principles and policy shall be informed by values that redress inequality and heal the land. Peace, justice, service, freedom and the dignity of the individual, interfaith access and education for employment, will reflect the Catholic ethos governing the organisation.
Under the umbrella body of WMACA there are two Kidz Clinics – in Alexandra and Boksburg – and various prevention and diversion programmes to assist abused children. Besides actual service delivery WMACA is very vocal in its advocacy role, using the media and other platforms to highlight any injustices that abused children have to endure through inadequate judicial processes.
To provide FREE Medical and therapeutic intervention and treatment services to abused children.
ACFS is dedicated to the development and protection of children and their families through a focus on improving access to nutrition, health, early learning and stimulation, as well as skills development.
Our mission is to empower young people through education, equipping them with skills and creating meaningful opportunities to become active citizens living purpose-driven lives
enke: Make Your Mark (enke) is a leadership development organisation that generates and incubates youth-led social impact.
They have a vision of a world that is an enabling environment for young people to recognise their own value, thrive and mobilise for meaningful change. They work towards achieving this vision through leadership and entrepreneurial skills development programmes that provide young people (15-35 years old) with theoretical and practical skills to be active engaged citizens that thrive socio-economically.
The FunDza Literacy Trust runs three major programmes to get teens and young adults across the country reading, writing and learning.
The focus of the organisation through all the programmes is reintegration of children into families (biological/kinship/foster care). The work at the CYCC is focused on restoring the child and building resilience in them and the focus within the communities is to strengthening of families through training and support groups and empowering the communities.
Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator is a not-for-profit social enterprise that solves youth employment through partnerships. We work with partners who, like us, are committed to results that can work at scale – including government, the private sector, civil society, and over 4 million youth. We are working to unlock jobs and break down the barriers that keep millions of young South Africans unemployed. Our vision is of a growing economy and a society that works, powered by the potential of young people.
LETCEE’s vision is to ensure that all children can develop and grow in a nurturing environment. To achieve this, we work to strengthen families; provide daily meals to children whose families are unable to provide adequate nutrition for them and ensure children have access to a good quality ECD service. Our ECD services include providing accredited ECD training; facilitating non –centre based programmes and ensuring children have access to educational toys and games at our toy libraries.
The NACCW is a professional association focused on the development and professionalization of child and youth care workers. It is both a professional association and a non-profit organisation providing training, material development, and consultancy for child and youth care workers. The NACCW supports the development of models for the effective deployment of child and youth B10care workers in a range of different settings, including residential care, families and communities, and schools – in order to promote and advocate for the upholding and protection of children rights.
We’re passionate about raising up generations of Urban Heroes (youth from the margins) who find hope and purpose in Jesus.
We’re on a mission to equip people with skills to overcome homelessness.
enke: Make Your Mark (enke) is a leadership development organisation that generates and incubates youth-led social impact.
They have a vision of a world that is an enabling environment for young people to recognise their own value, thrive and mobilise for meaningful change. They work towards achieving this vision through leadership and entrepreneurial skills development programmes that provide young people (15-35 years old) with theoretical and practical skills to be active engaged citizens that thrive socio-economically.
Afrika Tikkun places youth development at the centre of our service, offering Cradle to Career developmental programmes and our fully integrated 360º Social Services programme. Together, we can impact lives.
At iThemba Projects, we empower people to bring the lasting change their community dreams of - because if change is sustainable, all
of us win. We focus on 3 key areas – nutrition, ECD and providing caring adult role models for kids and teens. A community built and owned community centre (iThemba LamaMpumuza Community Centre) is a visual representation of our work in the centre of the community.
MOSAIC’s model and approach is targeted at preventing all forms of abuse and violence against women, providing high quality response services when incidences occur, and supporting clients through the process of healing and rebuilding their lives.
SaveAct promotes sustainable livelihoods and resilience amongst vulnerable groups, including women and youth through a savings-led economic development model. They promote the above through direct implementation and through the development of partnerships with NGOs carrying a similar vision, with increased emphasis on the latter. They achieve this through diversified funding arrangements and income streams from partners and from members of savings groups.
Philani operates a home based maternal, child health and nutrition programme called the Mentor Mother Programme in Eastern and Western Cape, and has initiated and is supporting Mentor Mother programmes in Swaziland, Ethiopia, Egypt and Sweden. An ECD programme with 24 ECD classes is linked to the Mentor Mother Programme and a CHWs training programme offers in classroom and in the field training to CHWs employed by NGOs and the Department of Health.
Shine Literacy is a non-profit organisation that seeks to create a culture of reading in South African schools, homes,
workplaces and communities, thereby improving literacy outcomes for young children from low-income communities. Working in partnership with teachers, volunteers and parents, our award winning, evidence-based programmes provide effective and sustained support to children as they learn to read and write, helping to foster a life-long love of books and learning.
Sihamba Sonke works with rural youth who might feel trapped due to socio-economic challenges. We use a whole person approach with community programmes as a platform to develop a value-driven purposeful life and then teach others to do the same. Participants of our programme receive skills training, career support, entrepreneurship training to help them in the next step in their career path. Our programmes includes a chess & sports programme in schools, agriculture, building, a skills year and computer literacy training for the local community.
At Siyakwazi we help every child reach their full potential, supporting children with barriers to learning. We achieve this through early identification and intervention, advocating for the rights of children with disabilities, showcasing a model of inclusion within the community. Our school readiness supports children under the age of 7 who are at risk of falling behind through catch-up sessions in the classroom and in the homes.
With over 6500 members the SexualViolence Research Initiative is the world’s largest network on research on violence against women and violence against children. This network provides a space where global role players in the field connect with one another, share, and promote their research and practice-based knowledge, work to influence policies and practice, and improve the lives of those who have experienced gendered violence. We do this through funding research, strengthening research capacity, promoting partnerships and influencing change in low and middle income countries.
The Learning Trust is developing the South African after-school sector by supporting early stage, community-based organisations that deliver extended learning programmes. Our goal is to ensure that young people in marginalised and under-resourced communities have the requisite competencies to succeed beyond the school age.
We believe that for this to happen, after-school must be mainstreamed as an essential part of the education ecosystem.
The Other Foundation is a community foundation that advances freedom, equality, and social inclusion of homosexual and bisexual women and men, and transgender and intersex people in 13 southern African countries. It does this by being a fundraiser, grant maker, knowledge developer, and convenor working in partnership with others.
The Sozo Foundation a non-profit organisation on a mission to see the youth of Vrygrond equipped and empowered to live with dignity, purpose and hope by creating pathways to employment: through a heart of unconditional love. Our main focus areas are Education, Skills and Social Enterprise. We run an after school tutoring support programme for 100 High School Learners and a GED programme, a 8 months Skills programme in the morning for 70 young people ages 16 – 26 and have several enterprise projects and programmes.
