How can we enable and scale thriving educational ecosystems by connecting funders, networks, and movements around the globe?

In our rapidly evolving world, the traditional education model must adapt to meet the needs of learners and equip them with the skills to thrive. 

This requires a more holistic approach to learning, integrating formal and informal education, community engagement, and technological advancements – with the goal of fostering more inclusive, learner-centered environments that cultivate critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and adaptability.

There are thousands of initiatives doing incredible work re-innovating education – yet the majority remain disconnected from each other, and limited in their capacity to shift broader systems.

Imagine if we brought together dozens of networks, movements, and funders in the education space – all with overlapping goals but slightly different approaches and geographical focus – to explore how we can collaborate for large-scale change.

This is what we aim to do in our inaugural "education networks obstacle course".

Through combining our vast pools of knowledge, resources, capacities, and reach, we can share critical lessons learned, co-design innovative solutions, identify ways to scale and increase reach, and generate actionable strategies to reshape the future of education, build resilient educational ecosystems, and unlock the potential of learners for generations to come.

Why Might I Participate?

We invite all network and movement leaders, funders, and coordinators passionate about thriving educational ecosystems to join us in this transformative obstacle course. Through participating, you will:

• Foster new and unlikely connections with trailblazers across diverse networks
• Identify synergies for learning, sharing knowledge, and peer support
• Map avenues for larger collaborative work that can serve the field and have a meaningful impact
• Build bridges between practitioners and funders who are willing to support and invest in collaborative efforts

Our Co-Hosts

An incredible mix of field leaders in education and networks:

• Fernande Raine is a social entrepreneur and founder of The History Co:Lab, an accelerator of innovation in the field of history and the humanities working to strengthen democracy by ensuring that all young people grow up having inspired learning experiences in history so they can develop their full capacity as humans and civic participants. The Co:Lab builds local community partnerships to co-create and deliver such learning experiences, and has worked in Kansas City, NYC, Boston and in 6 European countries. With a focus on achieving systems-change, the Co:Lab pursues scale by weaving alliances that move levers to influence the larger context of how learning is delivered and measured. In partnership with the Smithsonian, the Co:Lab manages a network of >200 museums that advance the Educating for American Democracy project. With a strong belief in the power of youth voice and intergenerational dialogue to shape the future of education, the team incubated and produces the award-winning teen-led youth podcast UnTextbooked. Fernande has a PhD in history from Yale, started her career as a strategy consultant at McKinsey and Co. and spent 15 years with Ashoka launching programs around systems-change and growing the institution around the globe. She received several awards, but more importantly has four daughters and a passion for hiking and music.
  
• Lisa Guernsey co-founded and leads the Learning Sciences Exchange (LSX), a fellowship program at New America, a non-profit think tank. LSX was developed in partnership with Kathy Hirsh-Pasek at Temple University, Roberta Golinkoff at the University of Delaware, and the Jacobs Foundation. Before coming to New America, Guernsey was a staff writer at the New York Times and the Chronicle of Higher Education. She has contributed to many publications including Scientific American, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, Newsweek, Time, Slate, ZERO TO THREE, and USA TODAY. Guernsey is co-author, with Michael H. Levine, of Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens (Jossey-Bass, 2015) and author of Screen Time: How Electronic Media—From Baby Videos to Educational Software—Affects Your Young Child (Basic Books, 2012). Guernsey has contributed to multiple books on technology and learning, including A Librarians’ Guide to Engaging Families in Learning (Libraries Unlimited, 2021), Exploring Key Issues in Early Childhood and Technology (Routledge, 2019), Family Engagement in the Digital Age (Routledge, 2016), and Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years (Routledge, 2014).
• Aparajitha Suresh is a Program Associate at Echidna Giving, where she is responsible for sourcing new grants, tracking research developments in the girls’ education field, and managing our social media presence. Apara's work in girls’ education is largely motivated by her time as a government school teacher in South India, where she lived and learned how disparities in educational opportunities detrimentally hinder children from marginalized backgrounds — especially girls at intersections (lower SES, Bahujan, special needs, etc.). She is also inspired by the wisdom of the women in her family, especially her Amma, who was the first girl in her family to graduate from secondary school and attend college. From her, Apara has learned the power of feminism as a belief and a daily praxis.
• Faith Muisyo is a multi-passionate leader with diverse experience in education, agri-business, Fairtrade, health, water, sanitation, hygiene promotion, SME development, and networking. As Programs Director at Dignitas she supports all Dignitas programs and engages in advocacy and partnerships to ensure children's voices are heard. Faith's leadership philosophy fosters a growth mindset, encouraging continuous learning and dynamic change. 
• Adria Iulia Berari is an education programme manager at Fondation Botnar, working on programming related to learning in the digital age. She joined the foundation in late 2022 as part of their Young Professionals Programme. Adria brings the partner perspective to the foundation, as she facilitated the codesign of FIX Cluj, and spearheaded the EduMapping, both Fondation Botnar-supported projects. She previously worked in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, to set up and operationalise the first Education Cluster in the country. The Cluster brings together actors from the formal education system, local governance, as well as private stakeholders to tackle learning challenges in a coordinated manner. Adria holds a Bachelor’s in Modern History and International Relations from the University of Essex and a Master’s in Diplomacy and Foreign Policy from City, University of London.

  
  

Hosted at the Obstacle Course

You've browsed the workshops zone, attended the wellbeing lounge, mingled in the pitch tent – and as you're about to depart the festival grounds, the corner of your eye happens to catch a colorful obstacle course to you right. It looks challenging, enticing. There are prizes just for trying. You read the rules: for groups only. But you came to the festival alone. You look around – are there others you can ask to join the obstacle course with you? 

At the Networks Festival, our obstacle courses bring together movements, networks, and funders who don't know each other for:

• Rapid storytelling sharing significant changes we have witnessed in our work related to climate justice and ecological regeneration
• Collective vision sensing exploring shared – and differing – visions as our driving forces for systemic change
• Mapping key areas of work identifying opportunities, needs, gaps, and challenges within the broader system
• Networking and support deepening connections, building new relationships, and identifying opportunities for learning and peer support
• Focused discussions on common themes, allowing us to delve deeper into specific, common areas of interest
• Statements of collective action around immediate things we can undertake, and long-term visions we can begin to work towards

What is the Networks Festival?

Embark on a month-long journey filled with connection, curiosity, and play bringing together thousands of changemakers, funders, conveners, companies, and governments to explore the power of networks to transform our world.

As you step into the festival grounds, you'll be greeted by a buzzing atmosphere of excitement and innovation. Everywhere you look, there are people eagerly discussing the latest breakthroughs in network theory, sharing stories of how networks have changed their lives and communities, and dreaming up new ways to harness the power of connections.

Leveraging the power of lived experience, we will strengthen our collective practice, directly increase funding opportunities for networks, and foster new collaborations to scale innovations and amplify transformational impact on the lives of billions around the world.

Whether you're a seasoned networker, curious changemaker, or philanthropist interest in "doing things differently" – there's something for everyone at the Networks Festival. Join us!