JA Announces Partnership with The Global Education & Leadership Foundation (tGELF)
December 10, 2017
The Global Education & Leadership Foundation (tGELF) and JA Worldwide officially launched our partnership at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Hyderabad, India, last week.
tGELF, headquartered in India, seeks to build a community of ethical, altruistic leaders, who work together to improve the state of the world. JA Worldwide, of course, is one of the world's largest youth-serving NGO, delivering experiential learning in work readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship, in order to activate youth for the future of jobs. Over the years, tGELF has developed a robust network of students and young professionals who have studied at leading educational institutions in India and abroad. tGELF's core mission has reached more than 3 million students across 3,000 schools in 14 countries.
The two organizations have become core partners to continue our mutual endeavor to innovate and revolutionize the global education space together and fulfill our missions through technology and scale. The announcement of this partnership is a significant turning point for both of our organizations, with an exciting journey ahead in educating the next generation and training them to become leaders who are ethical, action-oriented and can succeed in the global economy.
tGELF and JA Worldwide will work together to plan, develop, promote, and implement curricula focused on global entrepreneurship and ethical leadership across India and the Asia Pacific. The two NGOs will align efforts to reach more youth to become entrepreneurial leaders who are ethical, inclusive and altruistic.
Given tGELF's existing reach and network amongst schools across Asia Pacific, JA will integrate its curricula on work readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship with the tGELF curriculum that currently focuses on ethical leadership. tGELF and JA will use the latest technologies and pedagogies to ensure that these crucial skills are taught effectively to young people across the region. Regular evaluations and assessments will allow the partnership to continuously reform and adapt teaching methods. The partners have also committed to execute and conduct a variety of convenings, including speaking events, fundraisers, conferences, workshops and summits for young people.
Vivian Lau, President of JA Asia Pacific, summed up the partnership in this way:
"The 21st century presents new opportunities and challenges for developing and nurturing our future leaders. Advanced technology and the Fourth Industrial Revolution can liberate and unleash the imagination and potential of humankind. At the same time, we find ourselves in uncharted territories for human civilization, which brings both entrepreneurial skills and ethical leadership to center stage. The tGELF and JA partnership will develop, integrate and more importantly scale ethical leadership and entrepreneurship training to activate a whole new generation of future leaders."
The launch event, held during GES, included remarks from Vivian Lau, president of JA Asia Pacific, and Amisha Shahra of tGELF, as well as a panel of educationalists, change makers, and supporters of the movement to empower today’s youth to build a better tomorrow. The panel, which was featured among a range of engaging and diverse panels, featured Vivian Lau; Ramanan Ramanathan, Mission Director of the NITI Aayog Atal Innovation Mission; Naiyya Saagi, founder and CEO of BabyChakra; and Satveer Thakral, CEO of Singapore Angel Network. The panel was moderated by tGELF's Aayush Baid.
tGELF is chaired by Shiv Vikram Khemka, who is also the Vice-Chairman of Sun Group, and is a member of the President's Leadership Council at Brown University, a member of the Board of Overseers at the Wharton School, and a member of JA Worldwide's Board of Governor. Gowri Ishwaran, founder principal of Sanskriti School and a Padma Shri recipient (one of the highest civilian awards) is the CEO of tGELF, and she also shared her thoughts with the media:
"Entrepreneurship naturally complements youth leadership development. It is important in the world of today to start creating an entrepreneurial mindset from a very young age, but along with these soft skills, the practice of ethical leadership has to be taught as well. JA has been doing a wonderful job creating tremendous impact in the lives of young people across the world ,and we are extremely proud to have the opportunity to be a part of this work and make a larger difference as the world moves ahead at a rapid pace. We know that with our collective strengths, there is great potential to create impact at scale."