Impact at Scale Labs - Early Years in Kenya

• Intensive support: The GSF team and network works with organisations to build and implement their scale strategy.   
• Funding: up to £75,000 towards making the organisation’s scaling action plan a reality.  
• Extended duration with no “cliff-edge”: Our intensive support lasts up to 18 months, after which organisations continue to engage and learn as part of the GSF community.  
• A focus on evidence: We measure and share evidence about each solution’s impact and about the scaling process. 
• Relationships for scale: We support organisations to embed solutions in the broader system by fostering strong relationships with policy stakeholders in Kenya. 

Dedicated to transforming educational outcomes, Education Empowement for Rural and Urban Slums based in Eldoret is a pillar for underserved Kenyan children, delivering quality education through robust technical support, influential policy advocacy, and dynamic community programs. Their "1st 1000 DAYS CAMPAIGN" is a testament to their impact, educating over 300 caregivers in high-risk slums over a span of 2 years on nurturing child development and combating the adverse effects of violence and malnutrition. This initiative has notably improved child health, school attendance, and living conditions. Their systematic tracking ensures sustained progress as children move to partner schools which includes Merrylane Schools and other ECED centres. The results are evident at Merrylane schools, where program participants notably outshine their peers in essential literacy and numeracy skills.

Lake Region Development Program (LRDP) champions early childhood well-being in multiple rural counties in Kenya comprising of Kisii, Migori and Homabay, concentrating on nurturing environments for the under-fives. Their initiative emphasizes nutrition, disease prevention, and caregiver education. To expand their impact, they're seeking to scale up these interventions by developing infrastructure, enriching educational resources, and fortifying teacher capacity. In the last three years, they have impacted 6,267 children and 3,902 caregivers through these interventions. They've executed 40 days’ worth of community health and outreach programs, supported over 15 ECED centres with classroom equipment, sanitation facilities, nutritional items and trained 75 ECED teachers in psycho-social support. Additionally, they supported 28 parent groups through responsive parenting sessions. These efforts illustrate their commitment to comprehensive early development. 

Each organisation benefited from the support of a dedicated GSF coach, engagement with sector leaders who were invited to present and participate in panel discussions on various topics, and a networking event to build relationships with GSF members, funders, and development partners. 

• Each organisation was able to refine their 5-year programme vision, build up a version of their programme’s ‘Problem tree’ and Theory of Change, and identify key milestones to achieve their vision for scale which fed into their 18-month action plan.
• Sector leaders and experts participated to share their practical experiences and advice on topics such as childcare and ECED programming, monitoring, evaluation and learning, approaches for sustainability and partnerships.
• Organisations benefited from a 1-1 mentorship session with a sector leader. The objective of this individualised and closed-door session was to brainstorm on their specific organisation challenges and learn from organisations and experts who have scaled similar solutions 
• GSF organised a ‘Networking Cocktail’ which was attended by 40+ GSF members, funders and development partners, government representatives, and other practitioners.