Speaker 1: You know, our generation was called the me generation because
Speaker 1: people were just so convinced that all we wanted to
Speaker 1: do is make a lot of money and work on
Speaker 1: Fall Street. And I thought that that was just so misplaced,
Speaker 1: and that I was one of thousands of people searching
Speaker 1: for something that would enable us to make a real
Speaker 1: difference in the world. I saw these investment banks and
Speaker 1: management consulting firms banging down the doors of liberal arts
Speaker 1: graduates like myself, asking us to commit just two years
Speaker 1: to work in their firms, and I thought, why aren't
Speaker 1: we being recruited just as aggressively to commit just two
Speaker 1: years to teach in urban and rural communities. Um. And
Speaker 1: that was that was really the beginning of my obsession
Speaker 1: with this idea. That was Wendy cup whose big idea
Speaker 1: was that all children, no matter where they live, deserve
Speaker 1: a good education in While she was still a student
Speaker 1: at Princeton, she created Teach for America, the enormously successful
Speaker 1: program that signs up recent college grads to teach and
Speaker 1: underserved schools for two years, a sort of Peace Corps
Speaker 1: for education. In two thousand and seven, she took her
Speaker 1: mission international by launching Teach for All I'm a land
Speaker 1: Ververe and this is Seneca's one Women to Hear. We
Speaker 1: are bringing you one hundred of the world's most inspiring
Speaker 1: and history making women you need to hear. Wendy Cop
Speaker 1: has been called the leader of a revolution and education.
Speaker 1: Teach for America can boast more than sixty four thousand
Speaker 1: alumni and has created a network of leaders who are
Speaker 1: working to improve children's education in the United States and
Speaker 1: around the world. Teach for All has helped boost education
Speaker 1: and develop leaders through local partnerships with organizations ranging from
Speaker 1: Teach for India, to Teach for Peru, to Teach for Nigeria,
Speaker 1: you name it, across sixty countries. Along the way, Wendy
Speaker 1: Cop has been honored with just about every award you
Speaker 1: can think of, from the Time one hundred two Glamorous
Speaker 1: Woman of the Year to the School Award. Listen and
Speaker 1: learn why Wendy Copp is one of Seneca's one hundred
Speaker 1: Women To Hear. I'm just delighted to be speaking today
Speaker 1: to Wendy Cop, the founder of Teach for America and
Speaker 1: also the CEO and co founder of Teach for All. Wendy,
Speaker 1: it's an absolute pleasure to be able to speak with you.
Speaker 1: You are indeed an inspiration. Oh, it's such a pleasure
Speaker 1: to be here. You've started two major organizations and both revolutionary,
Speaker 1: I might add in the world of education, so Teach
Speaker 1: for America many of us know young people who have
Speaker 1: been involved in it. And then there's Teach for All.
Speaker 1: What's the overall goal that links them and how would
Speaker 1: you describe their mission? Well, Teach for All is really
Speaker 1: a global network of independent organizations in now sixty countries
Speaker 1: and growing that, like Teach for America, are all working
Speaker 1: to develop collective leadership to ensure all children fulfill their potential.
Speaker 1: I think what brings everyone together in this network is
Speaker 1: a belief that the fact that the circumstances of children's
Speaker 1: birth predict their outcomes in life is a very big
Speaker 1: systemic challenge and and that requires you know, it requires
Speaker 1: collective leadership. It requires people exerting leadership at every level
Speaker 1: of the education system and policy around the whole ecosystem
Speaker 1: around kids. Um I if we're going to change that
Speaker 1: and actually build a world where all kids have the
Speaker 1: chance to thrive, and so each of these organizations shares
Speaker 1: an approach to cultivating that leadership. UM as you say,
Speaker 1: by enlisting promising leaders and committing at least two years
Speaker 1: to teach UM in in in under resourced communities and
Speaker 1: investing in their leadership, UM knowing that those two years
Speaker 1: fuel a lifetime of leadership and advocacy. UM. And uh.
