Despite successfully supporting the Government of Ghana to integrate and scale a parenting programme into its pre-primary system, Lively Minds have taken the courageous step of re-thinking their scale approach as they begin work in Ethiopia and the Gambia – why ?
Lively Minds first focused on early childhood development in Ghana in 2008, starting with a community development model that empowered parents to help their own children, then adapting so it could be delivered through the public kindergarten system.
With support from several innovation funders between 2016-19 they conducted a larger pilot across six districts in Ghana, including a rigorous RCT. The results demonstrated that mothers—92% of whom had never been to school—generated learning gains equivalent to a full year of formal schooling.
That success led to an agreement in 2019 by the Ghanaian Minister of Education to adopt and scale the programme, a huge win for Lively Minds. The rollout was successful, reaching 64 districts and 3,500 schools and the Government are now funding it and preparing to roll out to all the remaining districts nationwide
So, a clear example of a successful pilot going to national scale – why change ?
Alison Naftalin (Founder / CEO of Lively Minds) and James Adongo Awini (Director of Delivery) explain that this is a major strategic shift as they start working with Governments of Ethiopia and Gambia. They feel the previous theory of change used in Ghana and Uganda — build a comprehensive model, prove impact, then have governments adopt it — is now unrealistic.
They point to the fact that large donors (like USAID / FCDO in the past) rarely fund replication and note that integrating a model that requires bespoke training and monitoring systems is inherently fragile.
Instead, Lively Minds now aims to work directly with governments to co-design zero‑running‑cost models, integrating only essential components directly into existing government structures. That’s the approach now taken in Ethiopia and the Gambia.
The goal is to ensure sustainability from the outset by adapting to each country’s capacity—whether through pre‑primary, health, or local government systems, or via radio-only delivery where infrastructure is limited.
Read more about Lively Minds and their work in Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia and the Gambia.