LeadNow: Learn. Thrive. Grow

“If children do not acquire the basics of literacy—together with numeracy and other foundational skills—the futures of hundreds of millions of children around the world, and their societies, are at grave risk.” (UNICEF 2022)

About 17.2 million (37%) of Kenya’s population are school-age children from pre-primary to secondary levels (KNBS 2019).  Out of these, 11% have a disability (KISE 2009).  Learning poverty in Kenya is widespread, with less than 50% of Grade 4 learners able to perform simple literacy and numeracy tasks at the expected level (Usawa, 2023), but the learning crisis is exacerbated for children in marginalized communities, including urban informal settlements, rural areas, and Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL).  For instance, only 33% of children in rural areas in Kenya  aged 10 years are at least meeting expectations in Grade 3 appropriate  literacy and numeracy problems (Usawa 2023).  For children with disabilities, including those who are neurodivergent, these inequalities are more profound with little access to early identification, assessment, and support.  Children with autism are more likely to drop out of school than children with any other disability (Usawa 2023).

The effects of this challenge are dire. Only 10% of adolescents in Kenya  have a high proficiency in critical 21st century skills and social-emotional competencies such as collaboration, self-awareness, problem-solving, and digital literacy (RELI, 2024), and learners are socialized by teachers to rush to solutions, and not learn from the process of problem solving.

"Skills for a Changing World," (Brookings, 2019) highlights that effective teaching practices build a foundation for children to become adept communicators and critical thinkers. However, the Kenya Education Sector Report (KESR, 2018) indicates that classroom practice is lagging behind in education reforms - only 13% of teachers encourage learner questions, and 12% incorporate group-work. Further, school leaders and their supervisors, expected to support new instructional practices at school level, are poorly resourced - only 14% of instructional leaders provide classroom support (Dignitas 2021). 

Kenya’s national education reforms, including the shift to Competency-based Curriculum (CBC) and Competency-Based Assessment (CBA), has created demand for continuous capacity building for teachers and school management (Ministry of Education, Global Partnership for Education, 2020).  This demand will bridge the skills gap to support the teaching of skills to thrive in a rapidly changing world. 

Kenya’s Ministry of Education report (Global Partnership for Education, 2022) highlights the education inequality in marginalized communities, and notes the continued lag in all indicators, including adequacy of qualified teachers and learning outcomes. “The most marginalized learners have the most marginalized teachers.” (EdTech Hub, 2021). The Sector Policy for Learners and Trainees with Disabilities (2018) notes that provision of education services has mainly focused on hearing, physical, visual and intellectual disability leaving out many neurodivergent learners, including those with autism. The policy further decries the lack of adequate human resource capacity to support these learners in classrooms. Technology has the potential  to improve learning and teaching at scale when contextualized to address the challenges within specific communities in a way that complements human interaction.

Our solution builds on the work achieved with fellows through the 2023 LEAP Challenge.We sought to gain a deeper understanding of the learning experiences of neurodiverse children in marginalised communities, and how effective instructional leadership and teaching practices for inclusive learning can support children with neurodivergence to thrive and succeed. In collaboration with our LEAP fellow, we developed a competency framework and two learning briefs that form the foundation of our training and coaching solution for marginalized educators.

LeadNow is a web and app based development platform providing training and coaching to teachers and instructional leaders, offering critical support that improves the quality of teaching and learning.  LeadNow delivers transformative training content, models best practices, employs scenarios for users to practice new competencies, encourages goal-setting and specific support requests through reflective journaling, and provides real-time feedback from expert educators. Throughout each development cycle, LeadNow collects comprehensive data on user knowledge, competency, and practice.  This data empowers coaches like Head Teachers or Government Education Officers to facilitate specific shifts in classroom practices, directly benefiting children's acquisition of communication, collaboration, self-efficacy, and critical thinking skills, alongside gains in literacy and numeracy.

