LONDON, April 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
- First partnership to support
philanthropic educational organisations around the world
EdTech Europe, the leading education technology focused
conference platform in Europe, has
marked the launch of its EdTech Global Foundation with a
$10,000 donation to Global Minimum
Inc. (GMin) a charitable international organisation that
encourages young innovators and leaders in Africa to engage with critical thinking skills
and hands-on learning programmes to tackle challenges affecting
their communities. The financial assistance provided by the EdTech
Global Foundation will be the first in a series of philanthropic
partnerships moving forward.
The EdTech Global Foundation aims to enhance life outcomes
through supporting educational programmes, actively encourage
innovation in education and training and support research into the
advancement of education technology.
Global Minimum will invest the donation from the EdTech Global
Foundation across three programmes in Sierra Leone, Kenya and South
Africa to empower youth innovators:
- Innovate Challenges (InChallenges) - a national invention
challenge for youth in Sierra
Leone, Kenya and
South Africa. Eliciting project
proposals from youth around the country and offering design
workshops, seed funding, and mentorship to select finalists, it
allows young people to develop concepts into tangible solutions
that positively affect local communities. The InChallenges
programme enhances critical and creative thinking, promotes civic
engagement, strengthens STEAM literacies[1] and develops
entrepreneurship and leadership skills.
- Innovation Labs (InLabs) - introducing new topics and skills
such as Electronics & Robotics, Programming, Woodworking,
Filmmaking, and Arts & Design to select partner schools and
surrounding communities to foster entrepreneurial and creative
capacities and a spirit of innovation. The core aspects that drive
the InLabs programme are: safe and adequate physical spaces,
technical tools, mentorship, and innovation leadership.
- Hack at Home (HaH) Design Challenge Series - a series of design
and innovation challenges for Sierra Leonean youth to encourage
creative solutions, while providing an online forum to exchange and
develop ideas with peers and community members using WhatsApp and
Facebook SMS. HaH includes design challenges related to Ebola and
its by-products, as well as other interest-driven and critical
thinking issues to exercise the imagination of youth. The HaH
initiative is administered on the Innovate Salone Facebook
Community Group and eight WhatsApp groups across the country.
1. STEAM is an interdisciplinary approach that
bridges STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Math) disciplines with the Arts, humanities, and social
sciences.
"Despite growing global interconnectivity and opportunity,
creativity and innovation of young people in Africa, the continent continues to be
sidelined. This limits the flow of good ideas that turn into
tangible solutions that could overcome local problems. For African
countries to continue to grow, the youth must be enabled to learn
the relevant skills for an innovation-driven economy. We are
grateful for the support from the EdTech Global Foundation, which
will allow us to further support our youth to test and implement
their ideas to improve society. Together we will create remarkable
stories to inspire others and create a culture of civic engagement
through action within their communities," commented David Sengeh,
President and Co-Founder of Global Minimum Inc.
"As an organisation established to connect the international
education technology industries, we fundamentally believe that it
is important to give back into this innovative community. We are
delighted to be supporting such empowering programmes as Global
Minimum and look forward to working with them to see real impact,"
said Charles McIntyre EdTech Global Co-Founder and Chair of the
EdTech Global Foundation. "As the EdTech Global Foundation
continues to develop, we're excited to review the possibilities of
working with other innovative education focused charities or
non-profit organisations to create real innovation and change not
just in the EdTech industry but to people's lives."
To be considered as a future EdTech Global foundation partner,
please email hello@edtecheurope.com.
About EdTech Europe:
EdTech Europe connects the global EdTech community through an
exclusive one day, multi-track summit bringing together executive
level investors, innovators, and industry influencers from European
and global education technology companies. Through extensive
networking opportunities, the conference also aims to connect
leading foundations, higher-education institutions, policy makers,
and thought leaders from the industry as well. Now in its third
year, EdTech Europe 2015 will be held at Kings Place in
London, UK on 18 June and aims to
host 500+ attendees and 60+ speakers. Additionally, through their
annual EdTech 20 competition, EdTech Europe will foster and
showcase notable innovation ideas within the start-up communities
through pitches and awards at the 2015 event.
For more information and to register, visit:
http://www.edtecheurope.com, to enter this year's EdTech 20
ranking, visit: http://edtecheurope.com/edtech20/
Twitter: @edtecheurope / LinkedIn
SOURCE EdTech Europe
