EduSpots has officially launched its 2025 Catalyse Leadership Academy, bringing together 50 changemakers from 50 communities in Ghana to deepen their leadership, teamwork and project development skills.
The 5-day residential training in Akumadan, Ashanti Region, marks the beginning of the 2025 Catalyse Leadership Programme, one of EduSpots’ flagship initiatives designed to equip community-based changemakers, or “Catalysts”, with the skills, strategies and network support needed to drive sustainable educational change through their leadership of 50 community-led education spaces named ‘Spots’.
This year’s Academy is centred on the theme “Building from Community Assets”, equipping 50 community-based Catalysts to design projects that respond to local needs while maximising existing strengths.
The collaborative sessions will explore areas such as leading safe community learning spaces, engaging communities, building strong teams, developing local fundraising and enterprise ideas, improving communication and advocacy, designing impactful projects, and using digital tools to support learning.
This Academy is the first step of a wider 10-month leadership programme, which sees Catalysts design and launch community-tailored Catalyse Projects, equipped with flexible grant funding and supported by a leadership coach and monthly online leadership training sessions.
Speaking at the launch, Adu Boahen Carlos, Chair of the Catalysts Committee and the Catalyst Project Leader at Akumadan Spot, highlighted the unique participatory design of the programme:
“I would like to commend EduSpots for the programme and its consistency. Catalyse isn’t just training, it’s a journey. We’re supporting Catalysts to be bold, strategic and locally grounded. It’s inspiring to see so many leaders from different communities come together to share ideas and build lifelong connections.”
On sharing what motivated him to apply for the Catalyse Leadership Programme, Wise Kofi Afadzinu, a Catalyst from Abutia Spot, added:
“I’m deeply motivated by the wealth of knowledge, experience, and support that EduSpots offers through the Catalyse Academy. To truly drive change, you need to learn from the right sources, and I believe this programme is going to broaden my perspective and equip me with the right tools and strategies to lead meaningful transformation in my community.”
In 2024, the Catalyse Leadership Programme supported 30 Catalysts in leading change across their communities. These Catalysts strengthened the operations of their community-owned library-education spaces named ‘Spots’, deepened community engagement, mobilised local resources, and improved access to quality education, particularly by integrating digital tools to enhance project delivery and learning outcomes.
Throughout the year, participants also grew personally and professionally. A 2025 independent evaluation by Expectation State further highlighted the programme’s long-term impact:
“The long-term outcomes are equally impressive. EduSpots has successfully nurtured learners and Catalysts to become active, empathetic citizens. By the end of the programme, 65% of participants had taken on leadership roles in their communities or schools, demonstrating a remarkable increase in civic engagement and leadership skills.”
Among the many success stories, Mohammed Fuseini led a project in Dulugu that boosted girls’ interest in science by delivering hands-on STEM lessons to students across three schools in the district. In Ejisu-Besease, a Catalyst team designed a rotational ‘Knowledge Box’ system to share educational materials like dictionaries and textbooks among nearby schools.
Reflecting on her journey, Gifty, now serving as a Communications Peer Mentor, shared: “I developed essential skills in project management, leadership and teamwork… I now approach challenges with confidence, creativity and a deeper sense of community needs.”
Indeed, since 2022, as a result of the professional development opportunities that this programme offers, 20 Catalyse participants have passed into semi-staff Peer Mentor roles with EduSpots, with 5 of these joining the EduSpots team as staff, and many more advancing their employment opportunities with other organizations as a direct result of the programme.
The Catalyse Leadership Programme is fully funded across 2024-2025 by the EA Foundation, a UK-based foundation set up to support community-driven initiatives which work to support disadvantaged communities, specially focused on improving access to education and basic services, relieving poverty and promoting environmental sustainability.
EduSpots, a UK and Ghanaian NGO, works to connect, train and equip local Catalysts to ignite community-driven change through education spaces named Spots across 12 regions of Ghana.
Catalysts lead clubs across early years education, digital literacy, gender equity and STEM and sustainability education, with a focus on creating play-based, inclusive and co-creative learning environments that have a ripple effect across the wider school and community settings involving 10,000 learners of all ages. For more information, visit www.eduspots.org.