The LeadNow user journey commences with a pre-module assessment, gauging existing knowledge and attitudes. Subsequently, content is delivered through animations, coaching videos, and how-to guides, ensuring a simplified yet effective learning experience. Various learning pathways, aligned to the evidence-based pillars of Instructional Leadership, Learner Engagement, and School and Classroom Culture, each encompass twelve modules. Specifically designed to bolster the successful implementation of Kenya’s national Competency-Based Curriculum, enhance leadership and classroom practices, and improve learner outcomes, especially in 21st Century Skills, these pathways remain adaptable based on feedback from users and key government stakeholders.

LeadNow  elevates the effectiveness of teachers and instructional leaders in fostering foundational learning among children. Notably, teachers and instructional leaders utilizing LeadNow exhibit discernible competency gains in crucial areas, including instructional leadership, learner engagement, and classroom culture. 35% of instructional leaders record above mastery across all domains, measured in classroom observations.  Advancements in teacher competencies, such as effective questioning techniques, and creating safe learner spaces contribute to enhancements in learners' critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. Classrooms employing LeadNow showcase an impressive 11% increase in learners meeting or exceeding expectations in 21st-century skills. LeadNow also boasts average completion rates of 83%, a significant leap from the 12.6% average observed in online courses (Jordan, 2015). This evidence underscores the direct correlation between LeadNow, enhanced instructional leader efficacy, improved teacher competency, and the augmented acquisition of vital skills by learners.  We believe that, based on the LEAP Challenge research findings, we can leverage LeadNow to improve the inclusion of all learners, including those with neurodivergence in fruitful, enjoyable learning.

In 2018, a national survey by the Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) of 7609 young people (50% male, 50 % female) found 865, or 11.4%. had disabilities or neurodiversity. The  Global Education Monitoring Report” (GEM) states that children and youth with disabilities are among the most marginalized and excluded people in the world and are 2.5 times more likely never to attend school in their lifetime than other children.  Accurately estimating a true percentage of neurodiverse children is a challenge in under-resourced settings, as many children do not receive a formal diagnosis, nor the support they deserve in terms of identification and placement.

Recognizing the untapped potential of neurodiverse learners, Dignitas took part in the LEAP challenge with a few partner schools  to ensure all learners have the opportunity to thrive and succeed. The project aimed to provide evidence-based resources and training to transform opportunities for the next generation. The LEAP competency framework identified  four key components to achieve this; valuing  learners diversity,  collaboration, supporting all learners and professional development. The competencies are a means to promote  the integration of neurodiverse learners. Key recommended actions to be taken under this competency framework include enhancing school based collaboration to promote integration of  neurodiverse learners, implementing instructional solutions such as Universal Design for Learning  to support neurodiverse learners, and use of  technology to embed UDL in teacher training. These  key actions will shift teaching practices and positively impact the learning experiences of neurodivergent learners.

Research on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) implementation in LMICs shows that it is rarely included in pre-service training (McKenzie et. al., 2021). Working with teacher training programs to embed a focus on inclusion, grounded in a UDL framework, offers promise to strengthen new teachers’ preparedness to implement inclusive practices. LeadNow is designed for teachers and instructional leaders who support children from underserved communities in Kenya's urban informal settlements, rural areas,  arid and semi arid areas.  By targeting teachers and instructional leaders, LeadNow ultimately aims to impact the learning of neurodiverse  children from these communities. LeadNow will embed the LEAP competency framework and key recommendations into existing  teacher training modules in order to enhance the capacity of teachers in these communities to support neurodiverse learners.

 An external evaluation of Dignitas’ in-person programming (ZiziAfrique, 2018) found three critical levers of transformation that had impacted children’s learning - instructional leadership, learner engagement, and school and classroom culture. These three have become the pillars of Dignitas’ program design, implementation and evaluation, including for LeadNow. Further, Instructional (or teacher) coaching has been widely recognized as a valuable intervention for improving teaching practices and an essential component in structured pedagogy programs (Teemant, Leland, & Berghoff, 2014). In 2023, Classrooms employing LeadNow showcase an impressive 11% increase in learners meeting or exceeding expectations in 21st-century skills

Our team Lead Steve,is the co-founder of Dignitas and has over 20 years experience working and serving in marginalized communities around Kenya. Being from Kenya, he has a deep understanding of the socio cultural contexts impacting learning,particularly for neurodiverse children. Our Solutions  lead, Deborah  has been living and working in Kenya for over  22 years. She  has a deep understanding of the education inequalities in underserved communities. She has been instrumental in bringing together local education actors to advocate for quality learning for children in these areas and is a recognized voice for community led solutions that address education inequity.

