Name

Community Keepers

Legal name

Community Keepers NPC

Website

https://communitykeepers.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Community Keepers is a South African non-profit that delivers school-based therapeutic counselling, life-skills workshops, and Mental Health First Aid to learners and educators in underserved communities via embedded therapy rooms across 59 partner schools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

School-Based Mental Health Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (624110), Educational Support Services (611710), Other Individual and Family Services (624190)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Mental Health, Counseling & Wellbeing (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Mental Health Counseling & Therapy Services (K–12) (EDAJALAG), Mental Health & Crisis Support Services (BPAGAEAH), Family & Parent Support Services (Parent Coaching, Advocacy) (EDAJALAK)

Keywords

• School-based mental health
• Youth counselling services
• Psychosocial support programs
• Mental health first aid
• School therapy services

Headquarters

HQ city

Stellenbosch

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Grants & Donations: Primary revenue source — the organisation operates as a non-profit funded entirely by grants from foundations, government programmes (e.g. National Treasury Jobs Fund, National Development Agency, GBVF Response Fund, Western Cape Education Department), corporate donors (Capitec, Zanda Health, Spier, Woolworths, Remgro, etc.), and individual donors. Donations are exempt from donations tax and qualify donors for SARS 18A tax certificates. BBBEE level contributor. No cash donations accepted; electronic payments only.
2. Fee-for-Service Consulting: Community Keepers raises additional funds by selling expertise — organisations pay for speaking engagements, consulting services, and Mental Health First Aid training courses.
3. Partner School Contributions: Partner schools make token financial contributions toward the service, contributing to sustainability.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Community Keepers delivers free, school-based therapeutic counselling, life-skills workshops, and psychosocial support to learners, educators, and caregivers in 59 partner schools across Cape Town and the Cape Winelands, embedded directly on school premises via dedicated child-friendly therapy rooms. Services are delivered through a task-sharing model combining qualified Care Practitioners (psychologists, social workers, registered counsellors) with community-recruited Care Facilitators trained in Mental Health First Aid, and are supplemented by a Virtual Clinic for remote support. The organisation is funded primarily by philanthropic grants and donations, with all services provided at no cost to learners, educators, or families.

Product overview

Community Keepers is a South African non-profit organization that provides a comprehensive, school-based mental health service delivery system. The organization operates its C.A.R.E.S. model (Counselling, Anchoring life-skill workshops, Referrals, school Ecosystem, and Stakeholder engagement) through dedicated on-site therapy rooms at partner schools. The core offering includes therapeutic counselling delivered by qualified professionals, life-skill workshops for learners, educators, and parents, a Care Facilitator program that trains community members in Mental Health First Aid, referral services to specialists, and a research and innovation arm that evaluates program effectiveness. Additional offerings include a free Wellbeing Resources Library and a Youth Advisory Board for beneficiary feedback.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Therapeutic Counselling On-site professional counselling services delivered by qualified psychologists, social workers, and registered counsellors through dedicated child-friendly therapy rooms established directly on school grounds in underserved communities, provided free of charge to learners, educators, and families.
• Life-Skills Workshops Anchoring workshops for learners covering topics such as anxiety, bullying, boundaries, sexual identity, self-image, self-harm, substance use, and goal setting; educator workshops on classroom management and self-care; and positive parenting workshops for caregivers.
• Care Facilitator Program A task-sharing program that recruits and trains young adults from local communities in Mental Health First Aid to serve as frontline mental health first aiders, managing intake, monitoring, and hosting group workshops at school sites; 38 Care Facilitators graduated as Social Auxiliary Workers in 2025.
• Referral Services Specialist referral services that connect learners and families with external support services, including social services, medical assessments, and specialised interventions when clinical support beyond school-based capacity is required.
• Research and Innovation Evidence-based research collaboration with universities worldwide, including studies on mental health interventions, academic performance correlation, and program effectiveness evaluation to continuously improve service delivery.
• Wellbeing Resources Library A freely available library of downloadable resources including workbooks on grief, anxiety, emotions, bullying, and parenting guides in English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa for learners, educators, and parents.
• Virtual Clinic Technology-enabled remote mental health support delivered via secure platforms, supplementing on-site services and extending reach to schools in remote or underserved areas.

