laureate global impact report | 2016

Transcription

LAUREATE GLOBAL IMPACT REPORT | 2016
“Doing what I do best
would be good, but giving
back to society will make
a change in the lives
around me. Even if it is
one person at a time, I
know that this has to be
the way.”
-Ganesh Muren,
2016 Here for Good Awards Winner
INTI International University & Colleges Malaysia
1
2016 LAUREATE GLOBAL IMPACT REPORT
HERE FOR GOOD
For networks like ours, there are many ways
to measure impact. These include traditional
quantitative measures, but sometimes the best
measure can be a simple story of how a student
is using what he or she has learned at one of our
institutions to create significant and enduring
change in the world.
“The spirit of being Here
for Good is not new for
us, and we continue
to look for meaningful
and effective ways
to integrate it into all
aspects of our company
and network more
broadly.”
This year, we honor 10 members of the Laureate
network who are doing just that.
Our Here for Good Awards recognize
achievement and impact. We are delighted to
share the stories of our nine honorees, along with
the story of our award winner, Ganesh Muren
from INTI International University & Colleges in
Malaysia.
Ganesh is one of over one million Laureate
students, and is a shining example of what
is possible when access to education is
combined with a personal sense of purpose.
This remarkable student has taken innovation in
engineering and design into villages across rural
Malaysia and is saving thousands of lives through
his solar-powered water purification system.
In 2016, we celebrate our seventeenth year since
the founding of Laureate. We started in 1999 with
the fundamental belief that “when our students
succeed, countries prosper and societies benefit.”
This principle drove us then and continues to be a
powerful articulation of our philosophy today.
While the spirit of being Here for Good is
certainly not new for us, we continue to look for
effective ways to integrate it into our company
and network more broadly.
This effort includes designing curricula that
integrate learning and service, as is done so
well at institutions like Monash South Africa
and Universidad del Valle de México. In 2016,
we expect to provide more than $700,000,000
in scholarships and discounts, while using our
financial, physical and human resources to make
a contribution to the communities we serve.
In order to to embed this practice across all
dimensions of our network, we became both
a Certified B Corporation (B Corp) and redomiciled as a Public Benefit Corporation in 2015.
This allows us not only to benchmark our impact
and identify areas of improvement, but also to
integrate our Here for Good spirit into the legal
structure of Laureate. With these milestones,
we became the world’s largest Public Benefit
Corporation and B Corp.
Looking ahead, we will continue to be a leader
in the B Corp community, believing and
demonstrating that business can, and must,
be a force for good in the world. For the higher
education sector especially, this belief must
remain at the front of our minds.
I am confident our students will go into the
world prepared not only to find jobs, but also to
create jobs, and most importantly, to continue to
create change. This is made possible through the
dedication and leadership of tens of thousands of
faculty and staff members, who also deserve the
highest praise.
Together, may we remain Here for Good.
Douglas Becker,
Laureate Founder, Chairman and CEO
2
5
7
9
11
13
21
23
27
28
61
TABLE OF
What Does Here for Good Mean to You?
A Network that is Here For Good
The Elements of a Network that is Here For Good
2015: A Year of Milestones
Here For Good in Focus
Global Days of Service 2015
Partnership with the International Youth Foundation
Broadcasts and Special Events
Thought Leadership
Here For Good Featured Artist
CONTENTS
29
HERE FOR
GOOD
AWARDS
31
GANESH MUREN
MARIAN
47 DIANA
SHAW
BENAVIDES
39 EUNICE
SOTO
ABRANTES DO
49 CÁSSIA
AMARAL
41
51
MERCY
NYIRONGO
CLAUDIO YAURI
43 SAHL-AHMED
KARIM
53
UGOCHI
OHAJURUKA
45 PRAGYA
PRASUN
57
NUR AL-ALI
5
WHAT DOES HERE FOR GOOD
MEAN TO YOU?
Laureate’s commitment to creating lasting change in the communities we serve is twofold:
first, we are providing high-quality higher education opportunities that are transformative
to many of our students, and second, we are using our collective resources as educators,
learners, businesspeople, and community members to create positive social impact through
our network. We refer to this commitment as being “Here for Good,” and it is represented in
diverse and unique ways all across our network.
Being Here for Good means carrying a lamp of hope and having a presence
that influences others positively.
Nelson David Bassey
Student, INTI International University & Colleges Malaysia
2015 Laureate Student Anchor, Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting
Here for Good has had such resonance in Africa and with our students and
staff at Monash South Africa. Here for Good is a way of being, and it is
our approach to education, work, service, and life. Guided by this mission,
we are inspired to improve lives and make lasting contributions to our
communities, countries and world
HERE FOR GOOD
Here for Good means that we provide educational opportunities that allow
individuals and communities to prosper. The Here for Good movement
brings diverse people together to do work that really makes a difference.
Rosa Moraes
PR and Communications Director, Laureate Brazil
To me, Here for Good means opportunity. It means connections,
experiences and collaboration that I wouldn’t have received if it weren’t for
the investment that was made in me and my work.
Salaheddine Moutacharif
Student, Université Internationale de Casabalanca
2015 Laureate Student Anchor, Clinton Global Initiative University
Here for Good means that together, Laureate and the International Youth
Foundation prepare young people for a lifetime of service. YouthActionNet
alumni are tomorrow’s leaders making change today.
Bill Reese
President and CEO,
International Youth Foundation
Esther Benjamin
CEO, Monash South Africa and Laureate Africa Operations
Here for Good is the social compass of our company. It’s a standard we
set for ourselves and measure ourselves against. It means that we take on
unique projects that will have long term effects.
Linda Brown
CEO, Laureate Australia
Here for Good means I am committed to empowering those around me
through education, just as I was given the opportunity to empower myself.
This means that those I have reached out to will continue doing good for
others, just as the ones who came before me did for me.
Lebo Sekhotla
Student, Monash South Africa
6
7
HERE FOR GOOD
A NETWORK THAT IS
HERE FOR GOOD
YEAR IN REVIEW
$700,000,000+
720,000+
GIVEN IN SCHOLARSHIPS AND
DISCOUNTS TO STUDENTS
NETWORK-WIDE
FREE AND LOW-COST
HEALTH SERVICES PROVIDED
TO 146,000+ PEOPLE
1 MILLION+
STUDENTS
25
COUNTRIES
70+
INSTITUTIONS
88%
124,000+
OF LAUREATE STUDENTS ARE
IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
HOURS VOLUNTEERED BY MORE THAN 20,000 LAUREATE
STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF DURING THE 2015 GLOBAL
DAYS OF SERVICE WEEK
8
9
HERE FOR GOOD
THE ELEMENTS OF A NETWORK THAT IS
HERE FOR GOOD
• Community Partnerships
• Global Days of Service Projects
A commitment to creating impact on the lives of our students and communities is a vital
piece of everything our organization does. The many elements that make this commitment
possible all work together to ensure that we will be Here for Good for many years to come.
• Research on Development and Community
Engagement Topics
• Integration of Community Service into Curriculum
Campus
Commitments to
Here for Good
Social Performance
Benchmarking
Public Benefit Corporation Status•
B Corp Certification •
• Here for Good Awards
Network Awards
and Scholarships
• McGuire Business Plan Competition
• Wilson Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
• Benson Scholarship in Business and Management
International and
Local Non-Profit Partnerships
International Youth Foundation •
Sylvan/Laureate Foundation •
Student Experiences
• World of Business Ideas (WOBI) and
Global Thought
Leadership
World Business Forum Events
• Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting
• Clinton Global Initiative University
• Thought Leadership Summits on
Laureate Campuses
• Participation in the B Corporation Community
• Research on the Future of Higher Education
• Laureate Award for Excellence in Robotics
10
11
HERE FOR GOOD
2015: A YEAR OF
MILESTONES
B Corp Certification Provides a Social Performance Benchmark
In late 2015, Laureate and its network institutions went through a rigorous assessment by B Lab®,
a non-profit organization that evaluates and certifies companies based on their overall social and
environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability. With our certification as a
B Corporation, Laureate joins the global movement of businesses that strive to be a force for good.
