Strengthening African-Led Asset-Based Practice for Healing, Change & Collective Power
How do we co-create spaces where change and healing happen, for ourselves and with others, grounded in African wisdom, lived experience and community strength?
This
ABCD Africa Association training is designed specifically for practitioners, community organisers, facilitators and leaders in Africa committed to nurturing change that rises from within their own people, cultures and contexts. Grounded in Asset-Based Citizen-led Development (ABCD) and African traditions of solidarity, Ubuntu and collective care, this training centres the knowledge, resilience and leadership already present in African communities.
Together, we will explore how to:
• Identify, honour and activate the strengths, skills and resources already within communities
• Shift from externally imposed, deficit-based models to African-led, strengths-driven action
• Strengthen relationships, trust and reciprocity as foundations for sustainable change
• Support individuals and groups to reclaim voice, dignity and collective agency
• Weave cultural wisdom, story, ritual and ancestral knowledge into community practice
Participants will reflect on:
• How their personal and professional identities shape their work in their own communities
• The ways their experiences, wounds and gifts inform their leadership
• How power is held, shared and transformed through ABCD
• How healing happens through belonging, participation and mutual responsibility
This training acknowledges that our work as practitioners also transforms us, shaping how we hold space, lead and accompany others. What becomes possible when African communities fully recognise and mobilise their own strengths? When we rise together as a community of “do”-ers and “be”-ers?
Through shared storytelling, appreciative inquiry and practical ABCD tools, participants will explore how collective action, hope and asset-based thinking can generate lasting, community-led change across African contexts.
Training Schedule
6 x 3-hour interactive online sessions
Thursdays: 12, 19 & 26 February & 5, 12 & 19 March 2026
9:00am – 12:00pm SAST (7:00am - 10:00am UTC)
Training Team
https://www.abcdafrica.org/meet-the-team/
- Professor Hanna Nel, a professor in the Department of Social Work and Community Development at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), is a passionate researcher and educator.
- Janine Ward, a qualified Social Worker and has worked for 40 years in asset-based citizen-led development (ABCD) in several African countries, sharing her passion for this transformative development approach.
- Amelia Visagie is the expertise lead for stakeholder engagement and is responsible for the growth and eminence of the Sustainability Business Unit at Zutari.
- Bernie Dolley, a seasoned ABCD facilitator, former Founding Director of Ikhala Trust for 20 years, now an independent ABCD facilitator.
- Andile Maphumulo is a Manager responsible for social, community development and stakeholder engagement strategy development and implementation.
- Judith Mtsewu, Founder and Director of Hluma Sonke Consultancy.