AFRA is a land rights advocacy non-governmental organisation (NGO) working to support marginalised black rural people, with a focus on farm dwellers. AFRA works an inclusive and gender equitable society where human rights are valued, realised and protected and where all citizens have access to the means to ensure a decent standard of living and quality of life. The organisation does through promoting, realising and protecting the human rights of farm dwellers, to ensure that farm dwellers achieve an improved standard of living and quality of life, thereby restoring their human dignity as equal citizens in a democratic society. AFRA works intensively with communities in and around the uMgungundlovu District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and extensively in offering support and advice. Leveraging the potential of a rights-based framework, RX Radio uses the magic of the microphone to give children a platform for expression, information and participation. Enabling them to ‘join the conversation’, we legitimise marginalised voices, break down social barriers and catalyse the transformative relationships needed to build a cohesive network of support (family/peer/professional). The ease, portability and affordability of radio makes it the perfect medium to empower chronically ill children to reconnect with the world around them. Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA) is a leading Section 21 Non-Profit Organisation that addresses food security, environmental sustainability, and greening. Our core purpose is to improve lives and landscapes towards healthy people on a healthier planet. We have a large and diverse programme portfolio with programmes active across South Africa since 1990. Our ethos is one of efficiency, transparency, and accountability. We run our non-profit like a business / social enterprise and continue to innovate in the space. This approach has resulted in us being one of the best social development organisations on the continent. After more than thirty years of experience, we understand what it takes to achieve real, long-term sustainability which makes a positive difference to the lives of all South Africans. Funda Wande, a member of Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies, is a not-for-profit organization that aims to equip teachers to teach reading-for-meaning and calculating-with-confidence in Grades R-3 in South Africa. We do this by hiring the best people we can find and work as a team to create high-quality materials, experiment with different teacher training approaches, and independently evaluate everything we do. Our materials and training are created in the languages that children speak and understand and are freely-available for anyone to download and use. Our programs and materials are all evidence-based, independently-evaluated, policy-aligned and cost-effective. Established in 2005, Gender DynamiX (GDX) is the first registered Africa-based public benefit organisation to focus solely on the transgender and broader gender diverse community. What started as a mere vision, slowly grew into a grassroots organisation. GDX has since become an institutionalised non-profit organisation (NPO) that is fundamental to the development of the trans and gender diverse movement(s) in South Africa and across Africa. Over the past 19 years GDX has built up a strong track record in understanding the diverse nature of the work and the diverse needs of trans and gender diverse persons both in South Africa and its surrounding regions. Based on its organisational values, GDX aims to work in ways that uphold ideals of self-identification, self-determination, respect for diversity, inclusivity, meaningful participation, transparency and accountability; whilst seeking to position trans and gender diverse persons through the realisation of their (our) autonomy and potential for nation-building. Ilifa Labantwana is a South African early childhood development programme founded in 2007. Ilifa Labantwana works towards a South Africa where everyone contributes to children reaching their full potential. We use our technical expertise and deep understanding of government alongside evidence, collaboration, and advocacy to strengthen the early childhood development ecosystem. Judges Matter is a research and advocacy project dedicated to enhancing transparency and accountability within South Africa’s judiciary. Judges Matter conducts rigorous applied research, monitoring, and advocacy to inform evidence-based legal, policy and practice reforms to ensure the judiciary remains independent, effective, and trusted by the public. Judges Matter’s key areas of focus are on: We work in partnership with rural schools and underserved communities in South Africa to ensure children and young people have access to a quality education and economic opportunity. Working across 22 schools in KwaZulu-Natal, we support over 6,450 children and youth and 300 teachers through our four core programmes: Early Childhood Development, Top-Up Teaching, Educator Development and Skills and Employment. EF was founded in 1992 by John De Wit and Matome Malatji, beginning with two small loans and one big vision. Our beginnings took root in Limpopo province, the poorest region of the country. While our presence there is still strong, our reach has expanded. We have now grown to serve about 170,723 clients, 99% of which are women, in 7 different South African provinces. Developing an enterprise is a path out of poverty. For our clients, the biggest barrier to starting a microenterprise isn’t the motivation, a lack of entrepreneurship, or a lack of skills—it’s the capital. By removing this barrier, we’re connecting women to the resources they need to improve their lives. We use a modified version of the tried-and-true group-lending methodology developed by Grameen Bank. We collect no collateral from our clients. Woza Moya is the economic empowerment project of the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust which is a holistic HIV/AIDS project which was started in 1991. Since its inception, the Centre has attempted to uplift the lives of those both infected and affected by HIV/AIDS through practical and sustainable care. As new challenges and opportunities have presented themselves, the Centre has adapted its approach to addressing both the disease and the effects of it on the community. One of the projects is Woza Moya (est. 2002) which assists those in desperate need to acquire a craft skill and earn an income through the sale of their craft. This puts income back into vulnerable communities at the heart of the pandemic. Woza Moya buys in products from the crafters at a fair price and markets and sells these products to a wide market both locally and internationally. YearBeyond is a national Youth Service partnership between Government, the National Youth Development Agency, donors, and NGOs. Initiated in the Western Cape, with a growing footprint in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng, YearBeyond provides unemployed youth (18-25 years old) with meaningful work experience and a pathway to further studies or work, while at the same time encouraging a culture of community service.
One of the projects is Woza Moya (est. 2002) which assists those in desperate need to acquire a craft skill and earn an income through the sale of their craft. This puts income back into vulnerable communities at the heart of the pandemic.
Afesis-Corplan aims to support citizens to actively unlock and enhance the state’s potential to deliver responsive services and targeted development initiatives using participatory methods to empower citizens to take their rightful places in local governance. By supporting civic agency through catalytic interventions in sustainable human settlement development and good local governance, Afesis-Corplan is working to change the mindsets and behavior of people involved in the community development sector, policy and legislation relating to community development, and the living conditions of people living in low income communities. AIP's purpose is to build the capacity of community media members through training and research to play a professional, democracy deepening role at the local level. Click Learning is an NGO that helps under-serviced primary schools in South Africa improve foundational literacy, numeracy and digital skills through the deployment of relevant online programmes. These programmes allow learners to work at their own pace and navigate their learning journey by means of technology. In the process we create jobs for unemployed youth who assist with implementation. The Equality Collective is an activist and community-centred law project based in the rural Eastern Cape. It is innovative in the advancement of access to justice, builds the capacity for collective participation and action and shares research and learning to create a more just and caring society. Gun Free SA is an NGO working to reduce gun violence in South Africa through public policy advocacy, education, awareness and community mobilisation. bumb’INGOMSO is an HIV Prevention Project which aims to reduce the incidence of HIV by ensuring that vulnerable groups, especially adolescent girls and young women, make increasing use of appropriate multi-sectoral services and support measures (including counselling and testing) that lead to positive changes in knowledge, attitudes and practices. LHR seeks to ensure the realisation of constitutional rights for all in South Africa, especially the most vulnerable members of society. Our programmes are run by specialist legal practitioners who work in the following areas of human rights law: refugee and migrants rights, penal reform, environmental rights, land and housing rights and gender equality rights. We also engage in strategic litigation which does not fit into the aforementioned categories. MMA started off as a media monitoring project covering the first democratic elections in South African but since then, it has evolved from a pure monitoring-based project to an innovative organization which implements successful media strategies for change. Their goal is to This will ultimately lead to citizens, media, and the powerful respecting a culture of human rights and thereby encouraging a fair and just society. They aim to bring about this change by using technology, social media, and data tools to make our work more efficient and effective. Parent Power aims to elevate parents as powerful actors in their children’s education journey by supporting schools, departments of education and non-profit organisations (NPOs) to engage with parents in a meaningful way. This brings a level of partnership and co-ownership to the provision of quality education for South African children. The Pivot Collective is a collaborative organisation focused on improving knowledge translation between research, engagement, policy, and practice. From our base in Cape Town, South Africa, we work as a global collective of health and social science researchers, implementers, facilitators, and activists to bring diverse multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral experiences together towards the common goal of building youth- and community-led research and engagement. Project CodeX's purose is to train and facilitate the training of software developers: providing skills to high potential youth from under-resourced communities to address youth unemployment and increase the talent pool that the software industry can draw from. The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is a non-profit organisation whose members are editors, senior journalists and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media. We are committed to championing South Africa’s hard-won freedom of expression and promoting quality, ethics and diversity in the South African media. SANEF promotes excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research, education and training programmes. Teachers CAN is a network that is led by us – young, transformative teachers – and taps into young teachers’ motivation to enable children to reach their full potential.
