Lalela
Lalela is a South African non-profit that delivers educational arts programmes to at-risk youth aged 6-18 across Sub-Saharan Africa, combining creative arts curricula with life-skills and trauma-informed education through partner schools, museums, and community centres.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Lalela does
Lalela is a registered South African non-profit organisation (NPO 090608) that delivers educational arts programmes to at-risk youth aged 6-18 in Sub-Saharan Africa. Founded in 2009/2010 by Andrea Kerzner and headquartered in Hout Bay, Cape Town, the organisation runs after-school and holiday arts workshops that combine creative arts instruction with life-skills development, including flagship offerings such as the Leadership Programme (Grades 10-11), the Female Empowerment Programme (Grade 8), and the SACE-endorsed Trauma Curriculum developed post-Covid-19. Lalela also operates a Virtual Learning Programme introduced during the pandemic and runs the annual Shakespeare Schools Festival for learner performers.
The organisation's core "technology" is its proprietary curriculum library, refined over 15 years and deployed via a network of partner schools, museums (notably Zeitz MOCAA), community centres (Philippi Village, Bertha House, A4 Arts Foundation), and dedicated country partners (Zara Centre in Zimbabwe, Hope North in Uganda). It maintains offices in Hout Bay, Johannesburg (Maboneng), Sea Point, Harare, Northern Uganda, and a fundraising presence in New York. Lalela does not run a software platform; its intellectual property is curriculum-based and content-led.
Lalela's business model is donation- and partnership-driven rather than commercial. Revenue streams include individual and recurring donations (via lalela.org), corporate partnerships (e.g., H&M South Africa's Role Models kidswear collaboration), merchandise sales through the Lalela Scarf sub-brand (lalelascarf.co.za) featuring learner artwork, and art sales at events such as the Investec Cape Town Art Fair. The organisation reports having transformed the lives of over 55,000 children, with the Trauma Curriculum alone reaching 122,000+ learners through 1,100 teachers across 578 schools in four South African provinces. No public financial disclosures, funding rounds, or M&A activity are present in the available data.
Lalela firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Lalela
- Legal name
- Lalela
- Website
- https://lalela.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Lalela is a South African non-profit that delivers educational arts programmes to at-risk youth aged 6-18 across Sub-Saharan Africa, combining creative arts curricula with life-skills and trauma-informed education through partner schools, museums, and community centres.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Lalela industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Youth Development through Educational Arts Programming
- NAICS
- Fine Arts Schools (61161), Educational Support Services (611710)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Visual Arts (Drawing, Painting, Illustration) (EDAAAGAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Performing Arts Camps (Theater, Musical Theater, Dance) (EDAMALAI)
Keywords
Where Lalela is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices6 records
Markets served
Lalela business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Donations and Charitable Contributions: Lalela operates as a registered Non-Profit Organisation (NPO 090608) funded primarily through donations. Both one-time and recurring donations are accepted through their website.
- Merchandise Sales (Lalela Scarf): Sales of the Lalela Scarf featuring artwork by Lalela learners. Profits from scarf sales directly support the organisation's educational arts programmes.
- Corporate Partnerships: Partnerships with corporations like H&M South Africa where proceeds from collaborative collections flow directly to Lalela's programmes.
- Art Sales: Exhibition and sale of selected learner artwork at events like Investec Cape Town Art Fair, with proceeds supporting programmes.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels9 records
Lalela product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Lalela provides an award-winning educational arts programme delivering after-school and holiday workshops to at-risk youth aged 6-18 in low-resourced communities across South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Uganda. The programme combines arts instruction with life skills, leadership development, female empowerment, and a SACE-endorsed trauma-informed curriculum. Lalela also operates the Lalela Scarf merchandise sub-brand, producing scarves featuring learner artwork with proceeds supporting programme delivery.
Product overview
Lalela operates as a unified non-profit educational arts programme rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering is the after-school educational arts programme for at-risk youth aged 6-18 in Sub-Saharan Africa, supplemented by holiday programmes, leadership development, and a female empowerment track. Supporting modules include a trauma-informed curriculum endorsed by SACE and a virtual learning component. Additional programmes include Shakespeare Schools Festival participation and community exhibitions. The Lalela Scarf is a merchandise sub-brand where learner artwork is featured on products to generate fundraising revenue.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- After-School Educational Arts Programme Lalela's flagship after-school programme providing creative arts education to at-risk children aged 6-18 in low-resourced communities, offering safe spaces during vulnerable afternoon hours when children are most at risk of abuse.
- Holiday Programme Structured arts workshops conducted during South African school holidays (March/April, June/July, December), accommodating large groups of children with volunteer support across Lalela's partner venues.
- Leadership Programme Development programme for high school students in Grades 10-11 focusing on mentorship, role model development, and practical leadership skills through workshop facilitation and community engagement.
- Female Empowerment Programme Workshop series for Grade 8 girls focusing on gender equality, confidence building, and life skills development, delivered across multiple Cape Town locations by Lalela facilitators.
- Trauma Curriculum Post-Covid-19 resource guide providing creative arts-based activities to help educators recognise and assist learners affected by trauma; received full endorsement from SACE and rolled out across 578 schools in four South African provinces.
- Lalela Scarf Merchandise line featuring artwork by Lalela learners printed on scarves, sold via the Lalela Scarf online shop and Cape Town showroom, with all proceeds directly supporting Lalela's educational arts programmes.
Quantifiable outcome
- 55,000+ children transformed through arts education
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Lalela
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Lalela technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Lalela partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
18 partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.
- H&M South AfricamajorPartnership for Role Models kidswear collection featuring designs by Lalela learners. All proceeds flow directly to Lalela's after-school educational art programmes. Collection launched September 2024 at H&M Centurion and Canal Walk.