In 2015, Laureate took major steps to further express our commitment to integrating our social
impact mission into the legal structure of the company, while also finding sustainable and
transparent ways of measuring impact.
“B Lab promotes robust standards that can be used by policymakers, investors and the general
public to make more informed decisions about which for-profit higher education institutions
meet market demand while generating the greatest positive impact and best serving the
public interest. Laureate’s decision to seek independent certification raises the bar in
this industry, and they now become the first degree-granting institution and the largest
Certified B Corporation in the world.”
Bart Houlahan,
B Lab’s Co-Founder
Laureate Becomes World’s Largest Public Benefit Corporation
In October 2015, Laureate converted from a traditional corporation to a Public Benefit Corporation
(PBC), a new class of corporations that are required by law to create general public benefit through
a material, positive impact on society. Laureate joins over 2,800 other corporations nationwide
and is the largest one to convert to PBC status.
Laureate also was the first company
to complete B Lab’s Higher Education
Addendum during the B Impact
Assessment process, which provides a
more detailed and specific assessment for
our higher education institutions.
B | IMPACT REPORT
“From the inception of the company, our main purpose has been to prepare our students for
success in their careers and lives. We recognized the enormous importance that society places
on education as a public good. This inspired us to create a culture that combines the ‘head’ of
a business enterprise with the ‘heart’ of a non-profit organization. Our public benefit is firmly
rooted in our belief that when our students succeed, countries prosper and societies benefit.”
Ceritified since: December 2015
SUMMARY:
Environment
Company Score
Median Score*
8
7
26
18
ENVIRONMENT
Douglas Becker,
Workers
Laureate Founder, Chairman and CEO
90%
LAUREATE IS THE LARGEST CERTIFIED B
CORPORATION IN THE WORLD
Customers
19
N/A
Community
23
17
Governance
20
6
of institutions have
adopted energy efficiency
measures at a majority of
their facilities
WORKERS
67%
1700+
50
130
CERTIFIED B
COUNTRIES
INDUSTRIES
CORPORATIONS
OVERALL B SCORE
96
80 out of 200 is eligible for certification
*Of all businesses that have completed the B Impact Assessment
*Median socres will not add up to overall
55
of institutions provide
private health insurance
beyond government plans
CUSTOMERS
34%
of students are from
traditionally underserved
populations*
*At institutions that track this
statistic.
12
13
HERE FOR GOOD
HERE FOR
GOOD
IN FOCUS
The commitment to being Here for Good in the lives of our students
and communities is unique to each campus or online institution, as
needs and contexts vary across the network. Each institution or group
determines the best way to represent the Here for Good spirit in its
setting, and while many initiatives share similar core values and goals,
their diverse forms are what make the Laureate network a truly unique
representation of a commitment to creating global change.
In the following pages, you will read about unique ways
that Here for Good is demonstrated on campuses and in
countries around the world.
14
15
HERE FOR GOOD
IN FOCUS
16
CASE STUDY
ENTERPRISE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE IN
MEXICAN COMMUNITIES
Students
are proving that
social change and
successful small
enterprise can go
hand-in-hand
Universidad del Valle de México, Campus Lomas Verdes
Enactus Lomas Verdes
A small group of students on one of the
Universidad del Valle de México’s (UVM) many
campuses around the country is rethinking how
social change is created for underserved parts
of the population and is creating some beautiful
products in the process.
Angelica Cifuentes, Regional Social Responsibility
Director for UVM, is the advisor for a group of
students who participate in a chapter of Enactus
on the Lomas Verdes campus. Enactus is a global
organization that supports young people who
want to learn about entrepreneurship, teaching
them how to put ideas into action in order to
better their communities. The Enactus chapter at
Lomas Verdes was started in 2011 with the vision
of involving students interested in business as well
as social change. Now, the group includes students
from all parts of the campus and involves other
UVM campuses in the area.
Soon after the group was started, it undertook its
first project, one involving a community in the state
of Veracruz, where the primary work is agriculture.
Most families depend on the income earned by
the men in their families who work as migrant
laborers, often traveling during the week to find
jobs and returning home on weekends. This leaves
women isolated and with few opportunities to
earn income for their households. The region has a
wealth of natural resources, including a rare pepper
called chiltepin, which can be used in salsas and
seasonings. The team from Lomas Verdes, made
up of students and advisors, started to work with
women in the community to create a seasoning
with this pepper, eventually creating a product that
garnered interest from stores across the country.
While the goal of the project was always to create
a high-quality product, the Lomas Verdes team
says their ultimate desire was “to empower the
women in the community.”
people to market and distribute what are now trendy
products in the country. And in a community with a
large trash landfill, the group has helped residents create
beautiful recycled goods, like furniture and terrariums, now
being sold in retail stores.
CHILTEPETL - The group’s first product now is sold
countrywide and has empowered and impacted numerous
families through its production.
Students are proving that working alongside people
affected by complicated social ills is the only way to truly
serve them and that social change and successful small
enterprise can go hand-in-hand.
The seasoning has been authorized to bear the
“Hecho en México” (Made in Mexico) logo. The
enterprise also has helped many of the women
transform their families, providing funds for them
to send their children on to higher education and
allowing them to learn important business and
management skills.
DE CIERTO VERDE - In a rural region of the country,
a group of students worked with community members
to grow cacti and succulents, helping them to develop
strategies for distribution and sale.
The group, now composed of over 200 students,
also has started projects in other regions of the
country, providing solutions to complicated
social problems through creative enterprise. In
an area where a government program had built
greenhouses to grow cacti and succulents but
provided no infrastructure or instruction on their
maintenance and sale, the group is helping local
Members of the Enactus Lomas Verdes team with women who work on
the Chiltepetl enterprise.
ECOGOODS - Working with a community home to a large
landfill, the group helped them to design and produce
beautiful products from recycled goods.
17
HERE FOR GOOD
IN FOCUS
18
CASE STUDY
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WITH
STUDENTS AT THE CENTER
Monash South Africa
Community Engagement Department
75+
active
community
partnerships
When Monash South Africa
(MSA) was established in
2001 as a campus of Monash
University in Australia, Craig
Rowe, now the Director of
Student Affairs at MSA, was
working as a community
organizer in the surrounding
areas. He offered to take
the new chancellor on a tour
of the communities around
the campus, stressing how
important it would be for this
new higher education institution
to be fully integrated into the
area. Rowe never would have
guessed that his initial efforts
would lead to a position on
the institution’s staff, let alone
that MSA would develop one of
the most active and effective
community engagement
programs in all of South Africa.
“The goal I set then was for MSA
to play a significant role in the
transformation agenda in South
Africa,” Rowe said.
Fifteen years later, the
MSA campus is a hub of
internationality and service to
its community, with more than a
third of the student body engaged
in some sort of community work.
One of the first community
engagement initiatives was called
“Saturday School,” which began
as an informal arrangement in
which local students could come
on Saturdays to the MSA campus
to hang out with the institution’s
students and receive help with
their studies. Now, this kind of
engagement is a cornerstone of
campus life at MSA.
“We often have students tell us
that they chose MSA because
they hear about our community
engagement work,” said Bronwyn
Dugtig, Head of Community
Engagement. MSA students come
from over 60 countries, and their
involvement in their community
is leading the way in South
Africa. Dugtig would know; she
is a member of the board of the
South African Higher Education
Community Engagement Forum,
an organization of 24 universities
in the country.
