Back to the home pageBeyond South Africa, Education Changemakers across East and Central Africa are turning programme support into momentum they own. Two founders — in Kenya and Ethiopia — share how training, mentorship and the confidence to lead helped them scale their impact and take ownership of what comes next.
Julius Irungu: From 5 000 to 42 000 learners
Esoma Solutions, Kenya
I was born and raised in rural Kenya, where education felt like the only path to a different future. Yet throughout my nine years of primary school, my parents could not afford a single textbook. I learned early what it feels like to want to learn but not have the tools to do so.
Years later, after university, I joined the board of my former primary school. One day, the headteacher shared that an entire class could not answer exam questions because they could not read the questions. In that moment, I saw my own story repeating itself. I realised that the barriers I faced had not disappeared.
That moment became the spark for Esoma Solutions. We started Esoma to make learning playful, personalised, and affordable so that children can read, understand, and succeed. Across sub-Saharan Africa, nine out of ten children cannot read or do basic maths by the age of ten. We wanted to change that story.
In 2024, I was selected for the Education Changemakers programme by the Regional Leadership Centre East Africa in partnership with the Trevor Noah Foundation. That experience changed everything for us. The intensive training and ongoing support helped us refine our strategy, strengthen our leadership, and build with intention. It gave us the tools and confidence to move from an idea with potential to an organisation with momentum and ownership of its future.
When I graduated from the programme in July 2024, Esoma Kids had reached around 5 000 learners. Today, we have reached more than 42 000 children. We are not just growing in reach. We are seeing real learning gains, with literacy scores improving by an average of 14.43% and numeracy scores by 16.52%.
Our organisation has also grown stronger and more sustainable. We have increased our team from two founders to six full-time employees. Our revenue grew by 78.4% from 2024 to 2025, and we are on track to double it again in 2026 as we move towards breaking even.
Most importantly, we are deepening our impact by reaching the learners who are often left behind. Through our partnership with AHA Innovate, our platform now works offline using solar-powered infrastructure. This means children in remote communities can access playful, high-quality learning even without internet connectivity.
The ECM programme also helped us embrace human-centred design as the foundation of how we work. We now build alongside teachers, parents, and learners, not just for them. This shift has strengthened adoption, improved engagement, and ensured our solutions respond to real community needs.
“Ownership is no longer external. It lives with the communities we serve and within our team.”
Our journey has not been without challenges. Device access remains limited in low-income areas. Connectivity gaps still affect consistent usage. We continue to adapt content for diverse languages and work to sustain long-term engagement while managing limited resources. But each challenge has strengthened our resolve and sharpened our approach.
Today, when I see children learning through Esoma, I see what becomes possible when opportunity meets support. The Trevor Noah Foundation and the ECM programme did more than train us; they helped us build the confidence, systems, and partnerships to take ownership of our growth and our impact. The story that began in a classroom without textbooks is now becoming a story of thousands of children discovering the joy of learning. And we are only getting started.
Eyael Tamerat: 59 000 students accessing scholarship pathways
Yael Educational Pathway (YEP), Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, access to global education is often limited not by ability, but by information, trust, and exposure. Many students believe scholarships are out of reach. Others fear they are scams after years of misinformation and exploitation by unregulated agents. I saw talented young people hesitate to pursue life-changing opportunities simply because they did not know where to start or who to trust.
That gap between potential and access became the foundation for creating Yael Educational Pathway (YEP). I built YEP as a fully digital scholarship mentorship and guidance platform designed to make opportunity visible, understandable, and achievable. By operating entirely online, we are able to reach students across regions without geographic barriers. Today, the platform engages more than 59 000 Ethiopian students and aspiring applicants.
Through structured educational content, mentorship, and training, we have supported over 200 students directly, and more than 50 have secured scholarships – many fully funded – including admissions to highly competitive universities and successful visa outcomes. These numbers matter, but the deeper impact has been a shift in perception and ownership.
Scholarships that once felt distant and inaccessible are now approached with clarity and confidence. By breaking down complex application processes into practical, step-by-step guidance, students are learning how to navigate opportunities independently. This work is also reducing reliance on intermediaries and lowering vulnerability to fraudulent practices.
“Young people are no longer waiting for someone to open the door for them. They are learning how to open it themselves.”
Representation has been central to this transformation. When students see peers from similar backgrounds succeed, belief becomes possible. By sharing real success stories, especially from underserved and rural communities, we are building a culture of possibility that extends far beyond individual achievement.
My journey as a CNN Academy alumna and as an Education Changemaker through the YALI Regional Leadership Centre East Africa, in partnership with the Trevor Noah Foundation, helped strengthen this work. The programme deepened my leadership, sharpened our storytelling, and strengthened how we design and scale our initiatives. It gave me the tools to expand our vision and move from impact at the individual level to impact at scale.
At its core, this work is about expanding access and strengthening agency. In a context where poverty, limited educational resources, and unreliable information restrict opportunity, education becomes a pathway not only for individual growth but for broader societal change. By equipping young people with knowledge, skills, and exposure, we are contributing to a generation that is better prepared to think critically, act independently, and engage globally.
This is the impact I continue to build: creating clarity where there was confusion, access where there were barriers, confidence where there was doubt, and a generation that is ready to take ownership of its future.