There is no application form. Before anything else, we want to understand the intent of a school, a district, or a funder. The two paths below describe what to expect from the first conversation.
The questions we ask depend on whether you lead a school, sit in a district, or fund education work.
If you lead a school or work in a district, we spend the first conversation listening. We want to understand the context, the leadership, and the readiness before we suggest anything.
If you fund education work, we take the diligence required seriously. The first conversation is about your portfolio thesis and what we can credibly deliver. It is not a pitch.
If we are the right fit and the timing works, the path from first conversation to first delivery typically follows four stages.
A coach spends time on site, observes structures, talks to staff, and uses our 31-statement diagnostic to baseline the engagement.
We share the findings and design the roadmap with the SMT. Funder, school, and Dinaledi co-author the engagement.
Programme delivery begins, with quarterly reporting against agreed milestones. A mid-engagement diagnostic checks progress.
We run an exit diagnostic, publish the findings, and follow up with a light touch for two years. The work continues with the school.
Funders and partners who have backed the work over nearly twenty years.
Most of what funds this work comes from foundations and corporate CSI. Individuals give too, and it goes to the same place the institutional money goes: coaches in schools.
The School Transformation Programme runs over twenty-four months, in two phases of twelve. The Emerging Leaders Development Programme runs for an intensive six months. The District Development Programme runs for six months, in parallel with the first phase of school-level work.
Yes. The path is the same: a first conversation, a school visit where appropriate, and an honest read-out. We do not work where the engagement is mandated from above without the principal’s consent.
Each programme is costed as a unit, so a funder can support one school, one district, or one cohort of emerging leaders. The cost depends on the programme, how many schools or leaders take part, and where the work happens: outside the Western Cape, travel and accommodation add to it.
We share a full budget breakdown in the first conversation, and can design a bespoke or multi-year package.
Our work to date has been in the Western Cape, across five WCED districts: Metro North, Metro Central, Metro South, the West Coast, and the Overberg. We are open to partnerships beyond the province where the conditions are right.
The Impact page summarises the headline findings of the 2024 independent evaluation by Tshwane University of Technology. Its interview findings were published, peer-reviewed, in 2026 and are open access: Ndlovu et al., International Journal of Educational Innovation and Research (opens in a new tab).
By a board of nine, chaired by Prof. John Volmink, which subscribes to the King V Code on Corporate Governance for South Africa. You can meet the board on Our People.
“Tell us about your school. Tell us what you’ve tried. Tell us what hasn’t worked yet.” That is where every engagement begins.