“For our campus, service learning
is not just volunteering, but it is
an integral part of the academic
experience,” she said. At MSA,
students are given the chance
to launch and lead community
engagement initiatives, not just
participate in them.
“In this way, they learn to
become leaders,” she said.
MSA’s community engagement
programming now goes well
beyond the Saturday School
initiative, although that initial
program has remained part of the
strategy. MSA now works with
local students, whom they call
“learners,” on every level. MSA
provides tutoring and mentorship
through Saturday School to
fourth, fifth and sixth-graders.
The university serves high schoolaged students — over 600 of
them in 2016 — through ulWazi,
1/3
11,000+
of the MSA student
body serves the
community
hours volunteered
by MSA students
in 2015
a tutoring program through which
MSA students offer their skills in
many areas to students at two
local high schools.
fellows in late 2016, in hopes of
supporting young change-makers
around the country, just as it is
already doing on its campus.
Because of the institution’s
leadership in its community,
it is naturally fostering social
entrepreneurship; that is,
innovative ways of solving social
problems. For that reason, MSA
was a natural candidate to start a
YouthActionNet institute, joining
14 other Laureate campuses
that host these centers for youth
social entrepreneurship. MSA
LEAD (Leading Entrepreneurship
for African Development)
will select its first class of 10
MSA’s community engagement
programs are completely studentled, with Dugtig and her staff
providing support and resources
when needed. MSA’s connections
in the country and all of southern
Africa are vast, with students
taking on internships and service
placements at organizations like
Oxfam, Save the Children, World
Vision and many more. MSA is
equipping its students to be more
than just successful professionals;
its students are going on to
change their communities.
19
HERE FOR GOOD
IN FOCUS
CASE STUDY
“These workshops are for people who might have an
idea or have identified an issue they want to address,
but they have not figured out how to start something,”
Correa said. For 2016, the program already has selected
10 former fellows who will serve as facilitators for the
workshops, which will take place all over the country
and be hosted on AIEP campuses.
JOINING FORCES TO SPREAD
THE MESSAGE OF SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN CHILE
“We hope that 20 to 30 percent of the participants
will be students from AIEP and UNAB,” Rivas Titus
said. She added that this program, as the name change
indicates, is “not only local, but global,” as being part of
YouthActionNet gives the program the ability to draw on
a wealth of experience and knowledge from around the
world.
Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB) and Instituto Profesional AIEP
YouthActionNet Chile
The ACCIONJOVEN
YouthActionNet (YAN) institute
housed on Universidad Andrés
Bello’s (UNAB) campus has
long served as a model for the
organization’s local programs.
It has been selecting fellows for
five years, each year presenting
a class of 10 young social
entrepreneurs from diverse
parts of the country who work in
many fields. YAN, an initiative
of the International Youth
Foundation, Laureate’s largest
nonprofit partner, promotes
youth social entrepreneurship
worldwide, and much of that
work happens on the country
level through institutes housed
on Laureate campuses.
ACCIONJOVEN (Spanish for
youth action) has a strong history
in Chile, counting many major
foundations and corporations
among its partners. Nevertheless,
Ana María Correa, who serves
as the institute’s director while
also handling all of UNAB’s social
responsibility programs, saw
an opportunity to expand the
program’s impact as it entered its
sixth year.
She reached out to her colleague
Maria Olivia Rivas Titus, Director
of Community Engagement at
Instituto Profesional AIEP, to
discuss how the two institutions
could partner to expand the
program’s impact. AIEP is the
largest technical and vocational
institution in the country, with
nearly 100,000 students on 20
campuses in every region of the
country. UNAB has over 45,000
students and is the largest private
university in the country.
20
“This is a great experience for our fellows too, and
lets us to continue to work with them even after their
fellowship year,” Correa said. “They are recognized often
by different prizes and awards, but very rarely are they
trained in a new skill that gives them another way to
change their community.”
The two institutions decided that
they would leverage the regional
presence of AIEP and the strong
reputation of ACCIONJOVEN
in order to expand the program,
calling it YouthActionNet Chile.
They still will select 10 fellows
annually who are working for
change in their communities in
innovative ways, but also will
conduct workshops on social
entrepreneurship countrywide,
training former and current
fellows to deliver the content and
empower their peers in a new
way.
UNAB also supports students pursuing social and
environmental ventures through an internal fund that in
2015 invested $8,000 in student projects pitched during
an annual competition. The amount in the fund will rise
to $15,000 in 2016. Last year, there were more than 30
pitches by student teams, and the nine groups selected
are now carrying out their projects with the guidance
of the university. They are receiving training in social
entrepreneurship similar to what YAN Chile will carry
out with students and community members starting in
2016.
The new partnership between UNAB and AIEP provides
a prime example of the power of the Laureate network
and represents new hope for young social entrepreneurs
in Chile and beyond.
145,000+
Students at UNAB
and AIEP campuses
in Chile
50
Fellows selected in the
past five years by
YouthActionNet
Chile
$8,000
Invested by UNAB in
social and environmental
ventures run by
students in 2015
8+
Workshops on social
entrepreneurship to be
conducted countrywide
in 2016 by former
fellows
21
HERE FOR GOOD
IN FOCUS
LAUREATE NETWORK COMES
TOGETHER FOR THEIR COMMUNITIES
2015 Global Days of Service
Every year, students, faculty and
staff from campuses and offices
all over the world come together
during Laureate’s Global Days of
Service (GDS) to celebrate and serve
their communities in innovative
ways. During one week in October
2015, over 20,000 members of the
Laureate network participated in
various initiatives, demonstrating our
organization’s commitment to being
engaged actors in our communities.
20,000+
students, faculty
and staff
participated in
GDS projects
124,000+
hours served
during the
GDS week
(Left)
Nuova
Accademia
di Belle Arti
(NABA)
(Right)
Instituto
Profesional
AIEP
33
network
institutions
participated in
GDS
INTI University and Colleges
Malaysia
(Left)
Istanbul
Bilgi
(Right)
Instituto
Profesional
AIEP
While the Global Days of Service week provides an opportunity for everyone in the
Laureate network to demonstrate a commitment to service, these activities are not
one-time events or isolated projects. Our campuses and employees are integral
members of their communities, active throughout the year, all working together to
put our Here for Good mission into action every day in the work they do.
Istanbul
Bilgi
Pearl Academy
Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti (NABA)
Laureate Germany
22
23
HERE FOR GOOD
IN FOCUS
24
LAUREATE AND THE INTERNATIONAL YOUTH
FOUNDATION PARTNER TO SUPPORT YOUNG
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS WORLDWIDE
YouthActionNet and the Laureate
Global Fellowship
The decade-long partnership between Laureate and the International Youth Foundation (IYF) was
born of a desire to build a network of support for young people carrying out social entrepreneurship
ventures, both on and off Laureate campuses. Laureate and IYF share key values — innovation, belief
in youth-centered work, and a focus on meaningful outcomes — that make partnership natural, and
collective impact guaranteed.
15
Laureate
campuses with
YAN institutes
92
local fellows selected
by Laureate
YAN institutes
in 2016
The 2015 Laureate Global Fellows with IYF President and CEO, Bill Reese and
Laureate Founder, Chairman and CEO, Douglas Becker.
Through the Laureate Global Fellowship (LGF), we are annually selecting 20 exceptional young social
entrepreneurs who are carrying out high-impact ventures, and providing them with mentorship and
community that will allow them to have an even larger impact. Laureate Global Fellows hail from across
the world and provide an interesting picture of the state of social entrepreneurship in many countries
and issue areas.
Data collected by the application processes of both the LGF and local YouthActionNet institutes is
providing insight into how young people are approaching creating change in their communities. This
data also gives valuable markers about trends and issues that are affecting diverse groups worldwide
and how those working to tackle those problems can be best supported.