Quantifiable outcome

• 87% of educators observed immediate positive behavioural and attitudinal changes in learners engaging with CK (2020)
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Oxford UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Bomikazi Lupindo (PhD Candidate, Oxford) trained 6 CK team members in the 'Ties That Heal' trauma intervention pilot, part of her DPhil research on school-integrated violence intervention. The Breakthrough Programme is also endorsed by Oxford University.
• Zero DropoutminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Participated in Zero Dropout's 'Hanging by a Thread' exhibition at The Tutu Legacy Foundation. Zero Dropout is expanding and rebranding with a focus on Teen Wellbeing, and invited CK to join their countrywide Listening Tour.
• YearBeyond (YeBone)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Participated in FETCH Community of Practice supported by YearBeyond, exploring how youth support can be preventative rather than reactive. CK also collaborated with YearBeyond on recruitment of Care Facilitators and in workshops on Psycho-Social Support with DG Murray Trust.
• Marie Stander Art StudiominorOthers · 1 January 2026Annual art auction beneficiary. Selected Community Keepers as recipient of proceeds from their annual art auction, donating art supplies for the therapy rooms in Jamestown.
• Western Cape Education Department (WCED)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Formal governmental partner providing endorsement and collaboration. CK operates with permission from WCED. Dr. Michael le Cordeur (Cape Winelands Education Management and Development Centre) endorsed the programme in 2008. WCED provided letters of support in 2022 and 2025. CK participates in SBST (School-based Support Team) meetings and aligns with WCED's 'Abuse No More' child protection protocol.
• University of StellenboschcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Longstanding academic partner. Gerrit Laning holds a Master's from Stellenbosch University. Amanda van der Vyver consults at the university. Researchers from Stellenbosch co-authored multiple academic publications with CK staff. The Sustainability Institute (where CK is based) is affiliated with the university. 2008 research was conducted with WCED permission.
• University of Cape Town (UCT) — Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Academic research partner in the 4 Steps To My Future (4STMF) programme and other research initiatives. UCT PhD candidates (Mirriam Mkhize, Chesney Ward-Smith) conducted research on teen mental health interventions (EASE and #FeelThinkMove) in partnership with CK.
• University of BathcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Academic research partner. Dr. Maria Loades (Bath) co-authored multiple peer-reviewed publications with CK staff, including the model of community youth mental health support services in the global South (2024) and the 4STMF programme studies.
• HundrEDminorOthers · 1 January 2025CK has been selected for the HundrED Global Collection in both 2024 and 2025, recognising it among the top 100 education innovations globally. Featured in the Hundred Global Collection 2025 report.
• 1 Million StrongminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Trained CK Care Facilitators to facilitate the Breakthrough Programme — a structured 12-week intervention for vulnerable youth aged 11–24, focusing on life skills, risk awareness (substance addiction, teen pregnancy), and discovering purpose and hope. The programme is endorsed by Oxford University.
• Zanda HealthminorOthers · 1 January 2025Technology and operational partner. 'We run on Zanda' — Zanda Health provides practice management software that powers CK's operations.
• DG Murray TrustminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partnered with DG Murray Trust and YearBeyond to co-host workshops unpacking Psycho-Social Support, exploring how youth support can be preventative rather than reactive.
• JobJackminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2023Online platform for entry-level career opportunities used in CK's mass recruitment drive for the Jobs Fund project. Unsuccessful applicants could access other job opportunities through the JobJack platform.
• Jacaranda FMminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2023Jacaranda FM conducted a live broadcast at one of the Gauteng partner schools, welcoming Community Keepers to the province during the Jobs Fund expansion launch in 2023.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• SADAG (South African Depression and Anxiety Group): South Africa's largest mental health advocacy and support organisation, running counselling lines, support groups, and education campaigns. Overlaps with CK's mental health literacy, destigmatisation, and educator training activities, but operates nationally across all ages and conditions.
• War Child: International NGO delivering mental health and psychosocial support to conflict-affected children, including school-based delivery models in LMICs. Shares Community Keepers' focus on task-sharing, teacher capacity-building, and embedding psychosocial support within education systems.
• Save the Children South Africa: Global NGO's South African operation delivering child protection, education, and psychosocial support programmes. Shares the school-embedded, child-rights orientation and large-institutional-funder profile, but at broader scale and across multiple outcome areas.

Direct peers

• IkamvaYouth: South African non-profit providing educational and wraparound support to under-resourced learners. Comparable in targeting the same learners CK serves and in combining school-embedded delivery with community-based after-school programmes and learner wellbeing support.
• Click Learning: South African education non-profit improving literacy and numeracy in under-resourced schools. Co-implementer with CK on the Dell Foundation-funded study linking psychosocial wellbeing with academic performance — strong evidence of programmatic and population overlap.
• Childline South Africa: National non-profit providing child-focused counselling, crisis intervention, and referrals. Comparable as a South African child-and-family support organisation that combines direct services with referral pathways into welfare, education, and law-enforcement systems.
• REPSSI (Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative): Africa-focused organisation supporting psychosocial wellbeing for children and young people, particularly those affected by HIV, poverty, and violence. Directly comparable to CK's psychosocial-support-for-youth mission and its training-of-trainers / task-sharing approach.

Emerging players

• Salesian Life Choices: Youth-focused NPO delivering lifeskills, mentorship and wellbeing programmes to under-resourced adolescents in Cape Town. Compares on target beneficiary (Cape Town youth), school and community delivery model, and lifeskills curriculum orientation.
• Zero Dropout: South African non-profit focused on reducing learner dropout, increasingly re-orienting toward teen wellbeing. A direct operational neighbour of CK (joint exhibition, shared Listening Tour) and a proxy peer in the school-based youth wellbeing space.
• Heartlines: South African values-based NPO working with schools, faith communities and corporates on character, relationships, and mental wellness education. Comparable audience and school-facing delivery model, with overlapping themes around GBV and youth wellbeing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/communitykeeper

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

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 Community Keepers