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About Kutitiva

Who we are

Kutitiva is a non-profit and public benefit organisation created to help children and adults discover their “why” and “what”, so they can live life with purpose — positively impacting their families, growing their skills and helping to develop South Africa.

Our story

Learning-success specialists since 2017

Kutitiva Foundation was established in 2017 as a Non-Profit Company and became a registered Public Benefit Organisation in 2019. As a team of learning-style and self-awareness specialists, we help underprivileged youth and educators discover their strengths and talents, and how to use them for personal growth, future development and success.

We work from Grade R through to Grade 12 and tertiary level, and we include educators and school management teams in our training and development programmes. Assessments are done online or on paper depending on the facilities available, and are followed by coaching and workshops that help each person unpack their results.

Our team has physically reached more than 3,000 learners and 300 educators in rural, peri-urban and urban primary and high schools in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape — and, through the Woza Matric video series on national television, learners right across the country.

Historical organisational figures; they overlap with individual programme figures and are not an audited unique-person total.

Organisation facts

Legal entity: Kutitiva Foundation NPC
Non-Profit Company registration: 2017/219565/08 (registered 18 May 2017)
Public Benefit Organisation: PBO Reg. 930065082 (approved 2019)
Tax status: Section 18A tax-deductible donations
Based in: Midrand, Gauteng
Footprint: Gauteng, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal & national (TV)

Our core goals

What drives us

Be a catalyst for change

Positively impact young people’s lives, and challenge young (and older!) minds to find purpose and hope.

Strengthen education

Reach learners and educators in all fields of education across South Africa, and help enhance the education system.

Break the cycle of poverty

Improve the lives of South Africans and erode poverty through self-discovery and education.

Our values

What we stand for

People

Integrity

Honour

Responsibility

Respect

Education

Learners gathered around a floor activity during a workshop

What makes us different

Student-centred, strengths-based and holistic

No matter the socio-economic setting, we aim to create dynamic environments with student-centred, personalised learning and growth solutions.

Our assessment instrument is psychosocial: it is not a test of academic ability. Our objective is to help learners and educators discover their strengths, give them practical “handles” to use those strengths in learning, teaching and classroom management, and help them grow in their areas of weakness.

We approach learners and educators holistically, acknowledging different ways of learning alongside life-skills development tools. Our facilitators bring a combined international footprint of more than 35 years, with a focus on self-awareness, a growth mindset, differentiated learning and communication.

The joy of helping individuals discover their personal why, what and how.

Leadership

Our directors

Darleen van Tonder

Founder & Chairperson

Darleen is passionate about working in underprivileged communities, mainly with children. Over 30 years she has worked across cultural and socio-economic landscapes, leading with her passion for helping individuals discover their strengths and realise their potential. Her motto: “Learning can be fun!”

She has pioneered two non-profit organisations, and her experience as a team leader and project manager in community development, counselling, non-profit development and fundraising lifts the whole team.

Qualifications

Certified Learning Success coach and trainer
Learning Styles specialist
Life Skills programme developer
Registered facilitator, assessor and moderator – ETDP SETA
Art teacher
Life coach and counselling

Mantsha Pheeha

Director

Mantsha is a certified coach, trainer and speaker, and the author of seven books, including Level Up: Creating Extraordinary Careers and Money 101: Making, Keeping and Growing Money.

She brings experience from government, mining, development finance, engineering and management consulting — most recently as Chief Director for Infrastructure Management and Public Private Partnerships. She founded Talent Unleashed, a consulting and coaching practice focused on strategy, leadership, entrepreneurship and career management.

Qualifications

BSc Chemical Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand

Regomoditswe Isis Khoele

Director

“Rego” is a commercial pilot with more than ten years in aviation and over 2,000 flight hours. Through her YouTube channel she guides beginners into aviation careers, and she mentored Grade 10–12 girls about STEM careers with the Southern African Women in Aviation NGO.

She is adventurous, self-driven and passionate about impacting people positively.

Qualifications

Frozen Airline Transport Pilot Licence, 43 Air School (2014)

Joanna Bukasa

Director

Joanna began teaching Sunday school at 15, which led to community work in soup kitchens, orphanages and youth training programmes. At Kutitiva she facilitates admin projects and writes and facilitates children’s life-skills material — bringing fresh ideas as our youngest director.

Qualifications

BSc Medicine, Macquarie University, Sydney
Five years of voluntary life-skills teaching in Midrand and Centurion primary schools
Hands-on work on Kutitiva projects in Soshanguve, GaRankuwa and Winterveldt

Our team

Facilitators & project leads

Michelle van Tonder

Project Manager

Michelle has more than 11 years of experience in education across various curricula. She manages projects and facilitates workshops for both adults and students, and is an energetic, encouraging leader in her community.

Qualifications

BEd: ECD and Foundation Phase
Learning Styles Coaching (LSI Level 1 & 2)
Professional Scrum Master I
TEFL 140-hour

Hannah Maja

Facilitator & Drama Coach

Hannah is an academic, researcher and co-owner of Sketch Productions. Her skills and bold personality connect with students and bring out the best in them during every workshop.

Qualifications

BA Dramatic Arts
MA Critical Diversity Studies
Learning Success Coach (LSI Level 1)

Kutitiva directors Joanna Bukasa, Darleen van Tonder, Regomoditswe Khoele and Mantsha Pheeha — Directors: Joanna Bukasa, Darleen van Tonder (Founder), Regomoditswe Khoele and Mantsha Pheeha.