Nka'Thuto EduPropeller

If successful the funding would be used to scale the activities of the organisation in bringing technology and innovation to the school playground of previously disadvantaged schools. Our program uses problem based and knowledge application approaches, creating a platform for learners to develop valuable solutions to societal problems identified by themselves. The low interest and uptake of STEM subjects and careers among the black, historically marginalized, required attention and in our unique approach, has begun to see learners choose STEM subjects at school, increase their marks, take up technology-based entrepreneurial ventures and an increase in learners applying and studying towards STEM careers at university among partner schools. COVID_19 challenged us to pivot into a hybrid web-based and face-to-face operational model which we piloted and will be scaling in and beyond the country, should we win. The program enables learners to  participate in the whole process of innovation up to value creation for commercialization ultimately converting learners into potential techno-preneurs. Should we win we will also use the funds to develop prototypes with the aim of developing spin-off ventures enabling job creation in a country with a high youth-based labor force and a projected 36% unemployment rate by December 2021. 

My most vivid childhood memory is of my mother's graduation ceremony where my grand-mother was the key note speaker. I grew up knowing that education is the norm until I understood that as a black, young, woman in Africa - I was privileged. I understood then, as a science student that the scale wasn't balanced and I wanted to play a part in balancing it. My understanding of science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship; and the role it would play in advancing the economy made me realize the importance of these disciplines to the common man. As a result I would partner with a like-minded colleague and friend to bring technology and innovation to the school playgrounds of previously disadvantaged communities. We expose learners to research methodology skills inviting them to use the STEM concepts they learn in the classroom and other informal sources of education to develop innovative, technology-based solutions to the societal problems they face. These solutions are further developed into business cases, prototypes and ultimately products for commercialization. Our vision is to become the leading STEMi ecosystem in Africa by 2030.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?... https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/...

The organisation brings technology and innovation to school playgrounds of previously disadvantaged communities situated on the periphery of economic centers and rural communities.  The poor standard of government township schools and high levels of unemployment in SA require tailored and innovative solutions such as this.  The contribution STEM and entrepreneurship can make is one we're committed to achieving.   

We believe that equipping these communities with the tools to identify, research and develop their own solutions of value, is of the most benefit. We are building the mindset of the average youth from high school level to that of value creation and leadership. The program uses STEM, innovation and entrepreneurship as tools to realize valuable outcomes. This strategy has resulted in an organic interest in STEM careers and a bank of technology-based solutions conceptualized by high schools learners. Of these solutions 140 have been converted to business cases with 7 developed into product specifications for prototyping, 2 funded by a government agency for prototyping and 1 prototype developed and undergoing an investment drive. Ours is to create commercializable value out of high school STEM and innovation projects coming from the most resource limited settings. Simply "Giving Light To New Ideas".

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The combination of various skills development tools that we have integrated together to create a model that facilitates the learners at basic education level to define and solve community based challenges, and come up with tech-based solutions that are turned into business concepts. These tools include research methodology skills, presentation skills, the business canvas model, design thinking, robotics and coding which to our knowledge have not been taught in the project-based manner we conduct it in. Furthermore the provision of industry exposure through a network of predominantly black, young STEM professionals. 

This process, which we refer to as Ideas 2 Concept Incubation, collectively gives the learners a platform to apply STEM and business principles in a practical manner through learning by doing. This is a non-conventional way of teaching and learning, particularly in the SA. We believe it fast tracks the rate at which learning takes place relative to the technological changes. 

Ours programmes are unique as they target youth at foundation level compared to post-school. This inculcates critical thinking and problem solving at a young age. Nka'Thuto is the only organisation to offer these interventions in 100% of the communities we serve. Most students engage with STEM through private education which most students in SA cannot afford. 

The kind of impact we've had can be demonstrated as follows:

• Awareness of STEM careers to in excess of 30 000 learners.
• Taught research methodology and innovation to approx 4000 learners.
• Hosted innovation expos for approximately 1500 learners.
• Approximately 1100 technology-based solutions conceptualized.
• National footprint in 7/9 Provinces with 35 Partner Schools.
• 125 learners taught design thinking and the business canvas model.
• 140 technology-based business cases developed from 40 solutions to societal problems which showed the most potential for commercialization.
• Product specification of 7 business cases have been developed for prototyping
• 2 of the business cases and technologies have been identified for funding by a government agency with 1 prototype developed.
• Established 18 innovation clubs in 18 township schools to create an ecosystem of innovation.
• A database of approximately 420 STEM professionals volunteer their time.
• Creating employment for 19 youth since 2017

Our problem-solving, project based and application based approach in providing a collection of techniques, skills, processes and concepts to the learners works because it's tangible. The learners can relate with application as it brings relevance to their curriculum. We believe it's also the reason we see higher marks and interest in STEM subjects and careers.  

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The organisation suffered a loss in funding due to COVID_19 leaving us with only 2 donors, leading to a decrease in impact numbers. We are currently serving 4 schools in rural Limpopo Province. Awareness campaigns which we carry out for recruitment were not carried out due to COVID_19 restrictions. In a years time we would have created awareness of STEAM, innovation and entrepreneurship to 40 schools at approximately 600 learners per school resulting in 24 000 reached. In the 4 schools we are currently serving 204 learners at 50 per school that have been enrolled into the program. In a years time our target is 200 per school for the ideas to incubation program which amounts to 8000 learners. It is to be noted that prior to the loss in funding we were serving 31 schools at approximately 250 learners per school. These are learners who participate in conducting research towards developing technology-based solutions for the Innovation and TechnoPreneurship challenge.  

As the program continues with the elimination rounds the number decreases until we have the best 10 technology based ideas after a year cycle represented by 10 teams of 3. Ideas to concept program takes on the innovation funnel model. 

• To scale the program to 40 schools in 7 Provinces in township and rural communities. These schools have been identified, enrolled and majority in the program from previous years.
• Scale our e-learning platform to all schools in the program. To achieve this the hybrid delivery of the ideas to incubation program systematically incorporates an incentive system to provide books and devices (smart phones, tablets, and laptops). This facilitates bridging the digital divide.
• To deliver the ideas 2 incubation program to other paying markets with a target of at least one private school chain, university students including program alumni and Technical and Vocational Education and Training Colleges. This will be achieved by establishing a marketing and sales team as well as creating strategic partnerships.     
• Prototyping 2 technology-based solutions more specifically a smart hydroponic system (SDGs 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10 and 13) and an electro-friendly autonomous bin-sotter (SDGs 3, 9, 10 and 13).    
• The systems we've created for the program include monitoring and evaluation of progress and achievement of goals.These have been setup over the years and include attendance registers, reports, surveys, questionnaires, images and video recordings of the activities to continuously monitor and evaluate for improvement as required. 

Having had lost our major donor (pressures they encountered through the effects of COVID_19) in November 2020, the high demand the organisation faces grew. The financial contribution that winning would make would assist in meeting this demand. It is through this that we continuously strategize and execute towards sustainability.

Hybrid not-for-profit and for-profit hybrid models are better understood in the 1st world and we believe that the exposure to the international social entrepreneurship and business networks through mentorships and general access to the network that comes with winning would elevate our program further. The barrier here is the limited mentorship in this space and we believe winning would assist us.

Although we have social media platforms and a website, more visibility of the work the organisation carries out would be beneficial. Adequate PR and marketing would enable us to grow into a trusted brand particularly with international publications and online platforms which we believe winning would expose us to.   The MIT Solve association serve as an endorsement of the work we do in ways that the South African market would understand the eminent problem caused by not including innovation and entrepreneurship in the curriculum from an early age and grade.

As an organisation we create content owing to the additional interests that we have beyond being scientists, within the creative arts. We capture the stories of beneficiaries and have enough content to publish a story every month for the next 3 years and the content keeps growing with the impact of the program. Moreover, we capture the footage of all activities including boot-camps and industry visits and have packaged some of the content as edutainment episodes. Examples of this content are on our YouTube channel. An audience such as this would grow our visibility thus growing our influence and impact in ways that could ultimately attract more funding opportunities. Such an audience also exposes us to various markets enabling scale of the program particularly through the e-learning platform and the technology-based solutions. We believe such audiences will grow our network which means more learning and growth is inevitable. The global community as big as it is has become easy to access through online publications and international campaigns exponentially so with as association with the Elevate Prize and MIT Solve. This would bring us closer to reaching our vision of becoming the leading STEAM and innovation ecosystem in Africa by 2030. 