Speaker 1: You know, in pursuit of the systemic changes that are
Speaker 1: ultimately necessary. Do the member countries and Teach for All
Speaker 1: do they have programs comparable to Teach for America. I
Speaker 1: should maybe back up and explain how this all came about,
Speaker 1: how Teach for All came about, because, as you say,
Speaker 1: I mean I started Teach for America and I really
Speaker 1: had my head down, fully focused on tackling the massive
Speaker 1: inequities in the US. I wasn't thinking at all about
Speaker 1: the rest of the world. UM. But there was something
Speaker 1: in the water about fifteen years ago, and within one
Speaker 1: year I had met thirteen people from thirteen different countries,
Speaker 1: from India to Chile to China to Lebanon, etcetera, who
Speaker 1: were just determined that something similar needed to happen in
Speaker 1: their countries. And so that is really and they were
Speaker 1: looking for help. And that seems very overwhelming, given that
Speaker 1: I had my hands full in the US UM. But
Speaker 1: ultimately that led to the idea of launching Teach for
Speaker 1: All is a network of independent, locally led, government funded
Speaker 1: organizations that would all share this common purpose to common
Speaker 1: approach UM and and that would have a global organization
Speaker 1: to help us all learn from each other. Terrific. Uh.
Speaker 1: That makes a whole lot of sense to a network
Speaker 1: in that way and enhance what each is doing. So
Speaker 1: I know that you've written that what is behind all
Speaker 1: of this is the need to rethink the purpose of
Speaker 1: education too, if you will reimagine education. What do you
Speaker 1: mean by that? You know? About five years ago, I
Speaker 1: think we had grown from Teach for America in the
Speaker 1: US and Teach First in the UK, which was the
Speaker 1: first kind of adaptation to then having forty of these
Speaker 1: independent organizations, from Teach for India to Teach for China, etcetera. UM.
Speaker 1: You know, and and there was such a push across
Speaker 1: our network to say, ultimately, what do we mean? I mean,
Speaker 1: we started with a vision that one day all children
Speaker 1: would have the chance to attain an excellent education, and
Speaker 1: I think there was just such a healthy push from
Speaker 1: all across our network to say what do we mean
Speaker 1: by excellent education? And so we came together in this
Speaker 1: process probably five years ago now, to ask ourselves what
Speaker 1: are we working on together, like what's our twenty five
Speaker 1: year vision? And that process really brought to all of
Speaker 1: us the reality that if if our students today are
Speaker 1: not developing as leaders who can shape a better future
Speaker 1: for themselves and for all of us, meaning navigated changing
Speaker 1: economy and pursue meaningful careers and solve increasingly complex problems
Speaker 1: that face their communities and our global society, then then
Speaker 1: there's just no hope for reaching any of our aspirations.
Speaker 1: And so that became, you know, our vision to say,
Speaker 1: you know, we want to reach the day when all
Speaker 1: kids have the education and support an opportunity to shape
Speaker 1: a better future for themselves and all of us um
Speaker 1: And and that led us to spend a lot of
Speaker 1: time over these last five years really thinking about what
Speaker 1: that means for all of us. You know, what does
Speaker 1: that mean for teachers and for schools and systems, Like
Speaker 1: what would we have to be doing in order to
Speaker 1: develop students in that way? And so when we say
Speaker 1: we really need to reimagine education and reinvent the system,
Speaker 1: it's because you know, we've really come to think that
Speaker 1: we will need to do that if we're going to
Speaker 1: in fact develop students, you know, to that end. And
Speaker 1: when you started Teach for America, was that in your
Speaker 1: uppermost mind already back then? Actually? I you know, I
Speaker 1: started Teach for America because I had become disillusioned of
Speaker 1: the idea that that my country is a land of
Speaker 1: equal opportunity. You know. I had, I think, as a
Speaker 1: concerned college student, um and as a public policy major,
Speaker 1: had just come to understand that the circumstances of kids birth,
Speaker 1: their economic background, their racial background, um, really predicts their
Speaker 1: their outcomes, um and and I wanted to do something
Speaker 1: about that. And I realized I wasn't alone. I mean,
Speaker 1: I really felt that I was one of thousands of
Speaker 1: people out there, pragmatic ideal you know, who wanted to
Speaker 1: be part of something that would actually address that reality.
Speaker 1: And so that's what inspired the idea of Teach for America.
