Our vision, mission and values
Our vision
The vision of the Trust is to have hopeful communities where residents actively participate in the change that is required for them to realize their potential.
Our mission
Our mission is to help end intergenerational poverty in the communities surrounding the Lesedi Power Project in the Northern Province through the implementation of interventions from pre-conception to career.
Our values
Our values guide everything we do. They are a critical part of our culture and help us ensure that we steward the funding we have to best serve the communities surrounding the Lesedi Power Project.
Honouring
We believe that the potential lies within the people themselves. They are the champions, and we are the facilitators.
Collaborative
We believe that the whole is far more effective than the sum of the parts and that by working together with various stakeholders and partners, our impact is greatly magnified.
Future-focused
We take a long-term view and work to see generations uplifted.
For the community
We exist to steward the finances of the community for their benefit.
Optimistic
We are hopeful of a tangibly improved future.
Accountable
We strive to be above reproach and fully accountable.
Our values
Our values guide everything we do. They are a critical part of our culture and help us ensure that we steward the funding we have to best serve the communities surrounding the Lesedi Power Project.
Honouring
We believe that the potential lies within the people themselves. They are the champions, and we are the facilitators.
Collaborative
We believe that the whole is far more effective than the sum of the parts and that by working together with various stakeholders and partners, our impact is greatly magnified.
Future-focused
We take a long-term view and work to see generations uplifted.
For the community
We exist to steward the finances of the community for their benefit.
Optimistic
We are hopeful of a tangibly improved future.
Accountable
We strive to be above reproach and fully accountable.
Our approach
Learn
We conduct research to understand local needs and opportunities and identify innovative interventions. We then reflect on lessons emerging from our experience.
Influence
We communicate to build trust and local ownership. We advocate for policy changes at a local level to advance outcomes across our strategy. We use evidence to enable scale.
Connect
We convene implementing partners and community members to enable collaboration, connect people to opportunities, and encourage peer-to-peer learning.
Codify
We codify learning from progress and fail forwards to provide insights and data that influence the work
Invest
We catalyse change with strategic investments
Our approach
Learn
We conduct research to understand local needs and opportunities and identify innovative interventions. We then reflect on lessons emerging from our experience.
Influence
We communicate to build trust and local ownership. We advocate for policy changes at a local level to advance outcomes across our strategy. We use evidence to enable scale.
Connect
We convene implementing partners and community members to enable collaboration, connect people to opportunities, and encourage peer-to-peer learning.
Codify
We codify learning from progress and fail forwards to provide insights and data that influence the work.
Invest
We catalyse change with strategic investments.
Our history
Ours is a story of listening, collaboration, and adaptation to support a series of place-based, conception-to-career services designed to systematically break the cycle of intergenerational poverty.
Meet the team
Our board of trustees
Fritz Steenkamp (community representative trustee)
Fritz is headmaster of Kuilsville High School and an active member of the community, serving on a number of local boards and foundations.
Brongene Cloete (community representative trustee)
Brongene is a dedicated mother of two and a loving wife, balancing her familial responsibilities with a deep commitment to community betterment. Drawing upon her background in social work and community engagement, Brongene now runs her own practice. She dedicates herself to uplifting those in need, offering guidance, support, and resources to individuals and families facing various challenges.
Janet du Preez (independent trustee)
Janet is a development consultant working both in South Africa and internationally. She is a professional social worker, who has worked in many fields in the social welfare environment, including holding a senior position in government. She is committed to supporting and assisting vulnerable communities and families, and does this through her involvement in a number of community-based Trusts on which she serves.
Ameen Amod (independent trustee)
Ameen is a governance expert who has previously chaired the Audit and Risk Committees of the Department of Energy, the Department of Defence, the Railway Safety Regulator, the National Consumer Tribunal, and the Provincial Department of Health, and Social Development amongst others. He serves on the DGMT Board of Trustees,on the Audit Committees of the National Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, and on the Department of Public Service & Administration. He is married with 2 children and is an avid hiker and mountain climber.
Sinazo Nkwelo
Sinazo is a Commonwealth Scholarship recipient with a Masters in Development Economics from SOAS, University of London. She is passionate about a human development model that holistically and systematically unlocks the potential of a life by investing in that life from conception through to employment and doing so within a context of a geographic location. She is inspired by her parents, who dedicated their lives to God and in service to their family and community.
Meet the team
Our board of trustees
Fritz Steenkamp (community representative trustee)
Fritz is headmaster of Kuilsville High School and an active member of the community, serving on a number of local boards and foundations.
Brongene Cloete (community representative trustee)
Brongene is a dedicated mother of two and a loving wife, balancing her familial responsibilities with a deep commitment to community betterment. Drawing upon her background in social work and community engagement, Brongene now runs her own practice. She dedicates herself to uplifting those in need, offering guidance, support, and resources to individuals and families facing various challenges.
Janet du Preez (independent trustee)
Janet is a development consultant working both in South Africa and internationally. She is a professional social worker, who has worked in many fields in the social welfare environment, including holding a senior position in government. She is committed to supporting and assisting vulnerable communities and families, and does this through her involvement in a number of community-based Trusts on which she serves.
Ameen Amod (independent trustee)
Ameen is a governance expert who has previously chaired the Audit and Risk Committees of the Department of Energy, the Department of Defence, the Railway Safety Regulator, the National Consumer Tribunal, and the Provincial Department of Health, and Social Development amongst others. He serves on the DGMT Board of Trustees,on the Audit Committees of the National Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, and on the Department of Public Service & Administration. He is married with 2 children and is an avid hiker and mountain climber.
Sinazo Nkwelo
Sinazo is a Commonwealth Scholarship recipient with a Masters in Development Economics from SOAS, University of London. She is passionate about a human development model that holistically and systematically unlocks the potential of a life by investing in that life from conception through to employment and doing so within a context of a geographic location. She is inspired by her parents, who dedicated their lives to God and in service to their family and community.
Our staff team
Program Director
Community Project Coordinator
Program Manager
Program Manager
Communications Manager
Communications and Marketing Officer
Project Lead
Our staff team
Program Director
Program Manager
Community Project Coordinator
Communications Manager
Communications and Marketing Officer
Program Manager
Project Lead