KEY DATA FROM 2016 LGF APPLICATIONS ABOUT YOUTH SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEURSHIP WORLDWIDE
1,500+
hours of training,
mentoring and
coaching delivered
in 2015
Through YouthActionNet institutes on 15 Laureate campuses worldwide, we are supporting and
empowering young change-makers who are working on important social issues through countryspecific materials and programming. Local fellows receive training and support that allow them to
grow and sustain their ventures in their country’s context, while connecting them to a global network
of other young people who are doing transformative work in their communities.
40%
of Laureate Global
Fellowship applications
came from
Sub-Saharan Africa
25%
of projects submitted count
education as their primary
theme
VENTURE TYPE OF 2016 LGF APPLICANTS
51%
non-profit with
social mission
19%
for-profit with
social mission
30%
combine elements
of both
25
HERE FOR GOOD
IN FOCUS
MOBILE MEDICAL CARE REACHES THOSE
WHO NEED IT MOST IN MEXICO
SPEAKING UP FOR VULNERABLE
WOMEN IN IRAQ
Carolina Zuheill Candelario Rosales
Ayaz Shalal Hassan
2015 Laureate Global Fellow
2015 Laureate Global Fellow
26
Graduate of the Universidad del Valle de México (UVM)
Carolina Zuheill Candelario Rosales,
who started studying medicine in
Mexico seven years ago, is reaching
those traditionally unable to access
medical care in her country, all
through an innovative model. It was
after she finished her program at
Universidad del Valle de México
(UVM) that Rosales completed
a service project in a rural area,
realizing the tremendous need
there.
“I knew that people needed to have
clinics close to their homes and
in their communities – because I
see that as a human right,” said
Rosales. During her residency,
Rosales observed that most people
in rural Mexico do not have cars
and are more than a 15-hour walk
from clinics in the region. People
die because they don’t have money
– and they live in areas without
access to food, water, electricity or
adequate shelter. She knew that the
situation was far more serious than
government officials and statistics
had reported.
“In Mexico, we have 53 million
people who are living in poverty
– that’s 43 percent of the
population.” Her response was
to start GUIMEDIC, a system of
mobile clinics that provide medical
assistance and preventive education
to Mexico’s most isolated and
vulnerable communities. The group
also created an app with which
community members can report
symptoms and issues, allowing
Rosales’s team to identify the right
treatment. Rosales and her interns,
who are university students, are then
able to reach and correctly treat
those who need care most.
Starting her organization has come
with many challenges. When Rosales
began to create the app, language
was the biggest barrier for her and
her team. In Mexico, there are 53
indigenous communities, each with
its own language. She eventually
realized that pictures would be the
most efficient way for her clients to
identify their symptoms – they can
tell her how they feel through the
pictures that are available on the app.
And the numbers reflect her success.
“Since 2011, we helped thousands of
patients. It’s a lot of work, but I really
have patience to help others. We
can use this in Mexico but we can
also use this in other countries,” said
Rosales. At the beginning, Rosales
saw fragmented families, but now
she sees complete families in which
children are playing and smiling –
engaging in ways that they weren’t
before.
Carolina (right) with another 2016 Laureate
Global Fellow, Nafula Wafula.
“Most of all, it’s amazing to
feel their kindness because I
don’t receive money for the
things that I am doing, but I
can receive a hug and a big
smile, and for me, that is really
enough,” she said.
“I knew that people
needed to have
clinics close to their
homes and in their
communities –
because I see that
as a human right.”
For Ayaz Shalal Hassan, a
2015 Laureate Global Fellow,
standing up for women in
the war-torn region of Iraqi
Kurdistan is not just the brave
thing to do, but also is the
natural course of action. From
the time he was a boy, Ayaz
had heard his older sister voice
discontent with oppression
based on gender. At the same
time, he consumed texts that
speak of the equality of all
peoples, and he internalized
what he immediately felt were
undeniable truths. The fact
that he lives in a region where
women and girls are routinely
threatened and oppressed has
never deterred him.
Ayaz founded the GenderBased Violence Prevention and
Women’s Protection Project for
Asuda, an Iraq-based nonprofit.
The initiative helps women in
Iraq’s Kurd and Syrian refugee
communities understand and
act on their personal rights. Ayaz
and his team go door-to-door
to speak with women, gain their
trust and invite them to the
organization’s women’s centers —
safe spaces where they can learn
about their legal rights, receive
social and psychological support
and obtain supplies to keep their
families healthy. Ayaz has reached
more than 1,000 women through
his initiative and has brought a
diverse group of stakeholders
together to prevent genderbased violence and formulate
response strategies in the refugee
community.
With his selection as a Laureate
Global Fellow in 2015, he joined
a community of his peers who
are creating change worldwide.
The work that Ayaz does can be
isolating, he said, as his opinions
are sometimes viewed as
dangerous in a part of the world
where extremism so often is the
loudest voice. Being with other
young people for the fellowship’s
retreat in Washington, D.C., was
eye-opening for him.
“Now, I don’t feel alone,” Ayaz
said. “Being with 19 young people
who also believe they can change
the world gives me a sense of
support and a push to continue.”
He also was able to speak to
Laureate staff in the Baltimore
office in March 2016. On the same
trip, he was a guest on a SiriusXM
radio show in Washington, D.C.,
and expressed his gratitude
for Laureate’s support. Ayaz’s
experience is a lesson in what is
possible when young people have
access to resources to create
change in their communities.
27
BROADCASTS AND SPECIAL EVENTS
Laureate students are afforded many international
opportunities both on their campuses, through curricula
and information sharing with other institutions, and also
through broadcasts and special events conducted during
the year. In 2015 alone, 13 events, including the World
Business Forum and the Clinton Global Initiative Annual
Meeting, were broadcast to Laureate campuses, giving
our students unparalleled access to global leaders and
innovative thinking. In addition, over 140 students from
more than 33 network institutions attended these events.
These students were able to interact with, and in many
cases, interview speakers, providing an important student
perspective at these significant international events.
Laureate students at the World Business Forum with Adam Grant.
HERE FOR GOOD
IN FOCUS
13
events
broadcast
in 2015
140+
students from 33
network institutions
who attended
special events
in 2015
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Laureate remains committed to helping shape the higher education and
employment landscape around the world by being a global force in research
and thought leadership.
In 2015, Laureate and its network institutions partnered
with various global organizations to host events on topics
like higher education, globalization, entrepreneurship, and
youth employment and productivity. Events over the past
year included speakers like former U.S. President Bill Clinton,
former president of Mexico and Laureate Presidential
Counselor Ernesto Zedillo, former Prime Minister of the
United Kingdom Tony Blair and former U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice. These events provide opportunities
for students, faculty and staff to engage with distinguished
leaders on issues that directly affect them and the future of
their communities.
Students interview Jesse Jackson at the Clinton
Global Initiative Annual Meeting.
Condoleezza Rice at HIEU in China.
With former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at the
Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting.
Tony Blair at FMU Education Group in Brazil.
Laureate Student Anchors from four network institutions at the
World Business Forum.
Equally important, Laureate continues to lead research and
studies that are helping shape the higher education and
employment landscape around the world. In 2015, Laureate
continued its partnership with Zogby Analytics to produce
the Laureate/Zogby Student Survey and the first-of-itskind Student Confidence Index. The survey, which included
responses from 27,000 Laureate and non-Laureate students
from 22 countries, provides the most comprehensive study of
student perspectives on international higher education that
has ever been conducted.
Steve Wozniak at UEM.
The two-part index tracks student
attitudes on the current state of higher
education and its future. These surveys
demonstrate Laureate’s commitment
to understanding the needs of its
students in order to be innovative in its
educational offerings and, ultimately,
improve the state of higher education
around the world.