Speaker 1: And I think it lad me early on to think
Speaker 1: in terms of equity, you know, UM, like we need
Speaker 1: to catch kids up, Like you know, kids don't have
Speaker 1: equal opportunity to excel, and thus we have these massive
Speaker 1: you know, achievement gaps. Um. But ultimately I think, and
Speaker 1: it didn't take too long to start realizing that catching
Speaker 1: kids up in an in an outdated system, you know,
Speaker 1: isn't enough and that ideally we would be developing students
Speaker 1: who could actually ultimately challenge the very roots of inequity.
Speaker 1: Um So I think those thoughts were bubbling up that
Speaker 1: Teach for America and really all across our network, and
Speaker 1: it's it's really what led us to them say we
Speaker 1: need to rearticulate what we're working towards, you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's just stunning to think about the fact that you
Speaker 1: were only twenty one years old when you really uh
Speaker 1: incubated Teach for America. That was some thirty years ago, now,
Speaker 1: I guess, and and in the process not only worked
Speaker 1: to address these massive iniquities, but also to inspire a
Speaker 1: whole host of young people to pay their own experiences forward,
Speaker 1: if you will, to really engage in this way, both
Speaker 1: idealistically and pragmatically. So it's it's quite an achievement, you know,
Speaker 1: here on a hundred women to hear, we're really interested
Speaker 1: in what catalyzed the kind of leadership that you and
Speaker 1: so many others manifest. Was there something in your childhood
Speaker 1: or in your upbringing that set you on this path.
Speaker 1: You know. I think one the thing was that, you know,
Speaker 1: my parents, who had you know, grown up in in
Speaker 1: in rural communities and Midwest and had kind of put
Speaker 1: themselves through college and had started a very small business,
Speaker 1: you know, really prioritized education of my brother and I,
Speaker 1: and you know, moved into a community sort of on
Speaker 1: initially the edge of a community that that had really
Speaker 1: strong public schools. And as a result, um, you know,
Speaker 1: I you know, I experienced what it is to have
Speaker 1: a strong public education. And and then I went off
Speaker 1: to Princeton and and I was very conscious of the
Speaker 1: fact my senior year in college that I felt like
Speaker 1: the whole world was open to me. I literally thought
Speaker 1: I could do anything, and that thought made me want
Speaker 1: to put my energy into education. I think just realizing
Speaker 1: how much freedom I felt because of the opportunities I
Speaker 1: had had, and and recognizing that not everyone had those
Speaker 1: same opportunities, um is what led me in this direction.
Speaker 1: And I will say, I mean I kind of knew myself,
Speaker 1: you know, I knew that I was just kind of
Speaker 1: wired to work incredibly hard at whatever I was doing,
Speaker 1: and I wanted to make sure that I didn't work
Speaker 1: on something that wasn't going to make a meaningful difference.
Speaker 1: Like I really was very clear on that by the
Speaker 1: time I got to my senior year in college, like,
Speaker 1: I want to make sure that I'm doing something that
Speaker 1: will actually make a meaningful difference in the world. UM.
Speaker 1: So I think those things came together to lead me
Speaker 1: to this sense that I was just searching for something
Speaker 1: I wasn't finding. And you know, our generation was called
Speaker 1: the me generation because people were just so convinced that
Speaker 1: all we wanted to do is make a lot of
Speaker 1: money and work on Ball Street. Um And I thought
Speaker 1: that that was just so misplaced, and that I was
Speaker 1: one of thousands of people searching for something that would
Speaker 1: enable us to make a real difference in the world.
Speaker 1: Um And And that's really what led me to this
Speaker 1: particular idea. You know, I saw these investment banks and
Speaker 1: management consulting firms banging down the doors of liberal arts
Speaker 1: graduates like myself, asking us to commit just two years
Speaker 1: to work in their firms, And I thought, why aren't
Speaker 1: we being recruited just as aggressively to commit just two
Speaker 1: years to teach in urban and rural communities. Um And
Speaker 1: that was that was really the beginning of my obsession
Speaker 1: with this idea. Well, it was a very noble obsession
Speaker 1: and continues to be in And clearly you touched a nerve.