Life Choices is an innovative and impactful youth development organisation based in Cape Town. We work in schools, communities and from our Campus in Lansdowne, investing in young people so they can reach their potential. Since 2005, they have impacted the lives of more than 200,000 people from the Cape Flats. Khanyisa Inanda Seminary Community Projects is a teacher development organisation working to achieve educational equity through pre-service teacher education and in-service teacher education. KICP is part of the groundswell of change in the South African education system by empowering teachers to become leaders in personal, professional, and social development. By working with Departments of Education and teachers simultaneously, KICP has established mechanisms for sustainable change in local communities and beyond. At the Sustainability Institute, we engage in transformative learning towards just and generative futures Founded in 1999, the Institute is an international living and learning centre teaching, exploring and applying ways of being that are restorative. Our focus on children is centred within the Lynedoch Children’s House, Lynedoch Primary Schools and Lynedoch Youth programmes. We are an expert in learning experience design for transformative education in sustainability in the African context. We offer knowledge, skills and a physical space for designing transformative educational experiences anchored in sustainability. Our expertise includes advisory and consulting services, offering and implementing learning programmes in partnership with other organisations as well as SI-led courses and workshops. The Institute is recognised as a leading expert institution in navigating the transition towards social justice and change in complex futures in Africa, and forms an institutional base for some of the top academics in the field. Our research and practice maintains a strong focus on sustainable African futures, through our student, faculty and consulting research. Our focus on transformative learning from birth and social innovation is embedded through our research, teaching and practice. SCAT is a veteran human rights and social justice, philanthropy (re-granting) organisation which has been in existence for 40 years. It has pioneered and developed a model of development that has been acknowledged as empowering and sustainable with tangible impact at the local level. SCAT was founded during the early 1980’s by three trustees who believed there was a need to provide grants to organisations to promote community-based control which was seen as a critical component of transformative development and the creation of a strong civil society and good governance. This role is as relevant today as it was fourty years ago. Our mission is to empower communities, strengthen civil society, and promote social change in partnership with community based organisations who lead community responses to social justice. Public school partnerships bring additional expertise, resources, flexibility and greater accountability in school management into no-fee public schools in a bid to achieve greater equity in quality education in South Africa. Our mission is to empower communities, strengthen civil society, and promote social change in partnership with community based organisations who lead community responses to social justice. The South African economy requires a sustainable reset that is just and inclusive - embedding positive social, economic and environmental wellbeing. We believe that the next economic revolution of Africa lies within mutual value creation between formal and informal economies. ORIBI supports innovators aiming at establishing solutions that increase economic participation as well as achieve socio-economic and ecological goals within localized contexts. We focus on solutions unlocking the full potential of untapped markets. Our incubation model is underpinned by cohort-based learning, collaborative action, design thinking, agile and systems thinking principles. Through tailored training and development programs, we bring together high potential local entrepreneurs who are willing to commit to working together and collaborating with supportive players in existing supply chains, to transform the system from within (to protect and develop the “first mile”). By ‘first-mile’ ORIBI believes that change should come from within, with, and/or for marginalized communities Beautiful Gate South Africa is a non-denominational Christian organisation that demonstrates the love of God by helping all those in need, no matter what their background or faith. We believe that children grow best in a family, and the best people to support families are their local community. We therefore aim to build community networks while caring for children and supporting families. We work in a holistic way in our community and have focussed our work on three critical areas: Child Health, Family Strengthening and Education. These are areas of great need within our South African peri-urban township context and have a significant impact on the lives of children and their families. The Jakes Gerwel Fellowship (JGF) selects newly qualified and novice teachers with gateway, scarce subject, or phase specialisations, and who demonstrate a passion for teaching and entrepreneurial leadership competencies. Through a two-year Professional teacher Induction Programme, JGF supports the advancement, expertise, and resilience of these teachers to retain them in the education system and their continued impact on schooling. The Fellowship provides holistic support for those teachers to enter and flourish in schools, especially those serving under-resourced communities so that they can improve learning outcomes over time. What sets JGF Fellows apart is their entrepreneurial mindset and their exceptional potential for leadership. JGF recognises that the quality of teachers is a crucial factor in unlocking the full potential of individuals and plays a fundamental role in the success of South Africa’s democracy. We aim to provide professional development and support to South African teachers, enabling them to become exceptional teachers and leaders in education Equal Education (EE) is a youth-led mass democratic movement of learners, post-school youth, parents, teachers and community members who use mobilisation and public action, supported by careful research, to empower young activists and ensure equality in South African education. In 2023, our movement celebrated its 15th year of organising. Over these 15 years, we have managed to put education on the national agenda, mobilise young people who are directly affected by education challenges, and become one of the leading grassroots voices on education-related matters in the country. Youth are Africa’s greatest resource but still 55% of young South Africans find themselves unemployed and out of education. This represents a massive chunk of untapped talent as well as a source of social unrest and individual despair. According to Nobel Peace Prize winner, James Heckman, social and emotional competencies are at least as important as technical skills when determining employability, earnings and career success. Unlike universities who focus on academic and technical skills, enke focuses on the ‘soft’ skills. We look to enable youth to thrive beyond the classroom. We aim to reclaim and re-write the story of disproportinoately impacted youth. We want the youth to make their mark. Masinyusane creates opportunities for impoverished children and youth to get the best education possible. We invest in high-impact education projects that empower the local community to uplift itself. We are simultaneously creating a generation of leaders now while investing in the long-term future of South Africa's children. We implement data-driven children's literacy programmes, with a major focus on literacy and numeracy. We invest in Teaching at the Right Level programmes, providing children with customised, individual lessons designed to provide them with the educational foundation that they deserve. Our focus is on children aged 2 - 13, with the most attention going to the youngest children.
Biblionef is a SARS-approved Section 18A Public Benefit Organisation. Established in 1998 by a former Dutch Ambassador, Biblionef forms part of an international network of independent organisations with offices in the Netherlands, France, Ghana and Tunisia. We are guided by a deep commitment to serving communities where access to quality education is most needed. We prioritise primary schools, ECD centres, libraries, and community organisations in townships and rural regions where educational resources are scarce and literacy outcomes lag behind. Operating transparently with regular reporting to our management board, we ensure that all our programmes are implemented inclusively and collaboratively with trusted partners and beneficiary organisations. Aligned with UNESCO’s Book Donations Charter, we ensure that our book distributions are aligned to the needs and sensitivities of our beneficiaries. Furthermore, we ensure that our programmes contribute to strengthening all elements of the book sector in South Africa. Just Grace is a people-focused non-profit organisation established in 2012 in the community of Langa Township. The organisation designs and implements effective and sustainable initiatives to develop the community and achieve reduced poverty, better quality education, decent work and economic growth, and equal opportunities. The approach aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and prioritises three core components necessary for successful empowerment: technical skills, soft skills, and psychosocial support. We provide free, daily, easily accessible mental health workshops in under-resourced communities. Our evidence-based, culturally tailored, and unique toolkit builds resilience in children and forms the core of our mental health prevention curriculum. It includes 12 core and 4 booster sessions to support lasting impact. Simple and accessible , it requires just two days of training and is already in use across our communities and partners — making it easy to adopt and scale. Since its opening in 2012, Morris Isaacson Centre for Music (MICM), a purpose-built music Centre in Soweto that has been providing quality formal music education to the learners from early childhood development level to the final year of high school. We currently serve 340 students between the ages of 4 -18 year old. Our Centre teaches 16 specific instruments through a blended approach that takes students through one-on-one individual lessons during the week, and then music theory and ensemble classes on Saturdays. MICM provides music education as a tool for human development, and activity is provided as an after-school program to the children and youth of Soweto. In addition to our main music program through our strategic partnerships, we offer access to other value-adding services that include, but are not limited to psychosocial support, gardening, nutrition program and public art program. The impact of our project over the past ten years has been contributing to the development of the beneficiaries and sourcing national and international opportunities for them to further their music and academic studies in secondary and tertiary institutions. REAP’s constitution provides that: Principles and policy shall be informed by values that redress inequality and heal the land. Peace, justice, service, freedom and the dignity of the individual, interfaith access and education for employment, will reflect the Catholic ethos governing the organisation. Since 2001 REAP has worked in close partnership with state funding entities (notably NSFAS and National Skills Fund) as well as a variety of South African and international donors to enable thousands of young South Africans from low income households in rural areas to access and succeed in post school education and training (PSET). SECTION27 is a human rights organisation that seeks to achieve substantive equality and social justice in South Africa. Guided by the principles and values in the Constitution, SECTION27 uses law, advocacy, legal literacy, research and community mobilisation to advance socio-economic rights, in particular the right to access health care services and the right to basic education as guaranteed in section 27 and section 29 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa respectively. SECTION27 aims to achieve systemic change and accountability to ensure the dignity and equality of everyone. Surplus People Project believes in social justice and equal rights for all. We have made a choice to work with the rural poor and to facilitate the voice, choices, strategies and approaches of struggle as determined by the people themselves. We believe in the particular power and possibility of young people and women and actively facilitate opportunities for their growth in our strategy. Our processes aim to encourage and establish a will within people to believe in themselves and their vision. The common vision is improved livelihoods, changes on the economic, political and social conditions within communities and the institutions that represent their interests. Our research and work with communities inform debates and the issues SPP focuses on. Research in turn is informed by the struggles and obstacles communities identify. Their experiences and struggles ultimately inform advocacy to influence government and policy makers. This is always done with communities through documented community actions, stories of change and achievements based on their action for change. The networks such as Tshintsha Amakhaya and Northern Cape network are spaces to share methodologies, approaches and practice. Thanda was established in 2008 to provide critically needed support for children through After-School Programmes. Over the years, Thanda has evolved to offer hyper-local, holistic solutions that support all children and families living throughout the Umzumbe Municipality in the Ugu District of rural KwaZulu-Natal. Thanda Community Centre - We believe in creating spaces for growth. The Thanda Community Centre is the hub of our operations and a safe place for children in the area. Thanda doesn’t just work with individuals – our interventions operate across three levels. Sustainable change occurs when interventions positively impact the social fabric that affects everyone. Founded in 2009 and formally registered in 2011, Waves for Change is a South African non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting the mental wellness of adolescents facing significant adversity in high-stress environments. Operating in the Western and Eastern Cape, with a support hub office in Cape Town, we fuse the rush and therapeutic benefits of surfing with Take 5 evidence-based activities to create a fun, culturally relevant and youth-led service for adolescents. Waves for Change grew from voluntary weekend surfing sessions run at Muizenberg Beach, Cape Town, by founders Apish Tshetsha and Tim Conibear. The findings of early research conducted at Waves for Change highlighted the importance of effective recruitment, training, and supervision of caring coaches to whom adolescents could relate. Waves for Change worked with adolescents, universities, and mental health practitioners to develop a coach training and supervision protocol, as well as a simple teaching routine and fun activities that could be integrated with surfing and support adolescents in coping with stress. Founded as the Isiqalo Foundation Trust, Waves for Change now delivers free, 10-month Surf Therapy courses to 2,800 adolescents growing up in high-stress environments across 5 beach hubs in South Africa. Waves for Change also shares the active ingredients of our award-winning Surf Therapy programme with the world for use in other settings and physical activities through the Take 5 programme.
The Rural Education Access Programme shall embrace the call for the community serving humanity. It shall strive to meet the educational needs of those marginalised by poverty, geographical location, gender and disability.
2018
Activate's aim is to contribute toward the capacity building of young people towards social solidarity and to ensure they become active citizens who drive positive social, economic and political change for South Africa and the global good. AVA embraces volunteering as a tool to unlock the potential of unemployed youth (18-25 years) by training and placing them in full-time volunteering positions in a variety of contexts. Through these sustained volunteering opportunities, enriched by a unique personal development programme, the volunteers gain experience and are empowered to become economically independent and socially responsible citizens. CIE supports over 2 000 learners in 40 under-resourced schools ensuring that they have access to quality education in independent schools in rural and township settings. Each child in the school is helped to recognise his or her potential and, in a safe and encouraging environment, explore where that might lead. The Development Action Group (DAG) works to create equal, inclusive and sustainable neighbourhoods and cities through development processes that foster human rights, equity and dignity. Their mission is to facilitate the creation of resilient, diverse, equitable and democratic cities through the proactive participation of civil society, government and the private sector to address spatial, social and economic inequalities. The Greyton Transition Town initiative is a community-based organisation that seeks to unlock and cultivate the resourcefulness of the people of Genadendal, Greyton, Voorstekraal and Bereaville to better work together to build a resilient, sustainable and united community, redressing the past and walking into the future together, in the face of climate change and economic crisis. enke: Make Your Mark (enke) is a leadership development organisation that generates and incubates youth-led social impact. They have a vision of a world that is an enabling environment for young people to recognise their own value, thrive and mobilise for meaningful change. They work towards achieving this vision through leadership and entrepreneurial skills development programmes that provide young people (15-35 years old) with theoretical and practical skills to be active engaged citizens that thrive socio-economically. Our mission is to promote safety in communities, to reduce the trauma experienced by rape survivors, to encourage the reporting of rape and to work actively to address flaws in legislation. We are a creative team of people who invest in rural CP services and offer innovative solutions to improve the quality of life of children with CP and their families. Our strength lies in the fact that our team consists of therapists, parents of children with CP and a young adult affected by CP. Together with our dedicated board of directors, we are able to contribute a range of perspectives and ideas when tackling the current challenges faced by children with CP and their families. SmartStart was established in 2015 to close the access gap to early learning opportunities. These remain out of reach for the majority of children, especially those in underserviced communities We are a community-based organisation that provides innovative solutions for sustainable development. We aim to create safer, stronger communities by providing educational and skills-building opportunities to individuals. Our mission is to empower people to create positive change – change in individuals, change in their communities and eventually changes that impact the world. Established in 1998, Tshikululu is a social investment fund manager and advisor, working alongside investors and other development partners to maximise the power of social investment. We define social investment as any financial commitment – from grant making to impact investing – that seeks to drive and measure social impact. Our service offering is underpinned by a deep and hands-on understanding of the complexities of development and social investment.
bumb’INGOMSO is an HIV Prevention Project which aims to reduce the incidence of HIV by ensuring that vulnerable groups, especially adolescent girls and young women, make increasing use of appropriate multi-sectoral services and support measures (including counselling and testing) that lead to positive changes in knowledge, attitudes and practices.