28
29
HERE
FOR
GOOD
AWARDS
Meet our 2016 Here for Good
Award Winner and Honorees.
Ten exceptional students who represent
the true spirit of being Here for Good
in their communities.
31
AWARDS
SAFE DRINKING
WATER:
IT’S A BASIC RIGHT
By Christy Macy
GANESH MUREN
Saora Industries
Halfway up the hill, surrounded by a few thatched huts and a group
of excited children, a dozen men from the village are pounding two
large wooden stakes into the ground and securing a solar panel
on top. Large, blue water containers and a pile of tools, hoses and
filters lie scattered around the worksite. At the center, directing the
activities, is 25-year-old Ganesh Muren, an engineering student
from INTI International University & Colleges in Malaysia’s capital
of Kuala Lumpur (KL). His mud-caked pickup truck, used to deliver
the project materials, is the first vehicle in five years to navigate the
deeply rutted dirt road through the jungle to this village of Kampung
Semol. A two-hour drive from the gleaming skyscrapers and bright
lights of KL, this isolated community of 25 indigenous families has
no electricity or running water. There is no school.
HERE FOR GOOD
“Everyone, not
just the rich,
deserves clean,
safe drinking
water. It’s a
basic right.”
32
33
It took four hours working under
the merciless sun for the villagers
and Ganesh to build the new
water purification system, which
is powered by a solar panel
elevated high above the metal
sink. When clean water pours out
of the faucet for the first time to
a burst of applause, the children
are the first ones invited to take
a drink. Previously, the village
women would have to climb
up a steep hill with buckets to
obtain their daily supply of water
— which is delivered through
a hose from its source in the
nearby mountains. To make the
bacteria-infested water safe to
drink, villagers must gather sticks,
build a fire, and boil it. Sometimes
there is not enough time — or
it’s simply too much effort — to
do so. As a result, the villagers,
especially the children, often get
sick. “People think if the water
is clear it’s OK to drink,” Ganesh
explains. “They don’t realize it can
be deadly.”
The daily struggles of these
villagers reflect a global crisis
in which nearly a billion people
lack access to clean, affordable
water. Every 20 seconds, a child
dies from the contaminated
water he or she is drinking. In
“Ganesh is a great example of a
student who develops practical
solutions to serious problems
while generating jobs and
benefiting the community.”
Rohit Sharma, CEO,
HERE FOR GOOD
AWARDS
Malaysia, the inequities are
stark. Reportedly 95 percent
of the population, primarily in
urban areas, has access to clean,
treated water. Yet from 24 to 36
percent of the population in some
rural communities, especially
the villages of the Orang Asli,
Malaysia’s indigenous minority,
have no such luxury. Drinking
untreated water can result in high
levels of water-borne diseases
such as cholera, typhoid and
diarrhea. Eye infections and
intestinal worms cause further
suffering.
Figuring out how to improve
the health conditions of poor,
underserved families would
become a personal crusade for
Ganesh. He was first alerted
to the crisis when backpacking
in India, where he noticed how
many rural communities were
suffering from inadequate
supplies of clean water. When he
returned to his studies in Kuala
Lumpur, Ganesh began visiting
villages outside the capital to
explore how he could use his
engineering background to find
a solution. In one village, he
met six-year-old Mira, a smart
and inquisitive girl who became
his friend. She ran to greet
Ganesh each time he visited the
village. One day, Mira’s mother
confided that her daughter had a
serious case of diarrhea. Mira’s
suffering inspired Ganesh to
spend even longer nights in the
engineering lab, as he worked
to develop a water purification
system that would be affordable,
environmentally sustainable and
easy to install.
When he completed his design
and the system had been tested
and certified, Ganesh raced to
Mira’s village to deliver the good
news. “I built this for her,” he
said. “She was my inspiration.”
But when he arrived, Mira’s
mother told him, in tears, that
her daughter had died the week
before. Ganesh felt his heart stop.
“I blamed myself,” he said. “I was
filled with doubt and a sense of
failure.” He threw his prototype
into the truck and drove home,
and did not work on the project
for months. Ganesh’s deep
commitment to help others like
Mira, however, eventually kindled
his desire to get back to work.
Ganesh developed his water
purification system as a student
at INTI International University
& Colleges, which is a member
of the Laureate International
Universities network. His
invention uses solar energy to
power the pump that accelerates
the output of water, which has
been purified by a series of filters.
A process that used to take hours
now takes only minutes, thus
encouraging its use. The extra
solar energy the system produces
is used to generate electricity for
the villagers’ homes and charge
mobile devices that connect them
to the outside world – eventually
opening up greater access to
education and health services,
among other benefits. Rural
households using the system
save up to 20 percent of their
income as they no longer need to
purchase kerosene or firewood.
Ganesh, named appropriately
after a popular Hindu deity
revered as “the remover of
obstacles,” credits his university
for supporting him during the
research and development of
his model. “My lecturers at INTI
have always been down to earth,
value-driven and practical when
34
sharing their knowledge,” he
says. “They made it easier for me
to translate what I had in mind
into a physical product.” Ganesh
benefitted from the advice and
encouragement of his mentors,
and took advantage of INTI’s
cross-departmental approach to
work with both the engineering
and design instructors.“ Ganesh
already had a burning desire to
be an entrepreneur who would
improve life for people living in
underserved communities,” says
Rohit Sharma, CEO of INTI. “We
helped provide him with some of
the resources he needed to realize
his vision, including a scholarship,
and offered him the platforms,
connections and coaching to
showcase his work and help take
it to the next level.”
Sharma says a key role for
the university is to encourage
students to have a social impact.
“Ganesh is a great example of a
student who develops practical
solutions to serious problems
while generating jobs and
benefitting the community.”
35
The son of hardworking Indian
immigrants, Ganesh grew up in
a poor neighborhood outside
of Kuala Lumpur. Neither of
his parents could afford to
go to college, but they both
placed enormous value on
their children’s education. “My
father, who struggled so hard to
support his family of six, believed
education was the only way
out of poverty,” says Ganesh.
His mother, who was similarly
committed to educating her
children, would take whatever
odd jobs she could find. When
Ganesh needed to enroll in extra
classes in secondary school,
she took a job cleaning toilets to
defray the cost. At age 11, Ganesh
began accompanying his father to
1/4
of the population
in rural Malaysia
lacks access to
safe water
HERE FOR GOOD
AWARDS
the repair shop where he worked.
“Something was always being
fixed or disassembled,” Ganesh
remembers with a grin. “It was
hot and cramped, but fascinating.”
That experience helped spark
Ganesh’s dream to become an
engineer. “Engineering gives you
the liberty to build something
from scratch that others can
benefit from,” he explains.
Even at an early age, Ganesh
was thinking up schemes to earn
extra money, demonstrating a
keen entrepreneurial mind. At
one point, he sold his friends
grasshoppers in glass jars as pets;
later on he cut down trees to sell
to his neighbors. “I always hated
following the rules,” he admits.
20%
savings for families
that use Saora’s water
purification
system
“When I was young, I wanted to
be a billionaire; I never wanted to
work for anyone else.”
Ganesh’s entrepreneurial flair,
coupled with a sharp intellect,
won him prestigious internships
and prizes. In 2013, he won INTI’s
“Most Innovative Engineering
Project” award. Yet through his
work in the villages, Ganesh’s
early ambitions to become a
wealthy businessman began to
evolve. “Doing what I do best
would be good, but giving back to
society would make a change in
the lives around me. Even if it is
one person at a time,” he says, “I
know that this has to be the way.”