Speaker 1: Why do you think so many young people across America
Speaker 1: responded the way they did back when and continue to
Speaker 1: do So? What what is it about a teach for
Speaker 1: America that's been so successful and and so catalyzing? And
Speaker 1: you know, I'll even broaden that because we're seeing that
Speaker 1: this is really a worldwide phenomenon. I mean to see
Speaker 1: young people all around the world clamoring to to apply
Speaker 1: for you know, teach for Indie or teacher for Nigeria
Speaker 1: or in senior Peru, etcetera. UM, And I think we're
Speaker 1: tapping into an instinct that's already there. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: there's always a certain percentage of real leaders out there
Speaker 1: among our kind of you know, recent graduates, who are
Speaker 1: who really want to do something that makes a real
Speaker 1: difference in the world, who want to be part of
Speaker 1: something much larger than themselves, and yet there are many
Speaker 1: pressures on them, you know, to to channel their energy
Speaker 1: in one direction or another. Um, financial pressures, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of paranal pressures, whatever it may be. And I
Speaker 1: think we're making it possible for them to make this choice.
Speaker 1: And I think what even from the very beginning, you know,
Speaker 1: I was so obsessed with this, not only because of
Speaker 1: what the impact could be during the two years, but
Speaker 1: because of what I thought the impact would be long term,
Speaker 1: you know, because people can commit just two years, but
Speaker 1: you know, they commit to two years to banks and
Speaker 1: they never leave the banks. So that was the real idea,
Speaker 1: was to say, let's ask people to commit to years,
Speaker 1: but those two years will change everything, their priorities, their
Speaker 1: understanding of the realities of our country, their commitment to
Speaker 1: this work, and ultimately, I thought at the time, the
Speaker 1: consciousness you know of of our country. So explain to
Speaker 1: us how an individual who is interested in Teach for
Speaker 1: America goes about it. What is the process? Uh? And
Speaker 1: then what do they commit to doing? Uh? What do
Speaker 1: they get for it? If you will, how does that work? So,
Speaker 1: you know, for Teach for America, for any of these
Speaker 1: other network organizations, UM, people from all different academic majors
Speaker 1: and backgrounds and career interests apply and and the organizations
Speaker 1: look for people who who have demonstrated real you know,
Speaker 1: leadership and UM and and a commitment to these issues. UM.
Speaker 1: And then they invest a lot in their development through
Speaker 1: very intensive, essentially two year programs of professional and development
Speaker 1: starting before the teaching commitment. And then you know, the
Speaker 1: teachers are clustered in schools and receive ongoing coaching and
Speaker 1: professional development during the two years and then beyond the
Speaker 1: two years, UM, there's quite an investment in kind of
Speaker 1: fostering the ongoing leadership of these folks, UM, supporting them
Speaker 1: as they either continuing classrooms or become school leaders, or
Speaker 1: work in their government ministries or launch social enterprises UM
Speaker 1: or just really think as individuals and collectively about what
Speaker 1: more they believe needs to happen to take to take
Speaker 1: the issues on that that they saw play themselves play
Speaker 1: out in their classrooms. And are they accepted the same
Speaker 1: way as schools except the teach for America teachers is
Speaker 1: similar in India, in the UK, etcetera. And each of
Speaker 1: these organizations has has kind of adapted this approach to
Speaker 1: their particular context UM. And in each case, UM, though,
Speaker 1: I mean I think I think you we could say yes,
Speaker 1: I mean, there are new teachers coming into their school buildings, UM.
Speaker 1: And you know, they commit two years and in some
Speaker 1: cases they stay longer, in some cases not. But one
Speaker 1: of the biggest keys to success is learning from and
Speaker 1: with and alongside the students and their families and the
Speaker 1: other teachers in their schools and so UM there's quite
Speaker 1: a focus and investment on UM, you know, really developing
Speaker 1: the teachers so that they are you know, developing relationships
Speaker 1: and working in true partnership with the others in their schools,
Speaker 1: and that typically leads to a really mutually beneficial relations
Speaker 1: you know, just really strong relationships at at the school level. Well,
Speaker 1: I know so many young people who went in to
Speaker 1: teach for America and truly it has been life changing
Speaker 1: for them. Some have remained committed to education, others have
Speaker 1: gone on to UM really do extraordinary work in their
Speaker 1: communities or UM in other ways. So it is, it is,
Speaker 1: it is truly life changing. I think that's a real
Speaker 1: bit component of it. We've really seen that and you know,
Speaker 1: just to give you to bring that to life a bit. UM.