2019
Axium Education is led by South Africans Michelle and Craig Paxton. Besides being passionate educators they have extensive experience internationally and in the corporate world. Axium Education is based in the rural village of Zithulele in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The village is located - from an educational perspective - in a country that is underperforming compared to its poorer neighbours on international assessments, in one of this country’s worst performing provinces, in a former homeland area characterized by the worst socioeconomic deprivation, and within this homeland in some of the worst performing districts. CAP is an agile, pioneering, and honest non-profit situated in the Western Cape, South Africa. We exist to create opportunities and growth in rural communities through leading learning and teaching, focused methodologies, uplifting relationships, and impactful engagement with society. We are outcome-driven: producing resilient learners in schools, committed youth in growth, thinkers in social care, problem-solvers in education, and leaders in community building. Beyond offering real excellence in our programs, CAP is active and proactive; optimistic and transformative. Since our establishment in 2011, we are known to identify, realise and unleash potential. We are invested in human happiness: our care extends as much to the individual as it does to the quality of their personal development experience and to global best practices in research, theory, and application. We are accountable: we say what we mean and we do what we say. As CAP we promote ubuntu and keep our promises. Founded in 2009 our goal is to ensure that hundreds of thousands of young people become alive to their potential and recognize their ability to lead change in their own lives, their schools and communities. We also aim to ensure that high schools in South Africa are capacitated to make values, youth engagement and youth-adult partnerships part of the school culture and thereby foster conducive environments for development, learning and teaching. After leaving schools, Columba alumni are connected to an purpose-led network of peers for support, to collaborate in action that can serve society, and be connected to employment or bursary opportunities or showcase their own businesses with others. Our purpose is awakening the leader within to change lives and their communities. We work in close association with the Department of Education, building the capacity of high schools, serving economically disadvantaged communities to embed our values-based leadership model. ELMA aims to improve the lives of children and their families, with a primary focus in Africa. ELMA Philanthropies provides philanthropic advisory services to The ELMA Group of Foundations. From Cape Town, Johannesburg, Kampala, and New York, our team develops and manages philanthropic investments and partnerships for the foundations. We invest in high-impact organizations that further the objectives of the foundations within the ELMA Group of Foundations Nal’ibali (isiXhosa for “here’s the story”) is a national reading-for-enjoyment campaign. It seeks to spark and embed a culture of reading in children from birth to 12 years of age, across South Africa, through cultivating, enticing reading content in all South African languages. Nal’ibali promotes the use of home languages in nurturing and strengthening reading culture in children as home language is transparent, easy to learn and is the first language that children connect with, in order to socialise and make sense of the world around them. Nal’ibali stories build a healthy ongoing appetite in children to engage more with reading, and to develop other important literacy skills while creating their own reading experiences. Children who develop strong relationships with books and reading materials early, are more likely to adopt and sustain a culture of reading. Adults who are in children’s spaces have the responsibility to nurture a love of reading in children as early as possible, to advance children’s development. REAP’s constitution provides that: Since 2001 REAP has worked in close partnership with state funding entities (notably NSFAS and National Skills Fund) as well as a variety of South African and international donors to enable thousands of young South Africans from low income households in rural areas to access and succeed in post school education and training (PSET). We are a community-based organisation that provides innovative solutions for sustainable development. We aim to create safer, stronger communities by providing educational and skills-building opportunities to individuals. Our mission is to empower people to create positive change – change in individuals, change in their communities and eventually changes that impact the world. Founded in 2009 and formally registered in 2011, Waves for Change is a South African non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting the mental wellness of adolescents facing significant adversity in high-stress environments. Operating in the Western and Eastern Cape, with a support hub office in Cape Town, we fuse the rush and therapeutic benefits of surfing with Take 5 evidence-based activities to create a fun, culturally relevant and youth-led service for adolescents. Waves for Change grew from voluntary weekend surfing sessions run at Muizenberg Beach, Cape Town, by founders Apish Tshetsha and Tim Conibear. The findings of early research conducted at Waves for Change highlighted the importance of effective recruitment, training, and supervision of caring coaches to whom adolescents could relate. Waves for Change worked with adolescents, universities, and mental health practitioners to develop a coach training and supervision protocol, as well as a simple teaching routine and fun activities that could be integrated with surfing and support adolescents in coping with stress. Founded as the Isiqalo Foundation Trust, Waves for Change now delivers free, 10-month Surf Therapy courses to 2,800 adolescents growing up in high-stress environments across 5 beach hubs in South Africa. Waves for Change also shares the active ingredients of our award-winning Surf Therapy programme with the world for use in other settings and physical activities through the Take 5 programme. Women & Men Against Child Abuse is a non-profit Child Protection Organisation committed to fighting for the rights of the child and to end the abuse of children in South Africa, through a multifaceted, dynamic and aggressive offensive against any form of abuse and gender violence. ORGANISATION MAIN PROJECT OBJECTIVE OF THE KIDZ CLINICS To provide a one-stop holistic basket of services to abused and vulnerable children and their parents, and to educate and empower other children, to prevent abuse. Wordworks is a South African non-profit organisation that focuses on early language and literacy development in the first eight years of children’s lives. Since 2005 we have worked in under-resourced communities with those adults best positioned to impact on young children’s language and literacy development – parents and caregivers, family and community members, home-visitors, early childhood development practitioners and Grade R to Grade 3 teachers. We offer five main programmes, which are used by our network of partners which include preschools, schools, libraries, community organisations, training and resource NGOs, tertiary institutions, education districts and other government departments.
The Rural Education Access Programme shall embrace the call for the community serving humanity. It shall strive to meet the educational needs of those marginalised by poverty, geographical location, gender and disability. Principles and policy shall be informed by values that redress inequality and heal the land. Peace, justice, service, freedom and the dignity of the individual, interfaith access and education for employment, will reflect the Catholic ethos governing the organisation.
Under the umbrella body of WMACA there are two Kidz Clinics – in Alexandra and Boksburg – and various prevention and diversion programmes to assist abused children. Besides actual service delivery WMACA is very vocal in its advocacy role, using the media and other platforms to highlight any injustices that abused children have to endure through inadequate judicial processes.
To provide FREE Medical and therapeutic intervention and treatment services to abused children.
2020
ACFS is dedicated to the development and protection of children and their families through a focus on improving access to nutrition, health, early learning and stimulation, as well as skills development. Our mission is to empower young people through education, equipping them with skills and creating meaningful opportunities to become active citizens living purpose-driven lives enke: Make Your Mark (enke) is a leadership development organisation that generates and incubates youth-led social impact. They have a vision of a world that is an enabling environment for young people to recognise their own value, thrive and mobilise for meaningful change. They work towards achieving this vision through leadership and entrepreneurial skills development programmes that provide young people (15-35 years old) with theoretical and practical skills to be active engaged citizens that thrive socio-economically. The FunDza Literacy Trust runs three major programmes to get teens and young adults across the country reading, writing and learning. The focus of the organisation through all the programmes is reintegration of children into families (biological/kinship/foster care). The work at the CYCC is focused on restoring the child and building resilience in them and the focus within the communities is to strengthening of families through training and support groups and empowering the communities. Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator is a not-for-profit social enterprise that solves youth employment through partnerships. We work with partners who, like us, are committed to results that can work at scale – including government, the private sector, civil society, and over 4 million youth. We are working to unlock jobs and break down the barriers that keep millions of young South Africans unemployed. Our vision is of a growing economy and a society that works, powered by the potential of young people. LETCEE’s vision is to ensure that all children can develop and grow in a nurturing environment. To achieve this, we work to strengthen families; provide daily meals to children whose families are unable to provide adequate nutrition for them and ensure children have access to a good quality ECD service. Our ECD services include providing accredited ECD training; facilitating non –centre based programmes and ensuring children have access to educational toys and games at our toy libraries. The NACCW is a professional association focused on the development and professionalization of child and youth care workers. It is both a professional association and a non-profit organisation providing training, material development, and consultancy for child and youth care workers. The NACCW supports the development of models for the effective deployment of child and youth B10care workers in a range of different settings, including residential care, families and communities, and schools – in order to promote and advocate for the upholding and protection of children rights. Our mission is to empower communities, strengthen civil society, and promote social change in partnership with local development agencies which act as community-driven responses to social justice. We’re passionate about raising up generations of Urban Heroes (youth from the margins) who find hope and purpose in Jesus. We’re on a mission to equip people with skills to overcome homelessness. enke: Make Your Mark (enke) is a leadership development organisation that generates and incubates youth-led social impact. They have a vision of a world that is an enabling environment for young people to recognise their own value, thrive and mobilise for meaningful change. They work towards achieving this vision through leadership and entrepreneurial skills development programmes that provide young people (15-35 years old) with theoretical and practical skills to be active engaged citizens that thrive socio-economically.
