Founder Profile
Khotso Mogotlane
Khotso Mogotlane is the Founder and Executive Director of Hotlane Organisation, a Cape Town-based environmental and community development organisation focused on ocean conservation, environmental justice, youth empowerment, sustainability innovation, and community-led environmental intelligence.
Environmental Leadership
Khotso serves on the Steering Committee of Early Career Ocean Professionals South Africa, a national node of the global ECOP Programme connected to the UN Ocean Decade. His work focuses on strengthening ocean leadership, youth participation, climate awareness, and community-based environmental action.
Climate Leadership
He is a Climate Reality Leader through The Climate Reality Project and a Climate Youth Resilience Ambassador, contributing to youth-focused climate resilience, inner-led change, sustainability awareness, and community stewardship.
Ocean Governance & Forums
Khotso has contributed to ocean and sustainability dialogues, including the G20 Oceans20 process as a panel participant. He has also contributed as a speaker to WILDTRUST’s Ocean Steward initiatives and participated in ocean literacy platforms including the Plett Ocean Festival.
Academic & Student Engagement
Khotso has participated in academic research engagements, including research connected to the University of Pennsylvania, where he contributed as a participant speaking about his work. He has also engaged student groups from the University of the Western Cape, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and the Anglican Students Federation at Stellenbosch University.
Building community-powered environmental intelligence.
Through Hotlane Organisation, Khotso is helping build systems that enable communities to report environmental issues, map pollution hotspots, verify local environmental action, and transform grassroots knowledge into measurable environmental intelligence.
Selected Affiliations & Contributions
• Hotlane Organisation was recognised within the UNESCO Ocean Literacy / Blue Thread ecosystem, supporting global ocean literacy, environmental awareness, and community-led sustainability action.
Areas of Work
Ocean conservation and ocean literacy
Climate leadership and youth resilience
Community intelligence and environmental reporting
Environmental justice and grassroots mobilisation
Circular economy and waste action
ESG, sustainability, and impact storytelling