Our senior leadership team as a whole has a depth of experience in the communities we seek to serve, many with their own lived experience.  All of our training and coaching facilitators are locally trained and registered teachers, with a longevity of practice in the communities they seek to serve.

Dignitas was founded on an exercise of listening to the community.  When we asked community members - from youth workers to parents to the local administration - what their community needed for children to escape poverty, the answer was overwhelmingly education.  As this conversation continued, the Dignitas model was formed and informed in consultation with the community stakeholders that became core to how we operate.  Across all programming,

Dignitas shares program ownership ans maintains regular feedback and accountability mechanisms with our communities at school, zone, community, subnational and national levels through VoICE, (Valuing our Insights, Collaborations and  Evidence). This ensures the voices of key stakeholders are significant influencers of program design, delivery and sustainability. During VoICE meetings,  Dignitas’ Programs and Research teams shared program data back with community members and  program stakeholders, and work alongside them to support data-driven goal setting and decision  making. The value of this approach is that it allows us to deeply integrate the views of our target populations into our decision making structures.

Dignitas boasts a Technical Advisory Board comprising esteemed members from our community who possess a deep understanding of the education challenges faced in Kenya. Membership includes civil society, government, academia and school leaders.  Moreover, Dignitas has established  partnerships with various levels of government, ranging from subnational to national. These partnerships not only highlight our potential for scalability but also underscore our commitment to working within existing government systems. To bolster sustainability, Dignitas ensures local government education officers are engaged in all program delivery, with opportunities to access tailored training and coaching, and to take on co-facilitation roles.

LeadNow’s design process, from an initial chatbot concept to a comprehensive web and mobile app incorporated insights from Focus Group Discussions with teachers and instructional leaders who were engaged to document the everyday scenarios they experience in classrooms that are at the core of the scenario based development content on LeadNow. Teacher and School Leaders’ own reflections and experiences informed the  module development, and the final module curation was overseen by a panel of 40 education experts from Kenya. 

Dignitas’ commitment to learning, human-centred design for impact at scale, and evidence-driven solutions underpins our approach. By actively seeking insights and staying abreast of the latest research and best practices, we ensure that LeadNow meets the needs of its users.  Dignitas’ initial interest in digital training and coaching tools was with a view to scale, and offering support to hard-to-reach school partners. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this development, leading to the integration of digital tools for remote support. Using customized Chat bot, USSD, chat platforms, phone calls, and online video conferencing to provide coaching and communities of practice for school leaders, teachers, and students. Dignitas collaborated with the University of York to create a remote coaching tool using scenario-based learning to measure educator competency gains. 

LeadNow has evolved from an initial chatbot concept to a comprehensive web and mobile app. The design process incorporated insights from Focus Group Discussions with teacher and instructional leaders, guided by the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, Behaviour (COM-B) model, particularly focusing on adopting instructional leadership skills.  Dignitas has  conducted A/B testing on  three different models of delivering LeadNow app content and support to determine the most effective model. These are LeadNow content only, LeadNow content in addition to Peer Learning Communities and LeadNow and Coaching. The insights from the A/B testing provided us with recommendations for further research into scalable online training and coaching of teachers from both public schools and community schools. 

In alignment with government education priorities, Dignitas has embedded LeadNow testing through, Coaching at Scale,a research project HOsted by the Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI) and the  Transforming Schooling Into Learning government TWGs to support our growth plans. Launched in 2023, LeadNow is currently used by 3947 teachers and school leaders, impacting 89,000 marginalised children. LeadNow has been tested in Nairobi,Machakos,Kajiado and Homabay Counties.

