Instigating Excellence

Instigating Excellence is designed to help underserved communities soar and reach for their potential.  This course is designed to catalyse the ability to harness excellence towards personal and professional fulfilment. Success is often assumed to be for those born with certain gifts, talents or resources but that is not the case. Upon examining any successful person’s life over time and you will see patterns of learned and practiced behaviours which form the foundation of “becoming an overnight success,” “maestro,” or G.O.A.T.  Every single great person succeeded outwardly because they were able to master consistently and diligence internally. The good news is that anyone, anywhere can learn to operationalise personal excellence and growth. This project provides access to those skills to underserved youth, primarily in the global south.

Instigating Excellence: South Africa 

These learning journeys draw from the wisdom of scientists and therapists who have studied leaders and successes who have distilled the data into tested and proven formulas and principles of success. Most of the research defies conventional standards often rooted in colonialist and oppressive axioms that promote genetic supremacy and dominance which has made leadership, excellence and advancement seem well beyond the reach of the majority of the world’s populations. 

Instigating Success will provide youth with foundational skills and tools based in the science of growth, cognitive behaviour adaption and proven data.  

Through a series of self-learning modules, interactive facilitation and learning, and personal reflection, participants will be well equipped to: 

    

Program overview
Our informal learning programs are designed to complement traditional education by offering hands-on workshops, interactive seminars, and community-based initiatives. Through diverse subjects such as STEM, arts, entrepreneurship, and life skills, we aim to ignite curiosity, nurture creativity, and promote critical thinking among participants which in turn creates thriving communities. 

Theory of Change 

IF we equip underserved youth with tools and skills directly linked to scientifically proven data and principles 

THEN motivated youth have the capability and opportunity to focus and exercise their potential for personal excellence, development and growth within their countries and their communities in particular 

BECAUSE the global south and the world needs confident courageous heroic people equipped and eager to contribute to a thriving society and world.

Beneficiaries
Our programs cater to a wide range of learners, including students, professionals, families, and unemployed, within underserved communities. We aim to reach a diverse audience, creating an inclusive learning environment where everyone can thrive. 

For Instigating Excellence South Africa, our initial focus will begin in Kliptown, an informal settlement located in Soweto beside Johannesburg, South Africa. It is historically significant as it was the site of the Congress of the People in 1955, where the Freedom Charter was adopted, which became a key document in the struggle against apartheid. 

Much like the country itself, the demographics are diverse and includes Black Africans, Coloureds, Indians, and Whites. Because the inhabitants are a mixture of registered and unregistered refugees and South Africans, it is hard to estimate the actually population, unemployment rates or those receiving formal education.  Kliptown is characterised by extreme poverty and shanty-type shelters where many migrants seeking work and bright futures land when reality falls short of their dreams.  

Like much of Soweto, Kliptown is at the centre of industrial and waste zones that flood the community with toxins and sewage. There is limited access to basic services like clean water, sanitation, and electricity. The youth living in such areas often face economic challenges and limited educational opportunities, with many unable to attend let alone complete foundational schooling. Lacking structural and governance services, Kliptown faces many social challenges such as crime, drug abuse, and gang-related activities which have a significant impact on the lives of the youth in the area. 

Organisations like Soweto Kliptown Youth (SKY) have been working hard to elevate the people of the community through initiatives that cultivate autonomy, ownership and belonging.  The youth (and not so young) have benefited from informal programs, feeding programs, artistic training , and exchange programs offered by SKY. Our project will focus on working primarily with those youth and community affiliated with SKY and their satellite locations in other townships, like Mamelodi, Sohanguve, Alexandra.

Evaluation

Instigating Excellence will evaluate and document lessons learned during and after the offered sessions to assess the performance and outcomes of a project. We will use a series of assessments and tools to determine the significance, impact and outcomes of the proposed project. 

The full scope of evaluation will follow the completion of the curriculum design, but we envision the following: 

By analysing these factors we hope to fain valuable insights into the project's strengths and weaknesses, identify successful practices, learn from challenges, and serve as a foundation for continuous improvement , optimisation, and informed decisions for future initiatives.
 
Some Metrics include: