WELCOME TO #TrueCHANGE

Supporting locally led change for children and young people

Contribution to Opportunities (CTO) is a Swedish non-profit organisation founded on a simple belief: lasting change grows from within communities.

Since 2014, CTO has worked alongside local change agents and community-based initiatives in South Africa, particularly in the townships around Cape Town. Rather than creating solutions for communities, our approach has been to recognise people who are already working for change and contribute the tools, knowledge, structures and opportunities that can help their initiatives grow.

We call this #TrueChange – strengthening local leadership so that change can become sustainable, locally owned and capable of creating opportunities for others.

What WE DO

Amasoja Leadership Initiative

Today, CTO's primary focus is the Amasoja Leadership Initiative, a youth leadership programme based in Gugulethu, Cape Town.

Amasoja supports young people as they navigate the transition into adulthood, strengthening confidence, leadership, decision-making and their ability to create positive change in their own lives and communities.

The initiative builds on a relationship between CTO and young people in Gugulethu that began in 2016. What started as support to a self-organised youth initiative has developed into a structured leadership programme where young adults grow as leaders while mentoring and creating opportunities for younger learners.

The programme is initiated and governed by CTO, implemented locally in partnership with Call 2 Care (C2C) and financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

Find out more about Amasoja Leadership Initiative here and follow the project on Facebook and Instagram.

CHANGE AGENTS & #TrueCHANGE

From the beginning, CTO has focused on the people who are already trying to create change in their own communities. We call these people Change Agents.

A Change Agent sees a need, takes initiative and has the drive to make a difference – but may not yet have access to the organisational structures, knowledge, networks or resources needed to turn an idea into something sustainable.

Historically, CTO's role has been to strengthen these local initiatives through mentorship, organisational development, governance, administration, financial management, team building, personal development and social entrepreneurship. The support has always been adapted to the needs of the people and initiatives involved.

The goal is not dependency. It is the opposite.

#TrueChange happens when local leaders gain the capacity to carry their own work forward, create opportunities for others and eventually become mentors and role models for the next generation.

LOCAL OWNERSHIP

Change should be rooted in the community.
We believe the people closest to a challenge are also essential to creating meaningful solutions. CTO contributes support, structures and opportunities while local leaders remain at the centre of the change process.

SUSTAINABILITY

Change should last beyond a project.
We strengthen leadership, organisational capacity and practical skills so that initiatives are better equipped to develop over time.

MULTIPLIER EFFECT

Change grows when opportunities are passed on.
People who have been supported can become leaders, mentors and role models for others – creating a cycle in which knowledge, confidence and opportunity continue to spread.

HOW CTO WAS BORN

It all started in March 2014 when Sofia and Jasmina - Swedish students of the University of Karlstad working on their master thesis in working life science and visiting Cape Town for a few weeks - by chance ended up in Khayelitsha, a township with approximately two million people in the outskirts of Cape Town. Luckily they met Vivian who invited them to her home and told them about Xola Educare she had set up there and the challenges she was facing. Inspired by Vivian’s dedication and seeing an opportunity to contribute to an existing local initiative, CTO was born.

THE STORY OF #TrueCHANGE

Want to understand the ideas that shaped CTO?

Our documentary takes you into the communities and introduces some of the Change Agents, young people and local initiatives that helped define CTO's early work in South Africa.

The film reflects an earlier chapter in CTO's history, but the belief at its heart remains central to our work today: lasting change begins with people who believe that change is possible – and are given the opportunity to act on it.

Watch the film ↓