- Zeitz MOCAAcoreLongstanding partnership with the museum housing Lalela's classroom in association with the museum's Education Centre. During school term, learners are transported from surrounding schools to participate in workshops. During holidays, workshops are held tied to museum exhibitions.
- Zara Centre (Zimbabwe)corePartnership for operating Lalela programmes in Zimbabwe through Zara Centre.
- Hope North (Uganda)corePartnership for operating Lalela programmes in Uganda through Hope North.
- Denis Goldberg House of HopeminorCollaboration on mural project where Lalela learners created artwork for the gallery, an arts-and-culture education centre memorializing anti-apartheid icon Denis Goldberg.
- Dala Art MaterialscoreWell-known South African art materials company that generously supports Lalela with donations of art materials that make art programmes possible. 'Dala' means 'create' in isiXhosa and is also South African slang for 'making a plan'.
- Honest ChocolateminorUnique collaboration featuring artwork from Lalela learners on limited-edition chocolate wrappers. All proceeds support Lalela's educational arts programmes.
- Stanford UniversityminorInternship programme hosting Stanford students for hands-on experience in Lalela classrooms and projects.
- Western Cape Education Department (WCED)corePartnership for rolling out Trauma Curriculum training across Western Cape schools. WCED social workers also identified individual schools for focused workshops with entire school staff.
- Mpumalanga Department of EducationcorePartnership for Trauma Curriculum training rollout in Mpumalanga province.
- Gauteng Department of EducationcorePartnership for Trauma Curriculum training rollout in Gauteng province.
- NAPTOSA KwaZulu-NatalcoreTeacher union partnership for Trauma Curriculum training in KwaZulu-Natal.
- Bertha HouseminorPartner venue for Lalela's Leadership Programme holiday activities and location for annual September Sessions team retreat.
- Philippi VillageminorCommunity partner venue for Lalela's after-school programme launch in September 2020. Hosts holiday programmes and community exhibitions.
- A4 Arts FoundationminorPartner venue for Lalela's Leadership Programme where young leaders spend time learning about leadership qualities.
- Bertha RetreatminorScenic retreat venue hosting Lalela's annual Leadership Camp and September Sessions team retreat.
- Silikamva High SchoolcorePartner high school in Imizamo Yethu, Hout Bay. Source of Leadership Programme participants from Grade 10-11.
- Hout Bay High SchoolcorePartner high school in Hangberg, Hout Bay. Source of Leadership Programme participants from Grade 10-11.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves1 record
Expansion highlights5 records
Lalela competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Young Audiences Arts for Learning: Largest arts-in-education nonprofit network in the United States, delivering arts programming to K-12 students in low-income communities; operates at significantly greater scale but with the same mission-aligned arts-education-for-youth structure as Lalela.
- P.S. Arts: US-based nonprofit providing arts education to underserved public-school children through in-school and after-school programs, the closest direct international analogue to Lalela's arts-education-for-at-risk-youth model.
- Dream a Dream: India-based nonprofit that empowers young people from vulnerable backgrounds through life-skills programs blending arts, sports, and mentoring; highly comparable model to Lalela's arts-plus-life-skills curriculum for at-risk youth.
- Ikamva Youth: South African education nonprofit providing after-school tutoring, mentoring, and life-skills support to disadvantaged high-school learners; directly comparable on geography, beneficiary profile, and after-school delivery mechanism.
- ASSITEJ South Africa: South African centre of the international ASSITEJ network promoting performing arts for children and young audiences; directly comparable to Lalela's performing arts element (Shakespeare Schools Festival) and youth-arts mandate within the same geography.
- Nal'ibali: South African literacy and reading-for-pleasure nonprofit working through partner schools and communities to build children's literacy; highly comparable South African nonprofit operating via school-and-community partnerships serving at-risk children.
Emerging players
- African Leadership Academy: Pan-African leadership and entrepreneurship education institution developing African youth leaders, including a leadership curriculum component; comparable to Lalela's Leadership Programme focus on Grades 10-11 youth leadership development.
Regional players
- Education Africa: South African nonprofit focused on education access, scholarships, and skills development for marginalized youth; comparable geography and beneficiary base to Lalela but focuses more on academic scholarships rather than arts.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Lalela social profiles
Digital presenceLalela financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Lalela leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Lalela subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Lalela funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Lalela M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Lalela
What does Lalela do?
Lalela provides an award-winning educational arts programme delivering after-school and holiday workshops to at-risk youth aged 6-18 in low-resourced communities across South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Uganda. The programme combines arts instruction with life skills, leadership development, female empowerment, and a SACE-endorsed trauma-informed curriculum. Lalela also operates the Lalela Scarf merchandise sub-brand, producing scarves featuring learner artwork with proceeds supporting programme delivery.
Is Lalela a public or private company?
Lalela is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Lalela founded?
Lalela was founded in 2010. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Lalela based?
Lalela is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Lalela make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Donations and Charitable Contributions are the primary driver. The others are merchandise Sales (Lalela Scarf), corporate Partnerships and art Sales.
Who are Lalela's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Young Audiences Arts for Learning, P.S. Arts, Dream a Dream, Ikamva Youth, ASSITEJ South Africa and Nal'ibali. African Leadership Academy is listed as an emerging player. Education Africa is listed as a regional player.
Does Lalela have an API?
No public API is recorded for Lalela.
What industry is Lalela in?
Lalela's product category is Youth Development through Educational Arts Programming. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAAAGAA, Visual Arts (Drawing, Painting, Illustration), with a secondary code of EDAMALAI, Performing Arts Camps (Theater, Musical Theater, Dance). Its NAICS code is 61161.