LeadNow  elevates the effectiveness of teachers and instructional leaders in fostering the acquisition of 21st-century skills among children. Notably, teachers and instructional leaders utilizing LeadNow exhibit discernible competency gains in crucial areas, including instructional leadership, learner engagement, and classroom culture. 35% of instructional leaders record above mastery across all domains, measured in classroom observations.  Advancements in teacher competencies, such as effective questioning techniques, and creating safe learner spaces contribute to enhancements in learners' critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. 

Classrooms employing LeadNow showcase an impressive 11% increase in learners meeting or exceeding expectations in 21st-century skills. LeadNow also boasts average completion rates of 83%, a significant leap from the 12.6% average observed in online courses (Jordan, 2015). This evidence underscores the direct correlation between LeadNow, enhanced instructional leader efficacy, improved teacher competency, and the augmented acquisition of vital skills by learners.

Dignitas  would love to be part of this community of like minded partners that we can work with to increase impact.  Much of our journey to date has been marked by the support of, and collaboration with, peers.  We have consistently participated in networks as a source of learning, inspiration, collaborating to generate evidence and solve complex challenges.  Dignitas is an active member of several education sector networks including RELI (Regional  Education Learning Initiative) and WISE ALL-IN (Agile Leaders of Learning Initiative) in which it holds  leadership roles. 

Dignitas is keen to lean on the mentorship and advice from experts within the MIT network to support further development and reach of LeadNow. For instance, integration of translation options for expansion to new contexts, leveraging of artificial intelligence to enhance personalisation of the coaching support,  and the incorporation of a dashboard with tools and predictive analytics to equip Head Teachers and Government Education Officers to better support teachers for important shifts in classroom practice. 

Dignitas also seeks access to discounted or pro-bono resources such as software licenses and legal services for LeadNow. This is in line with LeadNow’s expansion to provide  B2B and B2G services. Dignitas will need to ensure appropriate legal due diligence around intellectual property (IP) ownership, trademarks and licenses. Further, expansion to other countries means getting advice on cross border IP laws that affect or impact LeadNow. Another legal area of support is on data protection for the information collected by leadnow and ethical data use.

To support our  scale plans, we  envision support for exposure in media, conferences and relevant partnerships which are key for reaching our targets and increasing our impact. Dignitas seeks to leverage MIT Solve to access support in developing and executing a go- to- market strategy. Dignitas also seeks connections to a wider range of supporters and funders who can invest in our work through grants,investment capital among other financial models. We are also committed to sharing our contextual expertise in coaching and training of school leaders from marginalized communities, supporting others who are designing similar programs in addition to sharing best practices on our community and government engagement models and how they lead to improved learner outcomes.

The majority of technology-driven solutions in Kenya focus on children’s digital learning. Amongst those focused on teachers, a range of tools exist to support training and school administration, but very few, if any, focus on shifting classroom practice in ways that support improvements in the quality of teaching and learning.  Training tools tend to focus purely on delivery of content, and fail to integrate modelling, practice, goal-setting and coaching, all of which are critical for the application of new content.

Coaching, an emerging area of best practice in the field of teacher professional development, particularly in low resource settings (Reddy et al,2019) has not been fully exploited by existing tech-enabled innovations. LeadNow uniquely integrates coaching of teachers and school leaders, alongside training, so that all schools can become vibrant places for children to gain the skills and strength of character they need to thrive and succeed.  An external evaluation of our program highlighted the impact of coaching on  improved student learning. 92% of Head Teachers, and 63% of Class Teachers attributed improved learning directly to the coaching they received. (Zizi Afrique, 2018)

LeadNow is informed by 15 years of field experience, and evidence-driven iteration of training and coaching models proven to deliver shifts in teaching, and learning gains for children of three times more than peers in comparison schools.  As a result of this success, Dignitas identified four non-negotiable characteristics of coaching that drive meaningful shifts in classrooms, and are now embedded in LeadNow; coaching must be individualized, data-driven, competency-based, and goal-oriented.

