SDG04 – Quality Education

These social entrepreneurs are achieving Sustainable DevelopmentĀ Goal 4, Quality Education: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.

Set Goals Aligned with Your Values, with Ruth Biza, #ThisIsMyEra

Ruth Biza, #ThisIsMyEra For every planner and course sold, #ThisIsMyEra helps a child with an education. #ThisIsMyEra produces a 90-day planner that helps you set goals that align with your values. They also provide online courses to help you get clear on your life’s purpose. For every planner that is purchased, #ThisIsMyEra donates school supplies to kids in need in Africa. So far, they’ve provided more than 10,000 school supplies. And for every course that is purchased, they provide a school scholarship. Why Education? ā€œIn Ghana and most African countries, public education is not free,ā€ Ruth Biza explains. ā€œSo if your family cannot afford to pay for your tuition, you…

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Closing the Adult Education Gap for Employers and Employees, with Ned Zimmerman-Bence, GogyUp

GogyUp removes language barriers from the workplace. According to the most recent report from the US Department of Labor, there are currently 6.9 million job openings in the US. In the last month alone, job openings in nondurable goods manufacturing increased by more than 30,000. Businesses are finding it difficult to find qualified employees who can meet the rigors of technical qualifications. At the same time, 36 million US adults read below the 3rd-grade level. And 90 million adults struggle to read technical writing. Yet, only 5% have access to the instruction that they need. That’s where GogyUp comes in. Their Employment Literacy System (ELS) is a tool for on-boarding,…

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The Power of a Simple Idea, with Lulu Cerone, LemonAID Warriors

LemonAID Warriors is a youth empowerment program that aims to give young people the tools that they need to turn their compassion into action and raise funds and awareness for causes that they care about Lulu Cerone was an entrepreneur from an early age. At the age of six, she opened her first lemonade stand. At first, she used the money to buy toys or candy. But her mom made a suggestion. Why not use the profits to help someone else? Lulu looked into it and found an animal shelter that needed the funds. ā€œThis really crazy thing happened,ā€ Lulu said. ā€œThis thing I was doing with my friends actually…

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Educational Opportunities for All, with Maimuna Ahmad, Teach for Bangladesh

Nearly 60 million children in Bangladesh are denied high-quality education as a result of an inequitable system. Teach for Bangladesh is addressing this problem.  Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world, and yet a country of great opportunities. However, those opportunities are not evenly distributed across society. Many children live on less than $2 per day. They go to school for as little 2-3 hours per day, often in classrooms that can swell to 120 students or more. Of the 17 million children who begin elementary school each year, only around 2 million will graduate from high school. The teachers themselves are sometimes poorly educated, with most…

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Global Competencies for High School Graduates, with Abby Falik, Global Citizen Year

Global Citizen Year is a program that offers a year of travel, discovery, and growth for high school graduates. What does it take to succeed in a work world that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous? How does a young person succeed as a citizen of an integrated global economy? While traditional, fundamental skills are still important, so are empathy, ease with ambiguity, resilience, grit, and global mindset. But how many high school graduates possess these skills? Abby Falik describes her high school self as an ā€œexcellent sheep.ā€ She remembers graduating from high school exhausted. ā€œI had gotten into Stanford, which was very exciting, but I wasn’t super motivated to…

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A Second Chance at Childhood, with Jenny Bowen, OneSky

OneSky is an international NGO that works with governments and communities to help the most disadvantaged and marginalized children. Jenny Bowen is a storyteller. In this interview, she tells the story of OneSky. I would also suggest that you pick up Jenny’s book, Wish You Happy Forever: What China’s Children Taught Me About Moving Mountains. Because Jenny tells the story so well, I recommend the audiobook. It seems like a simple concept. When children interact with loving parents, they learn…well, they learn everything. They learn a sense of self. They develop language and mobility and curiosity and so much more. But, not all children are so lucky as to have…

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Closing the Opportunity Gap with Sondra Samuels, Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ)

The Northside Achievement Zone exists to permanently close the opportunity gap and end multi-generational poverty in North Minneapolis. Sondra Samuels grew up in New Jersey. At an early age, she moved schools from Newark, where 52% of the population is African American, to Scotch Plains, NJ, where African Americans make up 11% of the population. As she integrated the new school, she said she ā€œnobody had an expectation that I was going to succeed.ā€ As a teen, she experienced the death of several young African American men. Sondra explained, ā€œThey were being murdered by other young African American men. Remember, I’m living in the suburbs, and I’m experiencing young black…

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