2021
Afrika Tikkun places youth development at the centre of our service, offering Cradle to Career developmental programmes and our fully integrated 360º Social Services programme. Together, we can impact lives. At iThemba Projects, we empower people to bring the lasting change their community dreams of - because if change is sustainable, all MOSAIC’s model and approach is targeted at preventing all forms of abuse and violence against women, providing high quality response services when incidences occur, and supporting clients through the process of healing and rebuilding their lives. SaveAct promotes sustainable livelihoods and resilience amongst vulnerable groups, including women and youth through a savings-led economic development model. They promote the above through direct implementation and through the development of partnerships with NGOs carrying a similar vision, with increased emphasis on the latter. They achieve this through diversified funding arrangements and income streams from partners and from members of savings groups. Philani operates a home based maternal, child health and nutrition programme called the Mentor Mother Programme in Eastern and Western Cape, and has initiated and is supporting Mentor Mother programmes in Swaziland, Ethiopia, Egypt and Sweden. An ECD programme with 24 ECD classes is linked to the Mentor Mother Programme and a CHWs training programme offers in classroom and in the field training to CHWs employed by NGOs and the Department of Health. Shine Literacy is a non-profit organisation that seeks to create a culture of reading in South African schools, homes, Sihamba Sonke works with rural youth who might feel trapped due to socio-economic challenges. We use a whole person approach with community programmes as a platform to develop a value-driven purposeful life and then teach others to do the same. Participants of our programme receive skills training, career support, entrepreneurship training to help them in the next step in their career path. Our programmes includes a chess & sports programme in schools, agriculture, building, a skills year and computer literacy training for the local community. At Siyakwazi we help every child reach their full potential, supporting children with barriers to learning. We achieve this through early identification and intervention, advocating for the rights of children with disabilities, showcasing a model of inclusion within the community. Our school readiness supports children under the age of 7 who are at risk of falling behind through catch-up sessions in the classroom and in the homes. With over 6500 members the SexualViolence Research Initiative is the world’s largest network on research on violence against women and violence against children. This network provides a space where global role players in the field connect with one another, share, and promote their research and practice-based knowledge, work to influence policies and practice, and improve the lives of those who have experienced gendered violence. We do this through funding research, strengthening research capacity, promoting partnerships and influencing change in low and middle income countries. The Learning Trust is developing the South African after-school sector by supporting early stage, community-based organisations that deliver extended learning programmes. Our goal is to ensure that young people in marginalised and under-resourced communities have the requisite competencies to succeed beyond the school age. We believe that for this to happen, after-school must be mainstreamed as an essential part of the education ecosystem. The Other Foundation is a community foundation that advances freedom, equality, and social inclusion of homosexual and bisexual women and men, and transgender and intersex people in 13 southern African countries. It does this by being a fundraiser, grant maker, knowledge developer, and convenor working in partnership with others. The Sozo Foundation a non-profit organisation on a mission to see the youth of Vrygrond equipped and empowered to live with dignity, purpose and hope by creating pathways to employment: through a heart of unconditional love. Our main focus areas are Education, Skills and Social Enterprise. We run an after school tutoring support programme for 100 High School Learners and a GED programme, a 8 months Skills programme in the morning for 70 young people ages 16 – 26 and have several enterprise projects and programmes.
of us win. We focus on 3 key areas – nutrition, ECD and providing caring adult role models for kids and teens. A community built and owned community centre (iThemba LamaMpumuza Community Centre) is a visual representation of our work in the centre of the community.
workplaces and communities, thereby improving literacy outcomes for young children from low-income communities. Working in partnership with teachers, volunteers and parents, our award winning, evidence-based programmes provide effective and sustained support to children as they learn to read and write, helping to foster a life-long love of books and learning.
2022
AFRA is a land rights advocacy non-governmental organisation (NGO) working to support marginalised black rural people, with a focus on farm dwellers. AFRA works an inclusive and gender equitable society where human rights are valued, realised and protected and where all citizens have access to the means to ensure a decent standard of living and quality of life. The organisation does through promoting, realising and protecting the human rights of farm dwellers, to ensure that farm dwellers achieve an improved standard of living and quality of life, thereby restoring their human dignity as equal citizens in a democratic society. AFRA works intensively with communities in and around the uMgungundlovu District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and extensively in offering support and advice. Leveraging the potential of a rights-based framework, RX Radio uses the magic of the microphone to give children a platform for expression, information and participation. Enabling them to ‘join the conversation’, we legitimise marginalised voices, break down social barriers and catalyse the transformative relationships needed to build a cohesive network of support (family/peer/professional). The ease, portability and affordability of radio makes it the perfect medium to empower chronically ill children to reconnect with the world around them. Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA) is a leading Section 21 Non-Profit Organisation that addresses food security, environmental sustainability, and greening. Our core purpose is to improve lives and landscapes towards healthy people on a healthier planet. We have a large and diverse programme portfolio with programmes active across South Africa since 1990. Our ethos is one of efficiency, transparency, and accountability. We run our non-profit like a business / social enterprise and continue to innovate in the space. This approach has resulted in us being one of the best social development organisations on the continent. After more than thirty years of experience, we understand what it takes to achieve real, long-term sustainability which makes a positive difference to the lives of all South Africans. Funda Wande, a member of Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies, is a not-for-profit organization that aims to equip teachers to teach reading-for-meaning and calculating-with-confidence in Grades R-3 in South Africa. We do this by hiring the best people we can find and work as a team to create high-quality materials, experiment with different teacher training approaches, and independently evaluate everything we do. Our materials and training are created in the languages that children speak and understand and are freely-available for anyone to download and use. Our programs and materials are all evidence-based, independently-evaluated, policy-aligned and cost-effective. Established in 2005, Gender DynamiX (GDX) is the first registered Africa-based public benefit organisation to focus solely on the transgender and broader gender diverse community. What started as a mere vision, slowly grew into a grassroots organisation. GDX has since become an institutionalised non-profit organisation (NPO) that is fundamental to the development of the trans and gender diverse movement(s) in South Africa and across Africa. Over the past 19 years GDX has built up a strong track record in understanding the diverse nature of the work and the diverse needs of trans and gender diverse persons both in South Africa and its surrounding regions. Based on its organisational values, GDX aims to work in ways that uphold ideals of self-identification, self-determination, respect for diversity, inclusivity, meaningful participation, transparency and accountability; whilst seeking to position trans and gender diverse persons through the realisation of their (our) autonomy and potential for nation-building. Ilifa Labantwana is a South African early childhood development programme founded in 2007. Ilifa Labantwana works towards a South Africa where everyone contributes to children reaching their full potential. We use our technical expertise and deep understanding of government alongside evidence, collaboration, and advocacy to strengthen the early childhood development ecosystem. Judges Matter is a research and advocacy project dedicated to enhancing transparency and accountability within South Africa’s judiciary. Judges Matter conducts rigorous applied research, monitoring, and advocacy to inform evidence-based legal, policy and practice reforms to ensure the judiciary remains independent, effective, and trusted by the public. Judges Matter’s key areas of focus are on: We work in partnership with rural schools and underserved communities in South Africa to ensure children and young people have access to a quality education and economic opportunity. Working across 22 schools in KwaZulu-Natal, we support over 6,450 children and youth and 300 teachers through our four core programmes: Early Childhood Development, Top-Up Teaching, Educator Development and Skills and Employment. EF was founded in 1992 by John De Wit and Matome Malatji, beginning with two small loans and one big vision. Our beginnings took root in Limpopo province, the poorest region of the country. While our presence there is still strong, our reach has expanded. We have now grown to serve about 170,723 clients, 99% of which are women, in 7 different South African provinces. Developing an enterprise is a path out of poverty. For our clients, the biggest barrier to starting a microenterprise isn’t the motivation, a lack of entrepreneurship, or a lack of skills—it’s the capital. By removing this barrier, we’re connecting women to the resources they need to improve their lives. We use a modified version of the tried-and-true group-lending methodology developed by Grameen Bank. We collect no collateral from our clients. Woza Moya is the economic empowerment project of the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust which is a holistic HIV/AIDS project which was started in 1991. Since its inception, the Centre has attempted to uplift the lives of those both infected and affected by HIV/AIDS through practical and sustainable care. As new challenges and opportunities have presented themselves, the Centre has adapted its approach to addressing both the disease and the effects of it on the community. One of the projects is Woza Moya (est. 2002) which assists those in desperate need to acquire a craft skill and earn an income through the sale of their craft. This puts income back into vulnerable communities at the heart of the pandemic. Woza Moya buys in products from the crafters at a fair price and markets and sells these products to a wide market both locally and internationally. YearBeyond is a national Youth Service partnership between Government, the National Youth Development Agency, donors, and NGOs. Initiated in the Western Cape, with a growing footprint in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng, YearBeyond provides unemployed youth (18-25 years old) with meaningful work experience and a pathway to further studies or work, while at the same time encouraging a culture of community service.