10,000+
households Saora
hopes to impact
by 2018
Not surprisingly, Ganesh developed his
own innovative outreach strategy. Refusing
to simply “drop in” on villages and install
the water purification structure, he and his
small staff spend weeks getting to know
the villagers — talking with them about
his plans, sharing their traditional meal of
cooked tapioca root, and assessing their
water and other needs. “We work hard to
design each system so that it fits the unique
needs of that particular village,” he explains.
Ganesh enlists villagers to help build the
system so they gain a sense of ownership
and also know how it works, in case it needs
repairs. Regular follow-up visits track the
program’s impact and ensure everything is
working well. “For me,” says Ganesh, “it’s all
about building long-term relationships and
empowering local residents.”
36
37
AWARDS
HERE FOR GOOD
38
“For me, it’s all
about building
long term
relationships
and empowering
local residents.”
Seeking to expand his work,
Ganesh turned to INTI’s network of
entrepreneurs and business partners
in 2014 to help launch his own
organization, called Saora — taken
from the Sanskrit word for “sun.” In
addition to installing water systems,
Saora’s activities include a variety of
services, such as conducting needs
assessments and water tests, and
leading community engagement
training. While funding remains
a challenge, Saora is supported
through a combination of corporate
sponsors, NGO partners who pay for
its services, community volunteers
and individual donors. “Early on,
people like Brahmal Vasudevan,
who owns a private equity firm, took
a chance on investing in us,” says
Ganesh. “He pushes me forward
and has been an amazing mentor.”
Ganesh is currently developing a
microfinancing framework to help
sustain the organization’s expanding
programs.
Saora’s goal is ambitious: to benefit
10,000 households by the end of
2018 through the installation of a
wide range of water purification
systems and related environmental
projects. Next year, Ganesh plans
to expand his work to reach
underserved communities in
the Philippines and Cambodia.
“Everyone, not just the rich, deserves
clean, safe drinking water,” he says.
“It’s a basic right.”
grows louder, two young girls grab
Ganesh’s hands, delightedly pulling
him along. Even in the near-darkness,
people could see his signature
radiant smile. “I knew the odds
were stacked against Mira,” Ganesh
recalled later. “At that moment,
during the dance, I was thinking
perhaps these two girls will have a
better shot at living a full life.”
Ganesh with Rohit Sharma, CEO of INTI International University & Colleges Malaysia.
ABOUT
CHRISTY MACY
When the villagers at Kampung
Semol finish assembling their new
water system, they invite Ganesh
to join them for their traditional
Sewang dance at the community hall
down the hill. After the village elder
formally thanks his honored guests
for their gift of clean water, Ganesh
and his team put on headdresses
decorated with flowers and skirts
made of palm leaves woven by the
villagers. They then join the everexpanding circle of dancers. As the
rhythmic sound of drums and bare
feet pounding on the bamboo floor
All photographs by David Ong
Christy Macy is a freelance writer
and communications consultant.
From 2000-2015, she was the
Director of Publications at the
International Youth Foundation
(IYF), where she co-authored Our
Time is Now, a book profiling young
social entrepreneurs around the
world who are leading change in
their communities. Before joining
IYF, Macy served as a White House
speechwriter for First Lady Hillary
Clinton.
39
HERE FOR GOOD
AWARDS
40
SOCIAL WORK STUDENT EMPOWERS
WOMEN THROUGH BUSINESS
EUNICE SOTO BENAVIDES
Universidad Latina (ULatina)
2016 Here for Good Awards Honoree
Cooperativa de Mujeres
Rosa Anais Chan López, the director of the social
work department at Universidad Latina (ULatina)
in Costa Rica, had been hoping a student would
come along who shared her desire to break the
norms of how social work is traditionally done. She
got her wish, and more, in Eunice Soto Benavides,
a fourth-year social work student who started
at ULatina as a business administration major.
Benavides did her first social work practicum with
López as her advisor, and proved that she was
interested in approaching the difficult job of being
a social worker from a new perspective.
Benavides, 23, began her practicum by conducting
research on a group of women in an impoverished
area in San José, investigating their levels of
psychological stress, often manifested in depression
or anxiety. As part of her research, she looked at
the root causes of this stress and discovered that
in almost all cases, the key cause was financial
challenges. While many of them had familial and
societal issues, these were often deeply rooted in
their financial insecurity.
This realization spurred Eunice
to found the “Cooperativa de
Mujeres” (Women’s Cooperative)
to teach women living in dire
financial circumstances about
entrepreneurship and personal
finance. For her first workshop, in
the fall of 2015, she planned for
25 women to come; 45 showed
up. Now, over 130 women from
the community participate in the
program. Eunice has helped many
of them create business plans,
and even brought in experts from
one of the largest banks in the
country to talk about personal
finance and how to gain funding
for businesses.
“It is an agreement with these
women,” Eunice says, explaining
how the cooperative commits
to offering them the financial
knowledge and business skills
they lack, while calling on them to
lean on their new community and
financial acumen to improve their
situations.
So far, the approach is working
better than Eunice and her
professor, Rosa, could ever have
imagined. The group of women
is empowered and many have
viable business plans that show
promise of gaining investment
and funding. Many ULatina social
work students have started
working with the cooperative
as part of their practicums. For
Rosa, the initiative has given her a
model she can use as a reference
when explaining to her students
why it is useful to address the
causes of stress, not just the
psychological effects.
“Some of my students say,
‘But this is not social work,’”
Rosa says, describing students’
reactions when they hear
they will be running personal
finance or business workshops.
But as Eunice has found, the
nontraditional approach often
brings about the most holistic
solutions.
Over
130
women participating
in business and
finance workshops
41
INSPIRING OTHERS TO BE AGENTS
OF CHANGE
MERCY NYIRONGO
Walden University
Wandikweza
HERE FOR GOOD
AWARDS
Mercy Nyirongo is passionate about inspiring others to be
agents of change and empowering them to find solutions
to their most pressing health and development challenges.
To turn this passion into something tangible, Nyirongo
founded Wandikweza, a health program that trains
community health workers (CHWs) to engage and build
community-based approaches to addressing health issues,
particularly those impacting women and girls in the Dowa
district of Malawi. Its theory of change is simple: work with
community leaders to identify the most pressing health
needs in their communities and then support them through
trained CHWs, thus complementing the government’s
efforts to strengthen the country’s health system.
“I have seen local people in my
community making substantial
contributions to community
health even though they may not
be experienced in administrative
procedures,” Nyirongo said.
Wandikweza has 30 trained
CHWs — 13 women and 17 men
— who are each responsible for
serving 15 to 16 households.
In addition to Wandikweza’s
focus on community health
and development, it also has
programs to support girls
and women and reduce child
marriages in a place where it
is not uncommon for girls to
marry when they are 13 or 14.
Wandikweza works with around
45 women ranging from 23 to 63
years, identified by community
leaders as the most vulnerable
women in their communities. The
organization teaches the women
to care for their own needs
and instills in them a sense of
economic empowerment.
The oldest of five siblings and
a mother of three, Nyirongo
embodies the values and spirit
that Wandikweza represents.
After starting a career in the
computer industry and giving
birth to her third child, Nyirongo
decided to fulfill a childhood
dream of becoming a nurse by
going to Zimbabwe and earning
a bachelor’s degree in nursing
from Africa University. She then
returned to Malawi to work
as a health advisor, and while
working full-time and raising her
three children, began a master’s
degree in public health at Walden
University, which she completed
in 2014.
“I learned to be resilient and
accept diversity. It helped
me develop confidence and
leadership skills that I now use
to empower others,” she said of
her experience at Walden. Now,
in addition to her responsibilities
42
at Wandikweza, Nyirongo is the
Malawi Country Director of ZOE,
an organization that empowers
orphans and vulnerable children
around the world to overcome
extreme poverty and become
self-reliant.
