@ctaop

class="content__text" As our Executive Director Ashlee recently put it – the role of "convener" is quickly integrating into CTAOP's DNA. After a resoundingly successful inaugural #SwidlerSummit last summer, bringing together our Program Partners from across Southern Africa, we decided to start piloting regional summits in between the larger ones –– and we held our first one last week in KZN. In what will come as a shocker to no one, it was SO life-affirming 🥰 The life of a non-profit leader means constantly putting out fires. It's rewarding, fulfilling, invigorating – and sometimes also depleting work. Part of the founding principle of these summits is to provide a space for restoration, movement, connection, and JOY for our PP leaders. We're so grateful to the @elizabethtayloraidsfoundation for seeing and joining in our vision to make these summits possible and supporting these remarkable leaders 💛 #SwidlerSummitxKZN

March 15, 2023

class="content__text" We are so excited to share with you all this wide-ranging conversation our team member Jessie shared with Prof Bhekinkosi Moyo for the @capsi.africa Conversations on African Philanthropy podcast. CTAOP is so lucky to have an expert like Jessie, whose focus is on strengthening our in-person relationships with Program Partners, and presence on the ground in Southern Africa. Listen for a glimpse into Jessie's history and experience; how her family lineage and history drove her towards civil service work, what eventually brought her to CTAOP, and what's next as we continue to delve into the Trust-Based Philanthropy space. You can also listen on: Spotify - https://spoti.fi/3IxDREw ApplePodcasts - https://apple.co/41w1fuY Link in bio to watch & listen!

March 11, 2023

class="content__text" Kicking off our first ever regional #SwidlerSummit in KwaZulu-Natal! So grateful to be back together with our KZN and Eastern Cape-based Program Partners 💛 More soon! #SwidlerSummitxKZN

March 10, 2023

class="content__text" At its core, #InternationalWomensDay is about recognizing how far womxn have come on the road to true equity –– AND the systemic oppression which still exists. During our most recent CTAOP Yebo Leadership Circle Community Learning Call, one of our newest Program Partners, Community Healthcare Solutions, shared about their organization, and the paths that led two of its leaders – Gugu Mofokeng and Zinhle Zulu – to this work supporting often unhoused, orphaned young people. For Zinhle, her journey involved holding onto hope, even when things were at their darkest: “I somehow always believed that there is hope, there has to be something better than what I saw in my family.” She now is the living, breathing embodiment of that hope for the young people that CHS serves. She is able to give them the support, care, and stability that she only dreamed of having. This #IWD2023, we’re lifting up and holding in our hearts all of the womxn like Zinhle and Gugu who are actively repairing broken cycles, healing intergenerational trauma, and creating a better world for young people everywhere. 👩🏿‍🤝‍👩🏾👩🏽‍🤝‍👩🏼👩🏾‍🤝‍👩🏻

March 10, 2023

class="content__text" CTAOP Program Partner @philisaabafazibethu recently hosted a *wild* @vdayorg event for THREE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY youth, celebrating 10 years of Risings and 25 years of #VDay. For those unfamiliar, V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women & girls, borne out of the Vagina Monologues, created by playwright and activist, V (@eveensler ). PAB founder Lucinda Evans reflected: "I am in recovery 😊 mostly the voice 😊 my heart is overfilled as we realize how still we seek to be Free as Humans as the people as Womxn Young persons and Children in South Africa. Just letting young people lead the day with song and dance and just having an amazing time." #1BillionRising #RiseForFreedom #RiseInSolidarity

March 03, 2023

class="content__text" Most frequently on our feeds, we choose to elevate the inspirational work being done by our Program Partners, the young people they serve, and our YL Scholars. There is so much progress happening across the continent from community to community. But sometimes, it's important to ground us in WHY all their work is necessary. In 2021, @statssa reported that 142,704 young women and girls aged 10 to 19 years gave birth –– including 91,000 learners, 11,000 of whom were impregnated by their teachers or blessers (i.e. "sugar daddies"). Between 2017 - 2021, pregnancies among 10-14 year olds increased by 48.7%. This article, written by academics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, concludes that "what is needed, therefore, is an integrated system of education, care, and support that involves sexual and reproductive health and rights services, including adolescent-friendly education, health and social programmes." They could not have better described what our Program Partners are working to provide the youth in their communities. Head to our Facebook to read the full article.