LeadNow was designed in collaboration with a research team of educational psychologists led by Professor Robert Klassen (University of Oxford), and uniquely leans on scenario-based learning to nudge and measure user competency gains, mapped to Kenya’s Professional Teaching Standards.  Dignitas uniquely employed the COM-B Model of Behavioural Science (S. Michie) to ensure that user capability, opportunity and motivation are core to each desired shift in classroom practice, and each shift in classroom practice is tied to evidence of what supports gains amongst learners

With full offline capability, LeadNow targets three key interventions highlighted by World Bank (2018) as critical to address the global learning crisis: effective school leadership, teacher development and support, and enhanced pedagogical practice.  LeadNow, through active, formal government partnerships, is positioned for impact at scale. LeadNow has the potential to leapfrog the positive impacts of teacher capacity development by uniquely using technology to provide training and coaching at scale.  

School leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an influence on pupil achievement. (Leithwood et al 2006). Our theory of change revolves around evidence that prioritizing teacher skills fosters a purposeful classroom environment, ensuring learners are actively engaged in cultivating critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills. This premise underscores the pivotal role of teacher and instructional leaders in providing crucial support to teachers, cultivating not only critical mindsets but also competencies and practices.  The LEAP  framework outlines four key competencies necessary for  inclusive educational practices. By equipping educators with the right skills and knowledge, this framework aims to create a supportive and empowering learning environment for neurodiverse learners.

The overarching goal of LeadNow  is to transform classrooms into dynamic, inclusive spaces where neurodiverse  children effectively acquire foundational literacy and numeracy skills and socioemotional learning which is aligned with Kenya’s Competency-Based Curriculum.

To achieve this LeadNow trains Instructional Leaders in the  Integration of Universal Design for Learning, Inclusive Instructional Practices, Learner assessment and Leadership to promote change. LeadNow also offers how-to guides for strategy implementation,provides Scenario Based Learning (SBL) Scenarios for practical strategy application. Following learning, LeadNow supplies Reflective Journals to help leaders identify strengths, growth areas, and enhance teacher support. Instructional Leaders are able to set goals to boost teacher support and present feedback to guide goal setting and improve teacher support.  

This learning approach nudges  Instructional Leaders to be  enthusiastic about enhancing foundational learning skills and exhibit strong self-efficacy in applying learned concepts. They  will also possess expertise in implementing UDL practices, formative assessments and  differentiated instruction. SBL has been shown to positively influence teacher self efficacy( Klassen et al,2023). In 2023 cohorts of school partners, Dignitas saw average gains of 56% across school leadership and classroom competencies proven to positively impact learning.

The result of attaining these competencies is that there is improved pedagogical support to teachers on supporting all learners  academic,social and  emotional learning needs,valuing learner needs and demonstrating a deepened understanding of neurodiversity, and increased collaboration between teachers and administration to design and sustain inclusive practices.

 Teachers will differentiate instruction to accommodate learning needs, different learner types and abilities. They will also review and use learner data to adjust teaching processes and will apply different methods to check for understanding during lessons. As a  result,there is improved instruction for foundational learning for neurodiverse children which leads to improved learning outcomes among children. Classrooms employing LeadNow showcase an impressive 11% increase in learners meeting or exceeding expectations in 21st-century skills, and demonstrate gains beyond comparison schools in foundational literacy and numeracy. 

LeadNow aims to improve learning outcomes in Foundational Literacy and numeracy  and 21st century skills. Over the next 5 years, LeadNow seeks to reach  16,000 teachers and  impact learning  for 2,000,000 learners. Dignitas tracks improvements in instruction and learner outcomes to understand progress towards this goal by observation of classroom practice and learner assessments at baseline  and endline.

LeadNow collects data on user knowledge, competency and practice to monitor the following outcomes: 1) improved pedagogical support from leaders to teachers on formative assessments, data-driven instruction and differentiated instruction, 2) teachers differentiate instruction to accommodate learning needs, learner types and abilities, 3) teachers review and use learner data to adjust teaching processes and, 4) teachers apply different methods to check for understanding during lessons. Dignitas systematically gathers data from school partners at the baseline and endline of partnerships, incorporating insights from coaching cycles throughout the academic year.