Despite her busy schedule, she
does not plan to stop here. Her
vision for Wandikweza is to
expand to other districts and find
additional funding mechanisms to
make it more sustainable. On this
day, however, she takes a minute
to reflect on being a Laureate
Here for Good honoree. “I am
excited, but this isn’t just for me.”
she says. “This honor is for my
community and country. It is for
everyone. Without the hard work
of so many other people, this
would not be possible.”
475+
45+
households served
by Wandikweza’s
community
health workers
vulnerable
women supported
by Wandikweza
43
LITERACY THAT
LEADS TO GROWTH
FOR YOUNG
LEARNERS
SAHL-AHMED KARIM
“If you have an education, you can
do anything”, he said, proudly.
Karim developed a passion for
literacy as a young child when his
mother would take him to the local
library every Friday. Each week, he
would check out and read at least
two books. His mother was a great
inspiration, and through reading,
Karim developed a range of skills
that allowed him to create change
in his life and in the lives of those
around him.
From a young age, Karim observed
that other students often did not
have the same access to opportunity
that he had, starting with literacy.
Karim understood how a life
was changed when you could
read, write and effectively use
language, and he was determined
to bring this opportunity to other
children.
When Karim started at Monash
South Africa (MSA), he began
to appreciate the power of
volunteering. For the first time, he
was part of a community in which
volunteering was encouraged,
celebrated and well-managed.
In 2013, he joined a small
student-led organization called
This Is Me, which works to assist
in the development of creative
thinking and storytelling skills
for children, with a particular
The students served by the
program are typically in third
grade and aged 8 to 10, or in
sixth grade and aged 11 to 13.
They are from Zandspruit in
Ruimsig, an informal settlement
outside Johannesburg, and attend
either Masakane Primary or the
Zandspruit School. These are
children living in underprivileged
environments, without access to
the literacy support they need
and deserve.
“What inspires me the most is
that despite the environment
800+
Monash South Africa
This Is Me
Photographs by Karni Katunga
Sahl-Ahmed Karim, a student
at Monash South Africa (MSA),
believes education is the greatest
tool for empowerment.
HERE FOR GOOD
AWARDS
children who have
benefited from
This is Me
since 2013
these children come from, there
is never a day when you get the
slightest sense of any personal
problem,” Karim said. “All you
see is the smile on their faces,
and I feel so proud that in a small
way, I am a part of that.” Not only
are students excelling in literacy
skills, they are improving in areas
like critical thinking, which helps
their academic performance
across the board.
Karim will graduate with a degree
in Psychology and Business
Management and currently is
150+
volunteers
involved with
This is Me
44
working on a succession plan
for This Is Me. He hopes to
continue his studies in the area
of educational psychology. No
matter what path he pursues,
supporting educational
opportunities for children is
certain to remain an area of great
passion and dedication for Karim.
“What inspires me the
most is that despite the
environment these children
come from, there is never
a day when you get the
slightest sense of any
personal problem,” Karim
said. “All you see is the smile
on their faces, and I feel so
proud that in a small way, I
am a part of that.”
emphasis on promoting African
culture. Within months, Karim
had taken over leadership of the
program, and he plans to continue
in this role until he graduates.
“I am enormously proud of the
partnerships we have been
able to build, including with the
Ducere Foundation and across
different departments at Monash
South Africa,” Karim said. “I
am now approached regularly
by departments that want to
integrate our student volunteer
placements into their courses.”
Since 2013, over 800 children
have benefited from This is Me,
and the initiative has grown to
include more than 150 volunteers
and a five-person leadership
group.
Student Photographer
YAMIKANI ‘KARNI’
KATUNGA
Karni Katunga is a 24-year-old
recent graduate of the management
degree program at Monash South
Africa. The Zimbabwean student can
be found behind the lens at many
campus events, and also served as a
Laureate Student Anchor at the 2015
World Business Forum.
This is the second year that Karni
has provided images for our Global
Impact Report.
45
them through the physical
and emotional rehabilitation
process. The third component
of the foundation’s work is what
makes it stand out — they seek
to empower the women in any
way they can, from providing
workshops on skills training
to helping them network and
become reintegrated into their
communities.
PRAGYA PRASUN
Pearl Academy
Atijveen Foundation
Prasun spent more than four
months in a hospital recovering,
and was lucky to have a plastic
surgeon in her family who helped
with the necessary surgeries and
recuperation. It was not lost on
her that this was an especially
fortunate situation, and she
thought about what it might be
like for an attack victim who did
not have the same kind of access
to resources that she did. She saw
that Indian government hospitals
were unprepared to provide the
kind of physical care needed for
victims, let alone the emotional
support required to fully recover.
“There is a lack of awareness
about what is necessary for full
healing,” Prasun said. After a few
46
“I have always wanted
to be an example of
strength to all of the
patients I am working
with. I want to be an
ambassador of hope
for them.”
HOPE FOR
ACID ATTACK
SURVIVORS
IN INDIA
In mid-2006, Pragya Prasun had
just graduated from the apparel
management program at Pearl
Academy and was newly married.
She was traveling to New Delhi only
12 days after her wedding to attend
an event on Pearl’s campus. What
happened next was unimaginable.
Prasun was the victim of an acid
attack by a rejected suitor, a distant
relative she barely knew. Acid
attacks in India are all too common,
and are often carried out because
of a romantic or family dispute.
Over 80 percent of the victims are
women.
HERE FOR GOOD
AWARDS
years of working and recovering
herself, she decided to start
doing what she could to guide
and assist other survivors, mainly
women, through the healing
process. The problems with the
system are numerous, but mainly
amount to two issues: laws that
are not strong enough in their
restriction of acid sales, as well
as a lack of resources and proper
care for those who survive.
Prasun’s organization, the
Atijveen Foundation, was
started in 2013 and works with
women through the many
stages of recovering from an
attack, beginning with providing
opportunities for funding of
their surgeries, then guiding
“They [the survivors] need to
build up their confidence again, to
find the confidence to leave their
homes again,” Prasun said. “We
give them an extended family of
support.” The foundation now
has over 90 volunteers all over
India, and has helped more than
120 women through the healing
process.
90+
volunteers working
for the Atijveen
Foundation accross
India
The issue of acid attack is a
pertinent one in India, and the
foundation also advocates for
stricter enforcement of laws that
could prevent acid attacks, which
happen an estimated 400 times
a month in India. A new law
meant to curb the sales of acid
and prosecute perpetrators was
passed in 2013, but has yet to be
fully enforced. The foundation
also is working with the
government and other NGOs to
set up a system of skin banks that
would make performing surgeries
much easier, as there is currently
no formal network.
120+
400+
acid attacks survivors
helped by the
foundation
estimated number of
acid attacks that
occur monthly in
India
Prasun balks at being called a
victim, because she sees herself
as a survivor, as someone who
has rebuilt her life and is on a
mission to help others do the
same.
“I have always wanted to be an
example of strength to all of
the patients I am working with,”
Prasun said. “I want to be an
ambassador of hope for them.”
47
AN ADVOCATE
FOR THE
ABUSED AND
EXPLOITED IN
BELIZE
By 2013, CDF could no longer
keep pace with the demand for its
services, and Shaw determined
that she needed to get more
experience in public policy work
if she wanted to maximize CDF’s
impact. She enrolled in the
Master’s in Public Policy program
at Walden University because
it offered her the flexibility to
stay in Belize to work with her
organization, while also receiving
applicable instruction.
