"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
For our 10th anniversary we convened a group of partners to celebrate the past and plan for the future. Our ‘10 Years of Learning’ Partners Summit was held over three days in Maun Botswana – a region where we operate at 100% scale – and where we saw the magic in action, including school visits, in addition to panel discussions and breakout discussions.
A group of 65 guests joined us from 10+ countries. We had representation from Governments of four countries (those where Youth Impact has MoUs with Ministries of Education: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and The Philippines). Some partners have been with us from the early days, like our initial mentors from the Government and University of Botswana, and seed funders D-Prize and the US Embassy. Others helped shape our programs and direction, such as Pratham, the originators of Teaching at the Right Level. Guests were changemakers from all walks of life, from donors to doers, from education to health, and from government leaders to data aficionados.
We are beaming with pride reflecting on the last decade and filled with energy and insight preparing for the next decade ahead. Thank you to all our guests for making the summit such a success. We are proud to have come so far, together.
In this blog post, we reflect on three main takeaways from the Summit.
Different Perspectives = Productive Discussions
Some of the most compelling insights came from the unique blending of academics, donors, government, civil society and our board and team. For example, one panel discussion featured Ben Piper, Director of Global Education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Stephen Taylor, Director of Basic Education at South Africa’s Ministry of Education; Grace Muzila, Former Permanent Secretary of four Ministries in Botswana and Youth Impact Advisory Forum Chair; and Bapoga Reetsang, Principal Education Officer, North East Region, Botswana. The panelists, each expert at working with scaling in different ways, were able to share unique perspectives on what works. The panel drew out insights on designing for scale, especially ideas around models needing to be simple, lean and aligned to existing government structures. In the words of our co-founder Noam Angrist “That was one of the best panels I have ever seen, on any topic, anywhere, ever.” High praise indeed!
Panel on Sustainability & Growth - Ensuring Initiatives Last. (L-R) Chair: Moitshepi Matsheng, Co-founder, Youth Impact; Stephen Taylor - Director: Research, Monitoring and Evaluation, Department of Basic Education, South Africa; Benjamin Piper - Director (Global Education), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Grace Muzila - Former Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Environment, Government of Botswana; Bapoga Reetsang - Principal Education Officer, North East, Ministry of Education and Skills Development, Botswana
2. Learning Doesn’t Stop
All our guests were united around wanting to create positive impact for young people using evidence-based practice. This singular vision meant that conversations were always productive, passionate and truth-seeking – we didn’t shy away from discussing thorny issues. Guests and Youth Impact team members stayed at Maun Lodge where the summit was held, which enabled discussions over breakfast, coffee, dinner, you name it. As one guest, Karthik Menon from Pratham, noted: “We even had semi-structured reflection over lunch and on the ride back from school in the van. At the end of the summit, many of us were flying out of Botswana together and even contemplated having a ‘semi-structured’ reflection session on the plane!” This resonates with our belief that learning doesn’t stop; to achieve quality at scale, every opportunity to learn should be seized. Just as we integrate ongoing research into our program delivery, our team saw the Summit as an opportunity to learn from our guests rather than just celebrate our successes.
Karthik Menon, Lead Operations & Government Partnerships, Pratham Education Foundation; Marcia Davidson, Senior Education Advisor, USAID; Jenny Perlman, Senior Lead, Innovation & Growth, Youth Impact
3. Government Ownership of Programs is Crucial
We wanted to host the summit outside of Gaborone, Botswana’s capital, to be as close to the action as possible. The North West region of Botswana, home to all three programs in our portfolio, warmly opened her doors to us. The Regional Director at the Ministry of Education and Skills Development Veronica Mochotlhi hosted our guests, welcoming everyone with open arms and with insight into the reality of the education system in her region. She and her team showcased government ownership as they continue to scale through the region. In total, six government directors from four countries took part in panel discussions and we were thrilled to see them sharing notes during breaks and building relationships to share learnings across contexts even beyond the summit. Several guests also mentioned that it was hard to tell who was a Youth Impact regional officer and who worked for the Government. That is exactly what we love to hear, and is a testament to the success of our integrated approach. Scale happens through the government and if we want to achieve quality delivery at scale, we need to work hand in hand.
Teaching at the Right Level school visit
Thank you to all our guests for joining us and making the event memorable and productive. We look forward to the next 10 years of learning with our partners.
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