Speaker 1: If we look across the Teach for All network about
Speaker 1: it's like seventy people have completed to your commitments to
Speaker 1: teach and seventy percent of them UM are still full
Speaker 1: time long term in education with others doing similar you know,
Speaker 1: maybe they're working in policy or law, but they're focused
Speaker 1: on improving the quality of life in low income communities.
Speaker 1: So we've seen it be really transformative in terms of
Speaker 1: the priorities and career to jectories of the participants. But
Speaker 1: even beyond that, you know, there's there now is a
Speaker 1: growing body of research that looks at what happens to
Speaker 1: these teachers during the two years, and and this research
Speaker 1: shows and right now it's across five different countries. It
Speaker 1: shows that, you know, first of all, the teachers believe
Speaker 1: much more in their students and in their potential and
Speaker 1: in the students families at the end of their two
Speaker 1: year commitment even than they did at the beginning. Um
Speaker 1: And and also it shows that they shift from viewing
Speaker 1: the problems as kind of a technical problem to understanding
Speaker 1: the problem and it's full complexity, so that ultimately they
Speaker 1: understand the nature of the problem and the solutions in
Speaker 1: a way that's very similar to the way people with
Speaker 1: the lived experience of the the inequities view the solution.
Speaker 1: So what we're seeing is that this experience really shapes
Speaker 1: them into the leaders we need, you know, people who
Speaker 1: have a sense of possibility, who believe in their kids,
Speaker 1: who understand the complexity of the issue is in the
Speaker 1: complexity of the solutions, and who are who have deep
Speaker 1: commitment to this work long term. So very true, and
Speaker 1: what a tremendous investment it makes beyond education, going to
Speaker 1: the route of other issues that have to be addressed
Speaker 1: because of these inequities. Seneca has one hundred women to hear.
Speaker 1: Will be back after the short break. So some seventeen
Speaker 1: years after you started Teach for America, you started Teach
Speaker 1: for All. You told us a little bit about what
Speaker 1: it does. Can you tell us what went into that
Speaker 1: process and how it came about and maybe how it works.
Speaker 1: Each of the organizations in the Teach for All network
Speaker 1: are united by certain principles. We have, you know, ten
Speaker 1: unifying pnciples that you know or you could write on
Speaker 1: half a page of paper, but they say a lot
Speaker 1: um and they're there. They represent commitments to as I
Speaker 1: said before, I shared purpose and and theory of change
Speaker 1: and vision um and also to the kind of high
Speaker 1: level programmatic principles and organizational principles. So there's a lot
Speaker 1: that brings us together. But it's at the level of
Speaker 1: principles and commitments UM, and and nothing is prescribed in
Speaker 1: terms of how to live into those principles. So each
Speaker 1: of these network partners are are you know, deeply rooted
Speaker 1: in in their own contexts and and you know, work
Speaker 1: to adapt this approach in ways that make the most
Speaker 1: sense UM. And then we have a global organization that
Speaker 1: is just all about supporting those network partners to learn
Speaker 1: from each other. And so I think what we've seen
Speaker 1: over time is that, you know, is just power of
Speaker 1: of a of an approach like this to lead to
Speaker 1: deeply rooted, you know, locally rooted but also globally informed
Speaker 1: UM practice. And we see that at the organizational level,
Speaker 1: but now also at the level of the teachers and
Speaker 1: the alumni of these organizations, who are you know, again
Speaker 1: both locally rooted but also part of networks of of
Speaker 1: you know, teachers and alumni pursuing similar agendas in different
Speaker 1: communities around the world. And we've just seen that, UM,
Speaker 1: We've seen the tremendous potential let's just say, of UM
Speaker 1: of that approach in fostering and fueling innovation and the
Speaker 1: spread of innovation and ultimately accelerating progress. So it has
Speaker 1: this extraordinary ripple effect that goes on to exponentially affects
Speaker 1: so much more so. In the process of doing all
Speaker 1: of this, you're clearly developing leaders who bring change to
Speaker 1: their communities and beyond. You know, at Seneca, where so
Speaker 1: focused on women's leadership, does teach for all go about
Speaker 1: developing girls and women as leaders in any particular way.
