WHAT WE DO
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LESSO offers education support and access to skills and training for employment.
We promote, support, and encourage best practices in navigating education and employment challenges by providing access to knowledge and expertise.
This adds to policy advisors, team leaders, research, and a growing body of education enthusiasts aiming to create better education systems and outcomes.
Education Funding Support
Scholarships, emergency grants, school supplies
Skills Training & Assessments
Industry-tailored, tech-first education tracks
Industry Access Training
Real-world connections, apprenticeships, and job placement
Cross-Border Learning
diaspora & multinational-led sessions
Mentorship
One-on-one coaching, industry insight, leadership development
Knowledge Hub
Access to technology, Mentors, research, podcasts, blogs, and global case studies
Community Focus
Engagement: Economic, social and cultural as well as ecological sustainability
Green Innovation & Youth-Led Enterprises
diaspora & multinational-led sessions
Empowering Africa’s Future—One Learner, One Leader at a Time
A striking panoramic image of smiling students or youth leaders in an African educational or vocational setting. Think warm lighting, hopeful energy, a classroom or innovation hub as the backdrop
OUR APPROACH
LESSO fosters long-term change by bringing together students, educators, industry leaders, and communities to design resilient learning and employment pathways.
Key Pillars:
- Education Support: From early education to postgraduate pathways
- Skills & Innovation: Building relevant skills for emerging industries
- Mentoring & Leadership: Cultivating Africa’s next changemakers
- Tech for Development: From AI and robotics to digital literacy and coding
- Community Engagement: Aligning growth with sustainability and local priorities
LESSO Network partners promote strong relationships with people and communities dedicated to creating lasting change for children, young adults and the community
Education Support
Education Support & Equity LESSO supports learners from under-resourced communities across multiple stages of their educational journey—from early schooling through vocational, university, and postgraduate education. Our programs prioritize students from low-income families and marginalized regions, ensuring they have the financial, social, and mentorship support needed to thrive. Our aim goes beyond classroom achievement; we prepare students to actively participate in contemporary global challenges, especially in corporate and tech-driven environments. Scholarship Program: We offer comprehensive scholarships covering tuition, learning materials, and wellbeing support to help marginalized youth complete their education. Crisis Response Plan: We provide emergency support—including relocation, psychosocial services, and reintegration plans—for students impacted by economic shocks, displacement, or conflict. Community Engagement: We collaborate with parents, teachers, and local leaders to co-create safe and stimulating learning environments. LESSO alumni often become changemakers within their communities, using their education as a tool to elevate others, demonstrating the compounding impact of investment in equity-focused education.
Skills and Innovation
We believe that Africa’s future will be shaped by its ability to leverage technology for collective prosperity. LESSO integrates digital transformation at every level of our programming—from basic digital literacy to advanced AI and robotics training—ensuring young people can not only consume but create technology. Our hubs are more than classrooms—they are tech-powered learning labs designed for discovery, entrepreneurship, and collaborative problem-solving. These spaces nurture innovation among students from high school through postgraduate levels. Digital Literacy & Coding Programs: From basic computer skills to full-stack development and mobile app creation. AI & Robotics Training: Courses in automation, AI ethics, mechatronics, and machine learning to prepare youth for the industries of the future. Technology Hubs: Safe, creative spaces for experimentation and innovation, co-located with industry mentors, diaspora talent, and multinational partners. Sector-Focused Pathways: Youth are matched with training and mentorship linked to growth sectors such as healthcare-biotech, agri-tech, and digital finance—identified as strategic priorities by Kenya’s current development agenda.
Mentoring
We recruit our nations’ diverse, promising leaders to commit time to teach in marginalized communities, and support and develop them to work together with families and community members towards a shared vision for student success. With this foundation, as alumni these leaders continue to work with other educators, allies, and communities to improve the quality of education for students and effect the systemic changes needed to enable all children to thrive. Through the global network, staff members, teachers, alumni, and allies around the world share solutions to accelerate each other's progress and increase our collective impact. Through Cross-Border Learning, we connect learners with professionals from the Kenyan diaspora and global networks, sparking ideas and scaling innovation. Our goal is to place African youth at the forefront of the fourth industrial revolution—not as consumers, but as creators and leaders. The instructor profiles will include Kenyan, diaspora, and tech multinational professionals. Training will link instructors with targeted sectors; the top of our list are healthcare-biotech, agri-tech, and financial services. The newly elected government earmarks these sectors as high-growth. Technology underpins our solutions based on three important factors; ⦁ Technology's role in Africa can have a “whole of society” impact. ⦁ Gaps in technology need to be filled to drive business productivity AND job creation better. ⦁ Focusing on technology as a growing sector will boost African agency and ownership; we prioritise these for sustainability and shared prosperity.
"Over 40% of Kenyan youth are unemployed. LESSO is closing this gap—one opportunity at a time."
OUR PURPOSE
A future where Kenyan youth thrive through education, skills, and technology while contributing meaningfully to society.
VISION
To create an Africa where every young person has the education, skills, and support to unlock their full potential and shape a better world.
MISSION
To promote inclusive, future-ready education and employment solutions by connecting learners with resources, mentors, and opportunities through collective leadership, innovation, and community engagement.
THE LESSO STORY
LESSO began in 2022 with a clear mission: support students in underserved communities. What started as a scholarship initiative has evolved into a networked ecosystem for educational empowerment. LESSO was established in 2022 with a primary focus on providing education support to students in low-income areas. Since then, we have evolved into an organisation dedicated to supporting education and fostering employment opportunities for our beneficiaries and the broader community.
Our initiatives include collaborative projects that promote STEM learning, connect graduates with industry opportunities, facilitate mentor-mentee relationships, and contribute to establishing and formalising small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We leverage technological expertise, academic research, thought leadership, peer-to-peer learning events, and conferences to inform our programs.
LESSO aspires to be an institution that offers education support and is driven by the needs of the people and the market. Our goal is to lead the way in providing innovative solutions to global.
What began as a local response to education inequality now connects tech hubs, diaspora mentors, industry partners, and students across the continent.