One of the projects is Woza Moya (est. 2002) which assists those in desperate need to acquire a craft skill and earn an income through the sale of their craft. This puts income back into vulnerable communities at the heart of the pandemic.
2023
Afesis-Corplan aims to support citizens to actively unlock and enhance the state’s potential to deliver responsive services and targeted development initiatives using participatory methods to empower citizens to take their rightful places in local governance. By supporting civic agency through catalytic interventions in sustainable human settlement development and good local governance, Afesis-Corplan is working to change the mindsets and behavior of people involved in the community development sector, policy and legislation relating to community development, and the living conditions of people living in low income communities. AIP's purpose is to build the capacity of community media members through training and research to play a professional, democracy deepening role at the local level. Click Learning is an NGO that helps under-serviced primary schools in South Africa improve foundational literacy, numeracy and digital skills through the deployment of relevant online programmes. These programmes allow learners to work at their own pace and navigate their learning journey by means of technology. In the process we create jobs for unemployed youth who assist with implementation. The Equality Collective is an activist and community-centred law project based in the rural Eastern Cape. It is innovative in the advancement of access to justice, builds the capacity for collective participation and action and shares research and learning to create a more just and caring society. Gun Free SA is an NGO working to reduce gun violence in South Africa through public policy advocacy, education, awareness and community mobilisation. bumb’INGOMSO is an HIV Prevention Project which aims to reduce the incidence of HIV by ensuring that vulnerable groups, especially adolescent girls and young women, make increasing use of appropriate multi-sectoral services and support measures (including counselling and testing) that lead to positive changes in knowledge, attitudes and practices. LHR seeks to ensure the realisation of constitutional rights for all in South Africa, especially the most vulnerable members of society. Our programmes are run by specialist legal practitioners who work in the following areas of human rights law: refugee and migrants rights, penal reform, environmental rights, land and housing rights and gender equality rights. We also engage in strategic litigation which does not fit into the aforementioned categories. MMA started off as a media monitoring project covering the first democratic elections in South African but since then, it has evolved from a pure monitoring-based project to an innovative organization which implements successful media strategies for change. Their goal is to This will ultimately lead to citizens, media, and the powerful respecting a culture of human rights and thereby encouraging a fair and just society. They aim to bring about this change by using technology, social media, and data tools to make our work more efficient and effective. Parent Power aims to elevate parents as powerful actors in their children’s education journey by supporting schools, departments of education and non-profit organisations (NPOs) to engage with parents in a meaningful way. This brings a level of partnership and co-ownership to the provision of quality education for South African children. The Pivot Collective is a collaborative organisation focused on improving knowledge translation between research, engagement, policy, and practice. From our base in Cape Town, South Africa, we work as a global collective of health and social science researchers, implementers, facilitators, and activists to bring diverse multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral experiences together towards the common goal of building youth- and community-led research and engagement. Project CodeX's purose is to train and facilitate the training of software developers: providing skills to high potential youth from under-resourced communities to address youth unemployment and increase the talent pool that the software industry can draw from. The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is a non-profit organisation whose members are editors, senior journalists and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media. We are committed to championing South Africa’s hard-won freedom of expression and promoting quality, ethics and diversity in the South African media. SANEF promotes excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research, education and training programmes. Teachers CAN is a network that is led by us – young, transformative teachers – and taps into young teachers’ motivation to enable children to reach their full potential.
2024
Life Choices is an innovative and impactful youth development organisation based in Cape Town. We work in schools, communities and from our Campus in Lansdowne, investing in young people so they can reach their potential. Since 2005, they have impacted the lives of more than 200,000 people from the Cape Flats. Khanyisa Inanda Seminary Community Projects is a teacher development organisation working to achieve educational equity through pre-service teacher education and in-service teacher education. KICP is part of the groundswell of change in the South African education system by empowering teachers to become leaders in personal, professional, and social development. By working with Departments of Education and teachers simultaneously, KICP has established mechanisms for sustainable change in local communities and beyond. At the Sustainability Institute, we engage in transformative learning towards just and generative futures Founded in 1999, the Institute is an international living and learning centre teaching, exploring and applying ways of being that are restorative. Our focus on children is centred within the Lynedoch Children’s House, Lynedoch Primary Schools and Lynedoch Youth programmes. We are an expert in learning experience design for transformative education in sustainability in the African context. We offer knowledge, skills and a physical space for designing transformative educational experiences anchored in sustainability. Our expertise includes advisory and consulting services, offering and implementing learning programmes in partnership with other organisations as well as SI-led courses and workshops. The Institute is recognised as a leading expert institution in navigating the transition towards social justice and change in complex futures in Africa, and forms an institutional base for some of the top academics in the field. Our research and practice maintains a strong focus on sustainable African futures, through our student, faculty and consulting research. Our focus on transformative learning from birth and social innovation is embedded through our research, teaching and practice. SCAT is a veteran human rights and social justice, philanthropy (re-granting) organisation which has been in existence for 40 years. It has pioneered and developed a model of development that has been acknowledged as empowering and sustainable with tangible impact at the local level. SCAT was founded during the early 1980’s by three trustees who believed there was a need to provide grants to organisations to promote community-based control which was seen as a critical component of transformative development and the creation of a strong civil society and good governance. This role is as relevant today as it was fourty years ago. Our mission is to empower communities, strengthen civil society, and promote social change in partnership with community based organisations who lead community responses to social justice. Public school partnerships bring additional expertise, resources, flexibility and greater accountability in school management into no-fee public schools in a bid to achieve greater equity in quality education in South Africa. Our mission is to empower communities, strengthen civil society, and promote social change in partnership with community based organisations who lead community responses to social justice. The South African economy requires a sustainable reset that is just and inclusive - embedding positive social, economic and environmental wellbeing. We believe that the next economic revolution of Africa lies within mutual value creation between formal and informal economies. ORIBI supports innovators aiming at establishing solutions that increase economic participation as well as achieve socio-economic and ecological goals within localized contexts. We focus on solutions unlocking the full potential of untapped markets. Our incubation model is underpinned by cohort-based learning, collaborative action, design thinking, agile and systems thinking principles. Through tailored training and development programs, we bring together high potential local entrepreneurs who are willing to commit to working together and collaborating with supportive players in existing supply chains, to transform the system from within (to protect and develop the “first mile”). By ‘first-mile’ ORIBI believes that change should come from within, with, and/or for marginalized communities Beautiful Gate South Africa is a non-denominational Christian organisation that demonstrates the love of God by helping all those in need, no matter what their background or faith. We believe that children grow best in a family, and the best people to support families are their local community. We therefore aim to build community networks while caring for children and supporting families. We work in a holistic way in our community and have focussed our work on three critical areas: Child Health, Family Strengthening and Education. These are areas of great need within our South African peri-urban township context and have a significant impact on the lives of children and their families. The Jakes Gerwel Fellowship (JGF) selects newly qualified and novice teachers with gateway, scarce subject, or phase specialisations, and who demonstrate a passion for teaching and entrepreneurial leadership competencies. Through a two-year Professional teacher Induction Programme, JGF supports the advancement, expertise, and resilience of these teachers to retain them in the education system and their continued impact on schooling. The Fellowship provides holistic support for those teachers to enter and flourish in schools, especially those serving under-resourced communities so that they can improve learning outcomes over time. What sets JGF Fellows apart is their entrepreneurial mindset and their exceptional potential for leadership. JGF recognises that the quality of teachers is a crucial factor in unlocking the full potential of individuals and plays a fundamental role in the success of South Africa’s democracy. We aim to provide professional development and support to South African teachers, enabling them to become exceptional teachers and leaders in education Equal Education (EE) is a youth-led mass democratic movement of learners, post-school youth, parents, teachers and community members who use mobilisation and public action, supported by careful research, to empower young activists and ensure equality in South African education. In 2023, our movement celebrated its 15th year of organising. Over these 15 years, we have managed to put education on the national agenda, mobilise young people who are directly affected by education challenges, and become one of the leading grassroots voices on education-related matters in the country. Youth are Africa’s greatest resource but still 55% of young South Africans find themselves unemployed and out of education. This represents a massive chunk of untapped talent as well as a source of social unrest and individual despair. According to Nobel Peace Prize winner, James Heckman, social and emotional competencies are at least as important as technical skills when determining employability, earnings and career success. Unlike universities who focus on academic and technical skills, enke focuses on the ‘soft’ skills. We look to enable youth to thrive beyond the classroom. We aim to reclaim and re-write the story of disproportinoately impacted youth. We want the youth to make their mark. Masinyusane creates opportunities for impoverished children and youth to get the best education possible. We invest in high-impact education projects that empower the local community to uplift itself. We are simultaneously creating a generation of leaders now while investing in the long-term future of South Africa's children. We implement data-driven children's literacy programmes, with a major focus on literacy and numeracy. We invest in Teaching at the Right Level programmes, providing children with customised, individual lessons designed to provide them with the educational foundation that they deserve. Our focus is on children aged 2 - 13, with the most attention going to the youngest children.