Key indicators used to measure these outcomes include;Number of modules delivered through LeadNow ,Number of Instructional leaders who have completed 70% of the LeadNow modules,Knowledge change and competency gains  in pre + post assessment. Dignitas also tracks the number of instructional leaders who show positive attitudes towards learning skills and concepts for implementing UDL, improving FLN the percentage  of instructional leaders who show knowledge gain in formative assessments, data-driven instruction and differentiated instruction and the % of instructional leaders who attain mastery in supporting teachers to use inclusive teaching methods.. The indicators on learner outcomes include an increase in the number of children meeting or exceeding expectations in literacy,numeracy and 21st century skills,increase in the number of neurodiverse learners receiving support in classrooms.

Real-time data dashboards on LeadNow, provide comprehensive insights for continuous program refinement. This collaborative approach, supported by a robust data collection and analysis framework, ensures that LeadNow contributes substantially to the broader research landscape and supports external researchers in generating valuable insights. The LeadNow 2023 insights report shows that 98% of teachers feel more confident to undertake their roles following completion of the 12 modules. 

LeadNow has evolved from an initial chatbot concept to a comprehensive web and mobile app. The web version was designed to reach a large number of people via browser. Digital technology is capable of fostering large‐scale improvements in the professional development of teachers using technology enhanced learning. (Laurillard et al, 2018). LeadNow  is available on AndroidOS. The web version is integrated and compatible with most browsers  therefore meeting different user preferences.

LeadNow has an interactive User interface developed using  Flutter for the Android App, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to encourage  teachers and instructional leaders to engage with its content. The modules are chronological and easy to navigate with a simple dashboard and prompts to help a user navigate through. The interactive videos  and engaging responses to the various scenarios  followed by personalized feedback immediately after on the app create  an immersive learning experience. LeadNow relies on feedback delivery and analysis

To ensure data protection, LeadNow operates as a closed app. Users receive credentials from Dignitas ; a username and a password. After login in, a user can change their password.The database used is MySQL, which efficiently stores and retrieves data as per the application's requirements.

The design process incorporated insights from Focus Group Discussions with teacher and instructional leaders, guided by the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, Behaviour (COM-B) model, particularly focusing on adopting instructional leadership skills. Developed by Michie, van Stralen, and West in 2011 the COM-B model identifies three primary components that influence behavior: Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation. These components interact with each other and are essential for a specific behavior to occur. Additionally, LeadNow draws on established evidence regarding the efficacy of scenario-based learning in enhancing educator selection and development. Field research further underscored the critical need for improved support for teachers to achieve quality teaching and learning gains.

LeadNow has been designed with scalability in mind, recognizing its potential for growth. It  is built to seamlessly scale, from the server infrastructure to the application itself, allowing for effortless implementation in any locality worldwide. This ensures that LeadNow can expand and adapt to meet the demands of increasing usage and evolving user needs, making it a versatile solution for diverse communities across the globe.

Led by the CEO,Dignitas’ team of 30 is split across 4 departments; Strategy and Growth, Programs and Advocacy (Incorporating the School Support Team), Research and Development, and Operations. All team members are full time staff of the organization. To support the leadership and provide strategic oversight  is a Board of directors and a Technical Advisory board. 

Four years

‘What one thing  would you change about your community?’ . This was the question that led to the founding of Dignitas 15 years ago and has continued to guide its work. In the urban informal settlements of Nairobi, the community shared their aspirations for a better education for their children. Dignitas remains strong in its commitment to co-create and design solutions with our communities,schools and system actors.

LeadNow has a targeted focus on populations residing in marginalized communities, specifically in rural, semi-arid areas, and urban informal settlements. The Kenya Education Sector Report  outlines the prevailing challenges in these areas, where classrooms exhibit teacher-centric activities and limited learner engagement. Learners lack opportunities for active participation, questioning, reasoning expansion, and collaboration—crucial skills for 21st-century success.

Dignitas team and leadership is representative of the communities we serve. We invest in local leadership with lived experience. Our entire School Support Team is made up of teachers or head teachers from our communities.A good number of women sit on the leadership team at Dignitas. The senior team is composed of both men and women to promote equity in leadership. 