Our advisory board is composed of 8 people including myself and my partner Ms Thandeka Mhlanga as the management team. The board is composed of 50% women with the chairperson of the board being female. Our board comprises of 2 members that are Kenyan and Nigerian born and the remaining 6 South African representative of 4 tribes. Additionally, one board member is of the LGBTQI+ community. Reporting to the female management are young people from diverse tribal backgrounds. 

Our ecosystem is composed of 400+ young professionals from the STEAM sectors. Those who facilitate the workshops and are compensated for it are from all backgrounds including Caucasians albeit to a limited extent. One of our facilitators has a disability from which his technology-based company for solutions for the disabled was established. He specifically facilitates a session that speaks to developing inclusive technologies and innovations. The remainder of our young professionals judge and mentor the students and their projects are inclusive of all ethnicities and all tribes of the country. Moreover, our network is representative of the whole country even geographically.   

Nka’Thuto is a 100% black women owned organization with 80% of the staff members being black women who are highly educated. The co-executive directors of the organization Ms Mhlanga and Ms Khanyile are young professionals in STEAMi fields with sufficient research experience. They currently hold Masters degrees in Physics and Molecular biology respectively with Ms Khanyile currently in pursuit of a doctoral also in Molecular Biology and Ms Mhlanga a second Masters of Management in Innovation Studies. They are supported by an experienced and diverse advisory board in fields ranging from the sciences, finance, human resources, education and from the creative industries. Ms Thandeka also holds a post graduate diploma in business administration from the Wits Business School and Ms Thulile Khanyile has attended executive business courses by Emory Business School and Stanford SPARK. The programs are coordinated by a diverse team of young people with STEAM qualifications in Bachelor of Sciences Chemistry, Bachelor of Technology in Plant Production etc. 

One of the major setbacks we've faced in the loss of our main donor who was funding 75% of our operations and activities. This happened in November 2020 mostly due to the COVID_19 global pandemic. It was an incredibly difficult time because we had a full team of 10 employees at that time, operating at 7 of 9 of the Provinces in the country with two offices in two of the biggest cities in the country. At the time we had applied for another round of funding from the other two donors and were not sure if the same would not happen with them. With the challenges presented by COVID_19 we wouldn't lose our other donors. We tried hard to keep the whole team and even cut our salaries before letting the first two people go in March and that was very difficult especially leading a team that looks to you for answers. We faced the challenge by decreasing our expenses and keeping lean staff members that would implement the program in the 4 schools we are currently serving now. 

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• We would be able to scale the program to the forty schools.
• We would be able to hire back our staff who have been our dream team in terms of reaching the impact we have been able to have to date.
• We would be able to market our skills development program especially the e-learning platform to other markets and demographics who will pay for the service enabling us to in turn service our marginalized communities beyond this funding period/year as a result of striking a balance between generating our own funds and donor funding to implement.  
• Develop two prototypes to a point of investment readiness.

We partner with schools and they assist us in coordinating with the learners enrolled in the schools we serve. 

The Department of Science and Innovation who provide supporting in funding, some joint PR and marketing, they open up platforms for exposure through speaking engagements. 

The Ponahalo DeBeers Trust and whom we partner with through funding. They also assist us with some training and skills development for the team which have in the past included project management 

Technogitis which we partner with to delivery the coding and programming classes for learners in the program who are a part of the Innovation clubs that we set up in our partner schools to continue the culture of innovation beyond learners that participate in the ideas to concept incubation.

National Science and Technology Forum assists with professional development specifically where reporting to government is concerned. 

Black Women In Science in an organisation that supplies us with young professional as an implementation partner. 

Disrupting Africa is concerned with telling African innovation stories and contributes to telling the stories of our beneficiaries and the work we do. 

Innovation Hub provides us with interns and pay for their salaries while they develop within the organisation.