What Lively Minds does

Lively Minds is a UK-registered charity (number 1187460) founded in 2008 by Alison Naftalin that partners with governments in Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia (Oromia region), and The Gambia to deliver parent-powered early childhood development (ECD) programmes to rural and underserved communities. The organisation's premise is that parents — particularly mothers — are the most under-utilised resource in early childhood development, and that governments can reach them at scale using existing pre-primary and community systems. Lively Minds operates from a UK headquarters in Totnes with a central team based primarily in Tamale, Ghana, regional offices in Bolgatanga (Ghana) and Jinja (Uganda), and secondees supporting Ethiopia and The Gambia.

The organisation's portfolio comprises five interconnected offerings: (1) Parent-run Play Groups, where community trainers teach mothers to run free educational play sessions for children in their communities, strengthening kindergartens where they exist or substituting for them where they do not; (2) a Group Parenting Course consisting of scripted workshops delivered by community trainers to teach parents playful learning activities that can be incorporated into household routines at no cost; (3) the Lively Minds Together Radio Programme, in which trained government staff broadcast scripted parenting episodes, now in 18 languages and reaching 1.8 million parents; (4) Play-based Teaching and Materials, a teacher training module; and (5) Government Integration and Scaling Support, a technical advisory service. The methodology has been iteratively developed over roughly 20 years and was validated by a Randomised Control Trial in Ghana showing cognitive development gains equivalent to one extra year of schooling.

Lively Minds is funded by philanthropic donations from foundations and bilateral donors including the Lego Foundation, Mulago Foundation, USAID, UNICEF, World Bank, Echidna Giving, and LGT Venture Philanthropy, with "tier" donation options such as £13 sponsoring a preschooler's year of Play Scheme access. Government partners increasingly self-fund delivery: Ghana Education Service has integrated the parenting course into the national pre-primary system and runs it at zero extra cost across 64 northern districts. The current impact footprint includes 304,641 children attending weekly Play Schemes, 137,528 parents receiving government-delivered parenting courses, and 12,323 government-paid trainers in Ghana and Uganda.

Name

Lively Minds

Legal name

Lively Minds

Website

https://livelyminds.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Lively Minds is a UK-registered charity that partners with governments in Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia, and The Gambia to deliver parent-powered early childhood development programmes at scale, reaching hundreds of thousands of rural children and parents through community play groups, parenting courses, and radio broadcasts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Early Childhood Development Services

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Early Childhood Development (ECD) & Pre-Primary Education (BPADAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Domain-Specific Curriculum (Literacy, Numeracy, Science, SEL, Motor, Arts) (EDACAJAB), Family Engagement & Take-Home Learning Materials (Home Packs, Parent Guides) (EDACAJAL), In-Service Professional Development (Workshops/Institutes/Short Courses) (EDACAIAB)

Keywords

• Early childhood development
• Parent education programmes
• Government ECD advisory
• Nonprofit education services
• Community play schemes

Headquarters

HQ city

Tamale

HQ country

Ghana

HQ region

Africa

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Philanthropic Funding: Lively Minds relies on donations from individuals and philanthropic organisations. The organisation lists numerous donors and supporters including foundations such as The Agency Fund, Dovetail Impact Foundation, Ray & Tye Noorda Foundation, Echidna Giving, LGT Venture Philanthropy, AKO Foundation, Como Foundation, CRI Foundation, Dioraphte, Elma, Fund for Innovation, Grand Challenges Canada, Global Innovation Fund, Gower Street, Imaginable Futures, Lego Foundation, Mc2h, Mulago Foundation, Peter Cundill Foundation, Sense Foundation, UNICEF, and USAID.
2. Government Partnerships: Lively Minds supports governments to integrate their ECD programme into existing systems. While Lively Minds provides technical support and content, governments increasingly fund and run the programmes themselves. Ghana Education Service has integrated the parenting course into their pre-primary system and runs it at zero extra cost.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Lively Minds designs and delivers parent-powered early childhood development (ECD) programmes and partners with governments to integrate them into existing national systems. The portfolio includes Parent-run Play Schemes, a Group Parenting Course, the Lively Minds Together Radio Programme, Play-based Teaching & Materials, and Government Integration and Scaling Support. The organization provides technical expertise, curriculum, and training while governments increasingly fund and sustain delivery themselves at scale.

Product overview

Lively Minds is not a single software product but an ECD (Early Childhood Development) programme organisation. Its portfolio consists of five interconnected offerings: (1) Parent-run Play Groups, where mothers trained as community volunteers run free educational play sessions for children in their communities, strengthening or substituting formal pre-primary; (2) the Group Parenting Course, a scripted workshop series delivered by community trainers to parents covering playful learning and nurturing care; (3) the Lively Minds Together Radio Programme, a government-delivered broadcast series reaching parents through scripted radio episodes in multiple languages; (4) Play-based Teaching & Materials, a teacher training module equipping pre-primary educators with play-based, child-centred pedagogical approaches; and (5) Government Integration and Scaling Support, a technical advisory service through which Lively Minds helps governments embed, operationalise, and sustain its ECD content within existing national and district systems. The organisation works exclusively through and with government partners (Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia, The Gambia) rather than selling directly to end users.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Lively Minds Together: Radio programme that provides parents with practical information and ideas proven to improve nurturing care and learning for children, broadcast by government staff using scripted lesson plans.

