Changing the world through changing education

Our Mission

Our mission is to encourage and support education projects that generate sustainable livelihoods for young people across the developing world. We aim to make a long term impact on global poverty by supporting education projects that give young people the skills to help themselves.

The concept of helping others to help themselves is far from new. It was exemplified in ancient times in the Chinese proverb from which we draw our name: “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” Ancient it may be, but it is as true today as ever.

There are three core principles in line with this philosophy that guide us in our work:

• Poverty Reduction  - we intend to eradicate extreme poverty. Our programs focus first on students from low-income  families and marginalized communities.
• Education - we exist to educate. Educational goals supersede any other aims our programs have.
• Entrepreneurship - we foster entrepreneurship. Viewing enterprise as an effective means of economic prosperity, our schools work to provide students with the skills and inspiration they need to generate wealth for themselves and their communities.
   

Our Values

Our schools are united by a common set of values. These overarching principles transcend differences in geography, culture, religion and politics among our members to describe our approach to sustainability education and provide a common foundation for our diverse project opportunities:

1. Student Welfare - we value our students. Our schools are safe environments where the physical, mental and emotional well-being and growth of our students is always a priority.
2. Equality - we believe in the value and potential of every individual. Our schools strive to provide opportunity to underprivileged segments of society regardless of gender, race, or religion and to rectify the effects of historic discrimination.
3. Empowerment of the disadvantaged - we choose to empower. Instead of simply providing resources, our schools focus on developing in individuals the capacity and confidence they need to change their own situations and assist their communities.
4. Innovation - we view innovation as crucial to long term success. Schools will embrace experimentation as a means of consistently improving their programs.
5. Transparency - we commit to transparency. Sharing our financial, production and academic results and processes within the Network and with our communities builds trust and aids our organizational learning.
6. Local Ownership - we protect local ownership. Local adaptation is one of the crucial strengths of our approach and though we offer support and resources, our schools retain self-determination in all their programs.
7. Community Outreach - we engage with our communities. Our schools are not isolated. We practice our problem-solving abilities, share our knowledge, and give of our time and resources to make concrete positive contributions to our communities.
8. Evaluation - we evaluate. We believe that when performance is measured, performance improves. Constant self and peer evaluation enables us to more fully celebrate our successes, tackle our challenges and appreciate the impact our programs have in our communities and around the world.
9. Growth and Expansion - we strive for growth and expansion. Our schools undertake processes of expansion and replication as soon as they are able, building a network that reaches further and further into the depths of rural poverty with each new school.