It is Dignitas culture that each team member leads one of our weekly team meetings; this brings in much needed diverse perspectives into how we share updates and challenges about our work in addition to providing learning that is co owned within the team. It also ensures access to leadership opportunities for team members. As part of its commitment to local leadership,our CEO ,Deborah Kimathi,stepped sideways  into a different role to make way for local leadership under Steve Kariithi.

Women hold majority of management positions within Dignitas. This is proof of our commitment to gender equity and  reflects the face of education in Kenya and in the communities where we work. Teachers from our partner schools are also represented on The Advisory Board.

LeadNow’s target users are school leaders.  Dignitas defines school leaders as government education officers, school owners, headteachers, and teacher leaders - those who influence instructional quality, with a particular focus on marginalized communities. Via LeadNow, Dignitas provides access to technology-enabled professional development through training and coaching available online and offline. LeadNow modules are self paced, with SMS nudges to encourage participation and completion.  LeadNow also provides coaching to support continued application of new skills and competencies at classroom level. LeadNow’s value is created by the competencies school leaders acquire to apply effective teaching pedagogy as a result of professional development that is free, evidence driven, personalized and responsive to the context of marginalised communities in Kenya.

These school leaders need LeadNow due to their limited access to inservice professional development. This is because of  financial constraints and limited government support. In addition, many do not have the requisite qualifications to be registered under the Teachers Service Commission. LeadNow’s social impact is shown by the number of users, 3497   as at April  2024 and the impressive 83% completion rate. LeadNow Net promoter scores of 91% also show high engagement from LeadNow users

We reach our users by using multiple approaches. All school leaders enrolled into our core training programs are onboarded into LeadNow. Users log onto the application via invitation sms from Dignitas providing login details to a LeadNow account. An onboarding workshop is conducted by the team to explain how the App works and its key features and navigation. Dignitas is currently exploring growth and business development pathways to diversify revenue streams and bring value to more communities in Kenya,Tanzania and Ghana. 

LeadNow receives support from donors to cover all expenses associated with developing the app and making its content accessible to users. In the past three years, we have successfully secured funding from Team4Tech, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, Global Schools Forum, and ESRC to facilitate the development, iteration, and rollout of the platform to our users free of charge. Since its inception, LeadNow has raised  over 90,000 usd in funding.

The  average cost of implementing a one year teacher professional development program with coaching and professional learning communities is about  USD 500. The implementation cost of $50 USD per user per year demonstrates the revenue  value proposition of LeadNow. This amount covers the cost of completion of 12 modules, an onboarding workshop and coaching phone calls from their education officer. Investing in LeadNow is supporting a sustainable ,low cost, evidence based solution towards a learning challenge which limits learners acquisition of 21st century skills.Philanthropic funding supports scholarships for the most marginalized users to ensure access to quality teacher training.

LeadNow’s current revenue model is embedded within Dignitas programming as it was created to serve teachers and instructional leaders as the clients. LeadNow  receives support from donors to cover all expenses associated with developing the app and making its content accessible to users. In the past three years, we have successfully secured funding from Team4Tech, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, Global Schools Forum, and ESRC to facilitate the development, iteration, and rollout of the platform to our users free of charge. Since its inception, LeadNow has raised  over 90,000 usd. LeadNow is also embedded within government initiatives through various partnerships with  KEMI, County governments of Machakos. Dignitas has also established Technical Working Groups co hosted by government to grow the evidence base of LeadNow as an effective solution for teacher professional development at scale.

To achieve our strategic goal of impacting  2,000,000 learners, LeadNow seeks to grow its revenue base by focusing on B2B and B2G growth pathways. This revenue model envisions LeadNow  generating revenue to support and or subsidize school partnerships. LeadNow envisions the subscription packages as growth and partnerships pathways.We will target organizations working with school leaders,schools and school associations and governments to deliver our training content.Further,we will leverage our Alumni to grow paid subscriptions either as individuals or groups.