About us
Our Mission
Our Guiding Principles
Early And Holistic Childhood Development is Essential
Target Rural Communities
Play is Essential
Learning Begins at Home
Make Creative Use of what Already Exists
Parents play many essential roles in a child’s life, which is why we centre them as the key changemakers.
Our Journey
With just $5,000, Lively Minds was founded, and we worked directly with parents in Ghana and Uganda to cocreate practical ways to help them provide quality learning and care using their own resources.
We partnered with Governments of Ghana and Uganda to pilot embedding a parent-powered Play Scheme programme in to government systems - culminating in a Randomised Control Trial in Ghana demonstrating the effectiveness of the approach and impact.
With COVID, we supported Governments of Ghana and Uganda broadcast parenting programme to parents. Starting in six languages and later expanding to 18 due to its success.
During this period we supported Government of Ghana to adopt and scale the parent-powered Play Scheme programme across 64 northern districts, while the government of Uganda rolled it out throughout Mayuge District. Meanwhile, the radio programme was scaled nationwide in Ghana.
Government of Ghana is now fully running and funding the Play Scheme programme themselves. We are supporting the roll-out of the radio programme in Uganda. And we are now partnering State Government of Oromia (Ethiopia) and Government of Gambia to pilot ways to integrate parenting course in to their pre-primary systems.
Our Journey
With just $5,000, Lively Minds was founded and co-created its programme alongside communities in Ghana and Uganda, ensuring a context-appropriate and sustainable design.
Verified our government delivery model, impact, sustainability and scalability through a Randomised Control Trial in Ghana
With COVID, we paused in-person operations and shifted to supporting parents through radio. We piloted the programme on six stations in Ghana and Uganda, later expanding to 18 due to its success.
The Government of Ghana embedded the Lively Minds programme in kindergartens across 64 northern districts, while the Government of Uganda rolled it out throughout Mayuge District.
We aim to reach every kindergarten in Ghana, launch in a new country, and sustain our programme in Uganda, making it more affordable for government long term.
Awards
Finalist for Charity of the Year: with an income of less than £1 million
The HundrED Global Collection highlights 100 of the brightest education innovations from around the world annually and ours was chosen twice, in 2024 and 2025, out of over 3000 submissions.
One of ten Champions of the Re-Imagine Learning Competition run by Lego Foundation and Ashoka Changemakers, selected out of over 630 entries from 63 countries by a panel of expert judges.
One of ten Champions of the Re-Imagine Learning Competition run by Lego Foundation and Ashoka Changemakers, selected out of over 630 entries from 63 countries by a panel of expert judges.
One of five winners of the Innovations in Education Competition run by UNICEF Innovations Unit and Results for Development to find potentially transformative innovative education programs in the developing world.
In 2024, we were honoured to be named one of the 10 finalists for the Klaus J. Jacobs Best Practice Award, recognised for our evidence-based approach to improving child development and learning. We're proud to stand alongside other outstanding organisations tackling some of the biggest challenges in education
We were one of the 10th finalists of the World of Play Challenge in 2022, selected among 627 eligible applications. The Challenge recognised the work of organisations which promote the wellbeing of children, their caregivers and their communities, using culturally relevant and sustainable approaches.
Recognition
We are delighted that our blog highlighting why parents are the sleeping giants of ECD and how we support governments to activate their untapped potential, was published by Global Partnerships for Education. Read more.
We were featured in Journeys to Scale report by The Center for Education Innovations and UNICEF, which celebrated innovations in education and unpacked lessons learned on the journey to scale up programs that challenge the status quo. Read more.
We were featured in this Brookings playbook on family-school collaboration. It makes the case for why family engagement is essential for education systems transformation and why families and schools must have a shared understanding of what a good quality education looks like. Read more.
This Brookings report recognises our approach as part of a broader call for transformational teaching and learning practices that support the full breadth of skills children need to thrive—including those in the most marginalised communities. Read more.
The Economist highlighted Lively Minds methodology and the multiple benefits it brings to early childhood development in rural areas. Read more.