2025
Biblionef is a SARS-approved Section 18A Public Benefit Organisation. Established in 1998 by a former Dutch Ambassador, Biblionef forms part of an international network of independent organisations with offices in the Netherlands, France, Ghana and Tunisia. We are guided by a deep commitment to serving communities where access to quality education is most needed. We prioritise primary schools, ECD centres, libraries, and community organisations in townships and rural regions where educational resources are scarce and literacy outcomes lag behind. Operating transparently with regular reporting to our management board, we ensure that all our programmes are implemented inclusively and collaboratively with trusted partners and beneficiary organisations. Aligned with UNESCO’s Book Donations Charter, we ensure that our book distributions are aligned to the needs and sensitivities of our beneficiaries. Furthermore, we ensure that our programmes contribute to strengthening all elements of the book sector in South Africa. Just Grace is a people-focused non-profit organisation established in 2012 in the community of Langa Township. The organisation designs and implements effective and sustainable initiatives to develop the community and achieve reduced poverty, better quality education, decent work and economic growth, and equal opportunities. The approach aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and prioritises three core components necessary for successful empowerment: technical skills, soft skills, and psychosocial support. We provide free, daily, easily accessible mental health workshops in under-resourced communities. Our evidence-based, culturally tailored, and unique toolkit builds resilience in children and forms the core of our mental health prevention curriculum. It includes 12 core and 4 booster sessions to support lasting impact. Simple and accessible , it requires just two days of training and is already in use across our communities and partners — making it easy to adopt and scale. Since its opening in 2012, Morris Isaacson Centre for Music (MICM), a purpose-built music Centre in Soweto that has been providing quality formal music education to the learners from early childhood development level to the final year of high school. We currently serve 340 students between the ages of 4 -18 year old. Our Centre teaches 16 specific instruments through a blended approach that takes students through one-on-one individual lessons during the week, and then music theory and ensemble classes on Saturdays. MICM provides music education as a tool for human development, and activity is provided as an after-school program to the children and youth of Soweto. In addition to our main music program through our strategic partnerships, we offer access to other value-adding services that include, but are not limited to psychosocial support, gardening, nutrition program and public art program. The impact of our project over the past ten years has been contributing to the development of the beneficiaries and sourcing national and international opportunities for them to further their music and academic studies in secondary and tertiary institutions. REAP’s constitution provides that: Principles and policy shall be informed by values that redress inequality and heal the land. Peace, justice, service, freedom and the dignity of the individual, interfaith access and education for employment, will reflect the Catholic ethos governing the organisation. Since 2001 REAP has worked in close partnership with state funding entities (notably NSFAS and National Skills Fund) as well as a variety of South African and international donors to enable thousands of young South Africans from low income households in rural areas to access and succeed in post school education and training (PSET). SECTION27 is a human rights organisation that seeks to achieve substantive equality and social justice in South Africa. Guided by the principles and values in the Constitution, SECTION27 uses law, advocacy, legal literacy, research and community mobilisation to advance socio-economic rights, in particular the right to access health care services and the right to basic education as guaranteed in section 27 and section 29 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa respectively. SECTION27 aims to achieve systemic change and accountability to ensure the dignity and equality of everyone. Surplus People Project believes in social justice and equal rights for all. We have made a choice to work with the rural poor and to facilitate the voice, choices, strategies and approaches of struggle as determined by the people themselves. We believe in the particular power and possibility of young people and women and actively facilitate opportunities for their growth in our strategy. Our processes aim to encourage and establish a will within people to believe in themselves and their vision. The common vision is improved livelihoods, changes on the economic, political and social conditions within communities and the institutions that represent their interests. Our research and work with communities inform debates and the issues SPP focuses on. Research in turn is informed by the struggles and obstacles communities identify. Their experiences and struggles ultimately inform advocacy to influence government and policy makers. This is always done with communities through documented community actions, stories of change and achievements based on their action for change. The networks such as Tshintsha Amakhaya and Northern Cape network are spaces to share methodologies, approaches and practice. Thanda was established in 2008 to provide critically needed support for children through After-School Programmes. Over the years, Thanda has evolved to offer hyper-local, holistic solutions that support all children and families living throughout the Umzumbe Municipality in the Ugu District of rural KwaZulu-Natal. Thanda Community Centre - We believe in creating spaces for growth. The Thanda Community Centre is the hub of our operations and a safe place for children in the area. Thanda doesn’t just work with individuals – our interventions operate across three levels. Sustainable change occurs when interventions positively impact the social fabric that affects everyone. Founded in 2009 and formally registered in 2011, Waves for Change is a South African non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting the mental wellness of adolescents facing significant adversity in high-stress environments. Operating in the Western and Eastern Cape, with a support hub office in Cape Town, we fuse the rush and therapeutic benefits of surfing with Take 5 evidence-based activities to create a fun, culturally relevant and youth-led service for adolescents. Waves for Change grew from voluntary weekend surfing sessions run at Muizenberg Beach, Cape Town, by founders Apish Tshetsha and Tim Conibear. The findings of early research conducted at Waves for Change highlighted the importance of effective recruitment, training, and supervision of caring coaches to whom adolescents could relate. Waves for Change worked with adolescents, universities, and mental health practitioners to develop a coach training and supervision protocol, as well as a simple teaching routine and fun activities that could be integrated with surfing and support adolescents in coping with stress. Founded as the Isiqalo Foundation Trust, Waves for Change now delivers free, 10-month Surf Therapy courses to 2,800 adolescents growing up in high-stress environments across 5 beach hubs in South Africa. Waves for Change also shares the active ingredients of our award-winning Surf Therapy programme with the world for use in other settings and physical activities through the Take 5 programme.
The Rural Education Access Programme shall embrace the call for the community serving humanity. It shall strive to meet the educational needs of those marginalised by poverty, geographical location, gender and disability.
Our mission is to empower communities, strengthen civil society, and promote social change in partnership with local development agencies which act as community-driven responses to social justice.