Speaker 1: We do. We have developed over time Girls Education Initiative
Speaker 1: because you know, many of our network partners are are
Speaker 1: working in countries where you know, girls are are some
Speaker 1: of the most marginalized in the world. You know, from
Speaker 1: Afghanistan to Pakistan to Sierra Leone and Nigeria and Nepal, etcetera,
Speaker 1: where um, you know the the I guess you know,
Speaker 1: we just see girls attending school and persisting through school
Speaker 1: and the expectations of girls just at a totally different level.
Speaker 1: And what we've seen is that, you know, whether girls
Speaker 1: have the chances they deserve has everything to do with
Speaker 1: whether there is a local leader and advocate in that
Speaker 1: local community who is working towards as ends um and
Speaker 1: I've personally seen, you know, so many of the teacher
Speaker 1: leaders across our network have have a truly transformative effect
Speaker 1: on the expectations and possibilities for girls in their community.
Speaker 1: So seeing that scene, you know, I think about some
Speaker 1: of the villages in Nepal. At one point a few
Speaker 1: years ago, I was able to meet with successive cohorts
Speaker 1: of of teaching fellows in a particular village in Nepal
Speaker 1: who had had taught over a period of seven years
Speaker 1: in this village, and they shared what the expectations of
Speaker 1: girls were when the first cohort arrived versus when the
Speaker 1: last you know who was still there it was was
Speaker 1: there and it's just like complete transformation. You know, they
Speaker 1: watched their girls go off and get the most prestigious
Speaker 1: scholarships in the country after you know when when in
Speaker 1: the beginning, they weren't even thinking that their girls should
Speaker 1: attend school. So we've just seen the transformative effect and
Speaker 1: that led us to create a Girls Education Fellowships. So
Speaker 1: we've you know, really invested in hundreds of the teaching
Speaker 1: fellows across our network who are working in these settings
Speaker 1: in exposing them to the knowledge, the mindsets, the understanding
Speaker 1: to pursue essentially gender sensitive education UM and and we're
Speaker 1: working to expand that effort now as as we speak
Speaker 1: in fact, you do unlock so much. You know, as
Speaker 1: you were speaking, I was thinking about the fact that
Speaker 1: talent is universal, that opportunity is not, and you really
Speaker 1: are an opportunity provider in so many ways in what
Speaker 1: you do, and it makes such a difference. I'm wondering,
Speaker 1: since we're all still recovering and others are still going
Speaker 1: through the brutal consequences of the pandemic, how has it
Speaker 1: affected teach for all operations around the globe. You know, first,
Speaker 1: I would say, I think, well to state the obvious
Speaker 1: that this situation has just compounded and exacerbated the inequities
Speaker 1: that that we're addressing. It has also, I think been
Speaker 1: very affirming for our network in the sense that, you know,
Speaker 1: we saw the teachers and alumni educators across our network
Speaker 1: just lean in to keep their own students safe and learning,
Speaker 1: and then very quickly, you know, be enlisted by their
Speaker 1: government ministries and others to keep many other kids learning,
Speaker 1: whether through leveraging radio and TV or creating the kind
Speaker 1: of digital school houses, the libraries of videos and podcasts
Speaker 1: and all that any teachers and students and parents could
Speaker 1: access to, you know, literally training tens of thousands of
Speaker 1: other teachers in digital learning strategies. UM. So, I think
Speaker 1: on the one hand, it's been very affirming for the
Speaker 1: kind of types of people like the leaders our network
Speaker 1: partners are developed helping UM and and at the same
Speaker 1: time it's it's really shown us the value and the
Speaker 1: impact of having a network that enables those local leaders
Speaker 1: to learn from each other. I mean, we just saw
Speaker 1: solutions flying across our our network. UM. Back in March
Speaker 1: when when the pandemic became a truly global phenomenon. You know,
Speaker 1: we had overnight teachers and teaching without internet, WhatsApp groups
Speaker 1: in four different languages just sharing solutions. UM. You know,
Speaker 1: we saw the teach for Nigeria teachers go to their
Speaker 1: government and say, the only way we're going to keep
Speaker 1: our kids learning is if we can take over the
Speaker 1: government radio station. And and we sent that out across
Speaker 1: our network, and soon many other folks, I mean the
Speaker 1: Chilean alumni, sixty of them came together and said that's