Products and services

• Parent-run Play Schemes (Play Groups) A programme in which mothers are trained by community trainers to run free educational play groups for the children in their communities. These can take place in and strengthen kindergartens where these exist, or bridge the gap where there is no formal pre-primary. Improves children's learning, hygiene, and socio-emotional skills while boosting empowerment and wellbeing of mothers. For governments and communities seeking to deliver community-led ECD at scale.
• Group Parenting Course Community trainers provide regular workshops to parents in their community using scripted lesson plans. These teach fun activities proven to strengthen whole-child development and can be easily incorporated into household routines for no cost. Designed for governments seeking a low-cost parenting curriculum that can be delivered through existing systems.
• Lively Minds Together Radio Programme Government staff are trained to broadcast radio episodes for parents using scripted lesson plans. The programme provides parents with practical information and ideas proven to improve the nurturing care and learning they give their children, as well as improving their own confidence and wellbeing. A solution for governments without pre-primary or with limited training and supervision systems.
• Play-based Teaching and Materials Pre-primary teachers are trained to understand the value of play-based, child-centred learning. They are given practical guidance on making and using simple learning resources and on applying play-based approaches effectively in large classes. Designed for governments retraining kindergarten teachers in play-based pedagogy.
• Government Integration and Scaling Support Technical advisory service through which Lively Minds partners with governments to adapt and embed content and approaches within existing systems so governments can run, fund, and sustain delivery themselves. Includes technical advisory support, partnership development, policy development, and working closely with governments to identify challenges and opportunities. Designed for government ministries and education services.

Quantifiable outcome

• 304,641 children attending parent-run Play Schemes each week
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Ministry of Education GhanaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Long-term government partnership since 2016 to embed Lively Minds' parent-powered ECD programme into Ghana's pre-primary system. The programme has been fully integrated and Ghana government is now running and funding it independently across 64 northern districts.
• Ghana Education Service (GES)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerGES has integrated the Lively Minds parenting course into their pre-primary system and runs it at zero extra cost. The partnership includes the GES-Lively Minds Early Childhood Development Programme with dedicated project management team.
• Oromia Education Bureau EthiopiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to pilot ways to integrate parenting course into pre-primary systems in Oromia, Ethiopia. Lively Minds has secondees supporting the government in Ethiopia.
• Government of The GambiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to pilot ways to integrate parenting course into pre-primary systems in The Gambia.
• Government of UgandaflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Uganda government to deliver and scale the parent-powered ECD programme, with government rolling it out throughout Mayuge District. Lively Minds supporting radio programme roll-out.
• Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnical partner for the Early Childhood Education Harmonised Scale Programme in Ghana. Conducted rigorous randomised evaluation of the programme in Ghana with IFS.
• Sabre EducationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnical partner supporting the Early Childhood Education Harmonised Scale Programme in Ghana.
• Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducted rigorous randomised evaluation of Lively Minds programme in Ghana alongside IPA, finding improved cognitive development by equivalent of extra year of schooling.
• THRIVEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProduced reports examining community dynamics and lessons learned about government implementation of the Lively Minds programme at scale in Ghana.
• Farm Radio InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducted external evaluation of Lively Minds Together radio programme in Ghana, finding 97.4% of listeners said it helped support their children's learning.
• EDI GlobalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Lively Minds to assess impact of the programme in Uganda through qualitative evaluation.
• Yale UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner listed among Lively Minds' research partners for evidence generation.
• University of ManchesterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner listed among Lively Minds' research partners for evidence generation.
• LateriteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner listed among Lively Minds' research partners for evidence generation.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• BRAC: BRAC operates one of the world's largest ECD programmes, reaching millions of pre-primary children across Bangladesh and multiple African countries through government and community partnerships. Comparable in its use of play-based curricula, community activation, and government integration at population scale.
• Save the Children: Save the Children is a major INGOs delivering ECD programmes across multiple African and Asian countries, including government-supported pre-primary and parenting interventions. Comparable in scale, geographic reach, and government partnership orientation, though far broader in thematic scope.
• Sesame Workshop: Sesame Workshop delivers early childhood media and educational programming across more than 150 countries, with significant work in sub-Saharan Africa. The radio-based delivery model of Lively Minds Together — scripted lessons broadcast to parents — is structurally analogous to Sesame's media-driven ECD approach.
• Plan International: Plan International operates ECD, education, and child protection programmes across more than 80 countries, with significant ECD work in West and East Africa. Comparable in its broad multi-country ECD delivery model, although Plan's portfolio is much wider than Lively Minds's narrow focus on parent-powered ECD.
• World Vision International: World Vision runs ECD, education, and child wellbeing programmes in nearly 100 countries, with deep experience in government-supported pre-primary systems in sub-Saharan Africa. The Uganda Country Director at Lively Minds previously held senior education roles at World Vision Uganda, indicating strong operational comparability.
• FHI 360: FHI 360 runs large-scale ECD and early grade reading programmes funded by USAID across Africa and Asia, partnering with governments to strengthen pre-primary systems. Comparable as a professional, evidence-led ECD implementer working at government scale in similar geographies.

Direct peers

• Luminos Fund: Luminos Fund delivers accelerated primary learning programmes for out-of-school children in sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on play-based, child-centred pedagogy. The MEL lead at Lively Minds previously led programming and M&E at Luminos, indicating close methodological and operational alignment in ECD delivery for marginalised children.
• Sabre Education: Sabre Education is a UK-based charity that works with the Ghanaian government to improve early childhood education, particularly in rural areas. Listed as a technical partner on the Ghana ECE Harmonised Scale Programme alongside Lively Minds, making it a directly comparable Ghana-focused ECD non-profit operating through government integration.
• VVOB: VVOB works with ministries of education in low- and middle-income countries to improve the quality of early childhood and primary education through teacher professional development and play-based pedagogy. Highly comparable in ECD focus, partnership model, and evidence-driven government integration.

Emerging players

• Whole Child International: Whole Child International partners with governments to transform institutional care and strengthen early childhood systems, with work in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Comparable in its government-embedded model for improving ECD quality, though focused more on institutional care reform than parent-powered community delivery.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/livelyminds

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lively Minds