Lively Minds

Who we are

Help transform how governments deliver early childhood development

250 million children under 5 years old across the Global South miss out on the care, play and stimulation they need during the most important years of their lives. Governments increasingly recognise the importance of early childhood development, but many struggle to find approaches that are affordable, scalable and sustainable.

Lively Minds believes the solution is hiding in plain sight: parents.

For almost twenty years we have worked alongside governments and communities to develop and test a parent-powered approach that enables families-regardless of their income or level of education-to give children the best possible start in life. We have shown that this approach can be successfully integrated into government systems and delivered at scale. In Ghana alone, our model has been adopted nationally, reaching more than 700,000 children and supporting over 130,000 parents. Independent research found participating children made developmental gains equivalent to an additional year of schooling.

Having demonstrated what is possible, we are now entering an exciting new phase.

Rather than operating as a traditional programme delivery organisation, Lively Minds has evolved into a specialist technical assistance partner. We work alongside governments to design, test and scale parent-powered early childhood development within national education systems-building the capability, evidence and implementation approaches that enable governments to lead sustainable, long-term change.

Today we support governments in Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia and The Gambia, with partnerships in development in Togo and Senegal. Our ambition is to help many more governments transform early childhood development over the coming decade.

This is an opportunity to help shape not only the future of Lively Minds, but how governments across Global South deliver early childhood development for generations to come.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

Lively Minds is fully committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and to providing equal opportunities throughout our recruitment process. We want this commitment to be reflected in the diversity of the people who work for us, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, identities, experiences and perspectives.

We are committed to ensuring that recruitment decisions are based on merit, skills, experience and suitability for the role, and that all candidates are treated fairly and with respect throughout the recruitment process.