Speaker 1: what we're gonna do. And and now they've they've built
Speaker 1: a lasting radio you know, programming that's on two hundred
Speaker 1: radio stations. So we just really saw how my which
Speaker 1: we can accelerate progress through through you know, having both
Speaker 1: locally rooted leaders who are also who also have platforms
Speaker 1: to learn from each other. UM. But I would also
Speaker 1: say this has been an era of so much learning
Speaker 1: and so much innovation, just as as all educators, including
Speaker 1: those across our network, you know, stepped out of the
Speaker 1: box that has defined education for you know, decades and
Speaker 1: decades and had to resort to new means to keep
Speaker 1: kids learning. And I think we've seen just new mindsets
Speaker 1: about the power of leveraging technology, the power of engaging
Speaker 1: in a still deeper way with parents, and the importance
Speaker 1: of integrating at every stage social emotional learning, and of
Speaker 1: focus on student well being. UM. So we're very focused
Speaker 1: as we go forth on both thinking about what we
Speaker 1: can do to continue growing a force of extraordinary leaders
Speaker 1: committed to this issue, you know, developing a still more
Speaker 1: interconnected and learning global community and essentially anchoring those innovations.
Speaker 1: You know, how can we not go back to a
Speaker 1: status quo that wasn't meeting the needs of all kids?
Speaker 1: How can we leverage the new mindsets and and the
Speaker 1: new innovations to come back differently in a way that
Speaker 1: really sets kids up? Um, you know, to shape a
Speaker 1: better future for themselves and for all of us. And
Speaker 1: I think it's going to be really important because in
Speaker 1: in so many poorer countries in particular, girls in the
Speaker 1: lockdown obviously left school, and it's calculated that millions and
Speaker 1: millions of them may not go back, and so your network,
Speaker 1: I think it's also going to be extremely essential and
Speaker 1: trying to find those innovative ways to ensure they're back
Speaker 1: in the classroom. Yes, and whether they do come back
Speaker 1: will again have so much to do with whether there
Speaker 1: are local you know, teachers and and others in their
Speaker 1: communities who are determined to bring them back. You know.
Speaker 1: I think about a conversation not too long ago with
Speaker 1: the teacher for Afghanistan Fellows, these women who are working
Speaker 1: in the Longer Horror and are one regions of Afghanistan,
Speaker 1: and they were talking about their experience, and I was
Speaker 1: realizing how much time they spend, essentially in working to
Speaker 1: convinced families, inspire families to send their girls to school.
Speaker 1: And I remember just talking to them and saying, how
Speaker 1: often are you successful? Like I was thinking, cush, is
Speaker 1: it like half the time? Or And they looked at
Speaker 1: me so confused. They said of course we're always successful.
Speaker 1: Like we're from the communities, people trust us, and that
Speaker 1: was so striking to me. You know, we have our
Speaker 1: perceptions from from Afar, but with I've just really come
Speaker 1: to see that with enough local leaders admitted to ensuring
Speaker 1: that opportunity is equally distributed, we really can change mindsets
Speaker 1: and and and and change the reality for for a
Speaker 1: whole you know, for future generations of kids. That's a
Speaker 1: wonderful story. You know, given that, uh and the operations
Speaker 1: that you're involved in, the network, the extensive network around
Speaker 1: the globe, do you think you're creating in some ways
Speaker 1: a more effective model for foreign assistance, a better way,
Speaker 1: for example, for richer countries to be more supportive of
Speaker 1: fer countries, particularly in education. I thought so much about
Speaker 1: this over time. UM. You know, I guess what I've
Speaker 1: seen through our work is just the power of really
Speaker 1: intentional efforts to cultivate local leadership. UM. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think so much about what it would take to
Speaker 1: shift our international aid paradigm from one that is intervention
Speaker 1: lad meaning like people from a far think of and
Speaker 1: see evidence that interventions work, and they work to spread
Speaker 1: them to both developing contexts like what if we shifted
Speaker 1: from that towards an approach that was you know, people
Speaker 1: first that first decided to prioritize the investing in the
Speaker 1: agency and the leadership development of the people in developing
Speaker 1: contexts so that they can can actually developed the contextualized solutions.