March 03, 2023

class="content__text" 💡 📹 🎬 ‼️ We've been working with local film crews to capture footage of our new Program Partners in action. Here, Cookie Edwards, the founder and Executive Director of KZN Network On Violence Against Women, along with some of the incredible women she works with, are interviewed in Newlands East, just outside Durban. Can't wait to share more with you all!

February 24, 2023

class="content__text" After the Covid pandemic began drastically disrupting school attendance and dropout numbers across South Africa, CTAOP Program Partner @spfinfo ’s @zero_dropout Campaign shifted into high gear to bring students who left school due to the coronavirus crisis back to complete their education. Launched as a research project by our friends at @dgmurraytrust in 2015, SPF is the key NGO running the Zero Dropout Campaign, alongside the Eastern Cape Department of Education. In their new report, “School Dropout: Context Counts”, they explore the role that context plays in shaping a learner’s complex journey through school. Dr. Paul Cromhout, CEO of SPF, notes in the foreward of the report: “It starts with asking how gender and social inequalities intersect to cause disengagement and dropout; why some children are more likely to leave school without a qualification than others; and how systemic failures are limiting young people’s pathways to escaping the inequality trap.” Check out the full #ZeroDropout: Context Counts report, here: zerodropout.co.za/school-dropout-context-counts

February 24, 2023

class="content__text" There's a reason (...or 10!) why we chose to feature Africa's baobab tree on our merch. Apart from being instantly recognizable with its iconic trunk and shape, do y'all have any idea how magical these plants are????!! The baobab tree – also known as the "Tree of Life" – is the oldest living flowering plant or angiosperm –– these incredible trees can live for more than 2,000 years (some reports say up to 3000 or 5000!). The trunk of a baobab can store 100,000 liters, or 26,000 gallons, of water, even during harsh drought conditions. When hollowed out, they can provide shelter for humans inside their trunks – there's one in Zimbabwe that can house up to 40 people! Join us in bowing down to these marvels of Mother Earth 🌳 and check out our homage to the baobab tree in our store at the 🔗 link in our bio

February 17, 2023

class="content__text" "It takes a village and the village is HERE." Throwing it back this Thursday to the absolute ~✨magique✨~ of our first ever #SwidlerSummit this past August, when we had the ultimate opportunity to bring together all of our Program Partners in Cape Town for a transcendent, joyful, centering week. The quote from Nanga, Programme Manager of our Program Partner @spfinfo , sums up what it felt like to be completely surrounded, supported, uplifted by each other and the CTAOP team. CTAOP is because THEY are.

February 17, 2023

class="content__text" 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠 We've seen a serious uptick in CTAOP/ Charlize Theron scammer questions from you all in the past month, so it seemed like it was about time for a refresher: 🙅🏼‍♀️ No, you're not talking to @charlizeafrica on [insert Instagram, Whatsapp, Telegram, Signal, Google Chat, literally ANY digital communications platform]! 🙅🏾 No, we ONLY use our and @charlizeafrica ’s verified socials (look for the blue checkmark) and *no other accounts, no exceptions!* 🙅🏽‍♀️ No, no one from CTAOP or Charlize Theron's management team is contacting you soliciting your info or donations! We appreciate you. We love you. Please be safe out there, be discerning, ***NEVER*** give your personal or financial info to anyone claiming to be CTAOP or CT (or any other celebrity for that matter!) unless it's from verified channels, and continue to refer to our pinned post + FAQ highlight reel here on Instagram should you have questions. It's deeply unfortunate how rampant scammers and imposters are online –– this is an issue that all public facing individuals and brands face, and unfortunately there's nothing we can sweepingly do to handle it as each platform has its own protocol! So as you see these accounts, please help us by reporting them to each respective platform, and do not engage.

February 17, 2023

class="content__text" There is no CTAOP without @charlizeafrica . She is our founder and visionary. And so every year on her birthday – (TODAY!!!) – we celebrate not only the awesomeness of our inimitable leader, but also all of the impact we've been able to make together because in 2007 she FOUND HER WHY in the youth of Southern Africa. It's now 15 years later, and we have a *whole lot* to celebrate. In honor of Charlize, our Program Partners, our team, and all the young people we work every day to support, we're so excited to share this new video commemorating all that we've learned and accomplished together –– and all we're dreaming towards in the next 15 years. None of this is possible without our village. Please join us in watching and sharing –– and wishing the happiest of birthdays to the unstoppable force 💛 Charlize Theron. 🎥 by the amazing @changeforbalance ✨

August 17, 2022