Founder of crime prevention NGO recognised as 2009 Pinnacle Social Entrepreneur

Press Release

20 March 2009

Lesley-Ann van Selm, managing director and founder of Khulisa Crime Prevention Initiatives, has just been recognised with the Pinnacle Award at the Southern Africa Social Entrepreneurship (SASE) Awards.

The award ceremony was hosted early this evening by SASE™ in Association with GIBS and Ashoka Southern Africa as part of the Promise of Leadership Conference hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF), in partnership with the African Leadership Initiative. 

Khulisa is an NGO dedicated to the prevention of crime and the rehabilitation of offenders in South Africa – and more recently with a global reach as well – and the provenance of the organisation is inextricably bound to van Selm’s personal journey of discovery working with marginalised people in this country.

Social entrepreneurs are defined by SASE as “visionary individuals who are motivated to evoke social change in a sustainable way. They recognise the gaps in service delivery and are constantly innovating solutions to developmental changes, they are also seeking ways in which to make these projects viable and independent of donor funding.”

The Pinnacle Award recognises an individual who has originated, implemented and developed an innovative social venture with benefits for society. The individual must be able to demonstrate that their venture has transformative social impact, is driven by an operationally sustainable model, is replicable and has a clear path to financial sustainability.

Lesley-Ann van Selm is a social entrepreneur in the truest sense of the term, and the turning of her innovative talents to the creation and development of Khulisa show how her drive, compassion and insight have come together to create an organsiation that is making radical changes on the South African criminal justice landscape.

Van Selm’s early career was characterised by a series of jobs at which she turned her entrepreneurial spirit to creating new opportunities and developing her own skills. A self-proclaimed “graduate of the school of hard knocks”, she worked in sales, marketing and travel, often at companies that she started up herself.

Then, armed only with her marketing expertise, experience in building companies for a new South Africa and a genuine belief in the importance of inter-cultural dialogue, she established the Khulisa Crime Prevention Initiative in 1997.
It was launched as an interactive course at Leeuwkop Prison to help offenders to use a common storytelling language to restore a sense of morality and ultimately lead to rehabilitation. The course was developed after Lesley Ann spent time travelling around the world with Credo Mutwa, the South African spiritual leader, who was researching the common thread in different cultures’ storytelling traditions. 

At the time, Lesley Ann’s intention was merely to create a practical outlet for the lessons she had learnt on her travels, but in the face of the instant positive feedback she received, and the overwhelming need for such interventions among South Africa’s marginalised prison population, the demand was created and Khulisa was born.

Today, 12 years on, Khulisa is a reflection of the woman at the helm, who has devoted her time and energy into the Section 21 (not for profit) company, as well as of the huge successes than can be realised when a vision is applied to those who need it most.

Khulisa states as its mission, “to unlock the potential of both individuals and the larger society.” This is done through a series of programmes and interventions at prisons and with at-risk youth in communities to make restitution, restore personal pride, prevent recidivism and provide alternatives to gangs, drugs and crime.

Although Khulisa is doing significant and measurable work – the recidivism rate for offenders who have been through its programmes is as low as ??% compared to a national average of 80% - it requires the support of government to become a countrywide intervention that can make significant and ongoing changes to the effectiveness of the justice system.

“Khulisa is faced with many obstacles, including government buy-in, money to cover the costs of expanding according to demand, communities that are angry, hopeless and sceptical of our processes, and a lack of capacity to satisfy the need for programme demand,” says van Selm. 

But van Selm feels that the work being done by Khulisa is so important that the challenges are worth facing and the battles worth fighting. “Young people are at risk throughout the country,” she says. “We have a recidivism rate of 80%. Unless we do something about providing second chances and alternative ways of living to people who have been in conflict with the law, crime will continue to perpetuate. I am honoured to have received this award because I feel that it recognises and draws attention to the vital work that we at Khulisa are doing.”
Aside from the obvious personal rewards that van Selm realises through helping people turn their lives around every day, she has been supported in her achievements by a number of factors. “I am surrounded by incredible staff, and invigorated by the success stories that emerge from our programmes,” she says. “I also have the support of a secretary who has been with my for over twenty years and my husband who is a business consultant by profession and brought financial acumen into my life. ”

Van Selm adds the SASE Pinnacle Award to a long list of accolades that she has received for her work at Khulisa – including being elected as an Ashoka Fellow, winning the Elizabeth Arden/Elle Magazine Visible Difference Award, winning the MIB Group Majuba Forest Entrepreneur of the Year Award and receiving nominations for Woman of the Year for four consecutive years.

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Press release issued by:

Jacqueline Wijtenburg-Anaxagoras
Path Communication
Cell: 083 774 1808
Tel: (011) 485-3055
Fax: 0865574379
Email: jacqueline@pathcom.co.za