Speaker 1: And you know, from what I've seen, that's the path
Speaker 1: to truly sustainable change. UM. So we're in fact working
Speaker 1: with a group of other like minded organizations, UM you know,
Speaker 1: and and donors and other kind of stakeholders in the
Speaker 1: in the international aid system too. Really think about what
Speaker 1: it would take to shift in that direction, what it
Speaker 1: would take to sizeably increase our focus on advancing the
Speaker 1: leadership of of the people who themselves are um are
Speaker 1: are in the in the local communities. I mean to me,
Speaker 1: that's that's the promise of this effort at an even
Speaker 1: bigger level. You know, this has been such a rich conversation, Wendy,
Speaker 1: and I'm so grateful to you. But let me ask
Speaker 1: you one final question, since we've already exhausted our time together,
Speaker 1: it would be really wonderful to know what gives you hope,
Speaker 1: what makes you optimistic? Obviously, you have developed these extraordinary
Speaker 1: programs that have such impact at home and around the world,
Speaker 1: and you've seen much that has come about because of them.
Speaker 1: What gives you great optimism, you know, Um, I feel
Speaker 1: so lucky to see every day, um, just a group
Speaker 1: of people who are who are just so deeply committed
Speaker 1: to pouring everything they have into creating a more equitable world.
Speaker 1: And I think that's what gives me optimism to see
Speaker 1: you know, young people, recent college graduates and allies you know,
Speaker 1: all over the world glamoring to put their full time
Speaker 1: energy into the communities in their country where their energy
Speaker 1: is needed most. And then in turn, to see you know,
Speaker 1: the students and young people growing up today who have
Speaker 1: so much leadership potential and and are already exerting that leadership,
Speaker 1: which I think we've seen during this pandemic era in speeds. UM.
Speaker 1: So that's what gives me optimism, um, is just to
Speaker 1: be surrounded by so many people with just infectious, deeply
Speaker 1: you know, deep commitment. Well, thank you so much, Wendy
Speaker 1: cop You have certainly enabled so many to have that
Speaker 1: potential you just talked about be tapped because of the
Speaker 1: work that you've done over at least three decades now
Speaker 1: to make a difference. We are so grateful to you.
Speaker 1: May it continue and may you continue to prosper well.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. So appreciate your vote of confidence.
Speaker 1: Um and yeah, really appreciated the conversation. That's the kind
Speaker 1: of bold vision that gives us all hope for the future.
Speaker 1: There are three things I took from that conversation with
Speaker 1: the remarkable Wendy cop First, no matter where you go,
Speaker 1: people want to create positive change in their own communities.
Speaker 1: As Teach for All shows, local people and governments working
Speaker 1: together will find the most effective ways to make education
Speaker 1: and opportunity widely available. Second, education is transformative and not
Speaker 1: just for students. Wendy says that after two years and
Speaker 1: a Teach for All program, the teachers believe much more
Speaker 1: in their students and their potential, and they have a
Speaker 1: greater understanding of the possibilities of the educational system. In essence,
Speaker 1: they transform into true leaders and champions of children. Finally,
Speaker 1: when a country educates its girls, everyone benefits and mindsets change.
Speaker 1: Wendy told about communities and Nepal that used to believe
Speaker 1: girls did not be long in school. That changed after
Speaker 1: girls started attending classes and winning the most prestigious scholarships
Speaker 1: in the country. Education is the key to opening up
Speaker 1: so many possibilities for girls. Two next Tuesday to hear
Speaker 1: about our next featured woman and discover why she's one
Speaker 1: of Seneca's one d Women to Hear. Seneca's one hundred
Speaker 1: Women to Hear is a collaboration between the Seneca Women
Speaker 1: Podcast Network and I Heart Radio, with support from founding
Speaker 1: partner PNG Have a Great Day.