In 2015, Shaw completed her
master’s degree, and it has paid
huge dividends. Using resources,
knowledge and confidence gained
from her studies, Shaw was able
to secure funding from UNICEF to
expand an after-school program
in Southside Belize City, develop
other partnerships and research
opportunities with UNICEF and
the government of Belize, and
DIANA MARIAN SHAW
Walden University
Child Development Foundation
Diana Shaw, a lawyer originally from Jamaica,
began her journey to become a leader in the
fight against human trafficking and child
sexual abuse and exploitation by volunteering
to work at a church in Belize City in 1999. She
had moved to Belize to gain experience as a
litigator and soon noticed a troubling pattern:
many children had experienced child abuse or
domestic violence, and there was no policy or
strategy in place to help them. Furthermore,
many people denied that the problem even
existed — sentiments such as “This happens
only in foreign countries” were the norm.
HERE FOR GOOD
AWARDS
Nine years later, Shaw decided that a systematic and
structured approach was needed, so in 2008 she
founded the Child Development Foundation (CDF).
CDF provides counseling for women and children who
have experienced domestic violence, sexual abuse
or human trafficking. It also offers training, capacity
building and support groups for teachers and parents,
and provides support to victims as they navigate
the legal system. Additionally, Shaw has leveraged
her experience as a lawyer to advocate for stronger
policies and has even drafted national legislation. In
2013, Shaw helped pass legislation to prohibit child
sexual exploitation that is now used to successfully
prosecute human traffickers.
expand the services and reach of
CDF. Today, Shaw has reached
more than 5,000 children in
Belize, and over 500 parents and
600 teachers have been trained
on how to handle cases of abuse.
Although Shaw does not not
have any plans to leave Belize,
she dreams of someday returning
to Jamaica to bring CDF to her
native country. Until then, she
remains committed to her work
in Belize, and humble about the
success she has had.
“I do not think that what I am
doing is extraordinary. I feel that it
is a duty that everyone has. I only
hope that my story will influence
someone else. I want to give
others the courage to stand up
for what they believe in and work
hard to make a difference in the
world.”
“I want to give others the
courage to stand up for what
they believe in and work hard
to make a difference
in the world.”
5,000+
children
reached by CDF’s
programming
1,100+
parents and teachers
educated and trained
by CDF
48
49
HERE FOR GOOD
AWARDS
“Our students show
up promptly and
ready to serve no
matter what time it is.
We are truly teaching
them how to make a
difference.”
A CAMPUS, ITS STUDENTS AND A
COMMUNITY BONDED THROUGH
MEDICAL CARE
CASSIA ABRANTES DO AMARAL
Universidade Anhembi Morumbi (UAM)
Pediatric Care at Municipality Kindergartens
Universidade Anhembi Morumbi’s
(UAM) Mooca campus in São Paolo
has become an integral part of its
community, in large part because of the
work of one woman. Cássia Abrantes
do Amaral, a professor of pediatrics
at the medical school, has made it her
mission to ensure that the community’s
children are given excellent medical
care and that UAM students are the
ones giving it.
UAM’s medical school is only
seven years old, and Amaral has
been with the program since its
inception. But it was only about
a year ago that she visited two
municipality kindergartens in
the surrounding community and
realized how underserved the
residents were, particularly the
children.
“They had no kind of continuous
health records,” Amaral said. “And
everyone knows that patients
who receive individual follow-up
and continuous care have a much
better outlook.” Recognizing that
this was not a possibility for these
children, she began bringing in
groups of UAM students from
the Pediatrics League to do
initial exams. The students keep
detailed records and provide
referrals for those who need
further treatment. Those referrals
send most of the children to free
or low-cost clinics on the UAM
campus, making follow-through
for the children and their families
very easy.
“We have managed to create a
bond between the campus, our
students and the community,”
Amaral said. And in the process,
UAM students are receiving
hands-on experience with
treatment and patient care. To
date, over 540 UAM students
have been involved with the
initiative, serving over 200
children from the community.
There are plans to expand the
program to include a wider
range of services and specialties,
including audiology, psychiatry
and dentistry, as well as to involve
departments in addition to the
medical school. For Amaral,
an important outcome of the
program, besides providing
excellent medical care, is the
effect it has on her students.
“Our students show up promptly
and ready to serve no matter
what time it is,” Amaral said. “We
are truly teaching them how to
make a difference.”
450+
UAM medical students
have volunteered
with the initiative
200+
children from the
community have
benefitted from
the initiative
50
51
MAKING BLOOD DONATION
THE NORM IN PERU
CLAUDIO YAURI
Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC)
Asociación Peruana de Donantes de Sangre
(Peruvian Association of Blood Donors)
In Peru, the deficit of donated blood needed for transfusions and
other procedures exceeded 70 percent in 2013. Of the 600,000
units of blood needed that year, only 185,000 were available,
and only five percent of those came from voluntary donations.
For Claudio Yauri, who graduated from Universidad Peruana de
Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC) in 2011, solving the blood bank crisis in
Peru has become a personal mission.
HERE FOR GOOD
AWARDS
Peru
is the lowest-ranked
country in Latin America
in terms of voluntary
blood donation
“I realized that there was no
national consciousness about
the deficit of available blood or
the importance of having fully
stocked blood banks,” Yauri
says. In 2014, he was studying
the lack of available blood in the
country because of his interest
in the issue and decided to do
something about it. Yauri founded
the Asociación Peruana de
Donantes de Sangre (Peruvian
Association of Blood Donors),
with the mission of “promoting
the voluntary, unpaid donation of
blood” in the country.
Since its founding, the association
has become a major force in
Peru, working to dispel fear
among citizens about donating
blood and explaining how a
deficit in available blood leads to
1,010
voluntary
blood
donors
8
blood drives
conducted by the
organization
unnecessary deaths. The group
conducts workshops and blood
drives with private and public
companies, universities and
even the Peruvian government,
partnering with the Ministry of
Health at five national hospitals.
The association always works
with medical professionals,
thus combining Yauri and his
team of volunteers’ grassroots
organizing skills with sound
medical knowledge. So far, over
1,000 people have donated blood
through the association’s blood
drives, benefitting over 3,000
people.
For Yauri, the work of the
association is a necessary
reaction to what he sees as a
preventable problem.
52
3,000+
people impacted by
blood donations
made by the
organization
“I can’t sit still when people are
dying because of a lack of [blood]
donations,” Yauri says. “I want
to be an agent of change for my
country.”
The association has started a
major fundraising campaign
to build and staff the country’s
first center for voluntary blood
donations and also is looking
to acquire vehicles for mobile
blood drives. The group hopes
to expand to other parts of the
country, bringing awareness
about the issue to an even
greater portion of the Peruvian
population, and continuing
their mission of decreasing the
donated blood deficit in the
country.
53
HERE FOR GOOD
AWARDS
EMPOWERING WOMEN
AND GIRLS THROUGH
EDUCATION
UGOCHI OHAJURUKA
University of Liverpool Online
Health Aid For All Initiative
Ugochi Ohajuruka, a trained medical doctor from Nigeria, was doing research for her
University of Liverpool Online Master’s in Public Health dissertation when she realized
that Nigerian women and girls were experiencing a health crisis before her eyes. She
describes a day at the health center where she was working when a teenage girl was
rushed into the emergency room due to a serious pelvic infection caused by trying to
manage menstruation with feathers and other unsafe materials.
“I saw a girl suffering due to a lack of knowledge about how to take care of her own body,”
Ohajuruka said. “I realized that girls feel like half humans when they are on their periods. They lose
their dignity.”
From this jarring realization, the Health Aid for All Initiative (HAFAI) was born. Ohajuruka describes
it as a “holistic approach to health,” particularly for women and girls. The organization has a
number of programs that aim to fill the knowledge gap that exists about many women’s issues,
like menstrual and maternal health, breast and cervical cancer screening, advocacy on HIV/AIDS,
as well as stressing the importance of immunizations and dispelling taboos that contribute to
misinformation and fear among women about their own bodies.
In Nigeria and numerous other places in the world, many women are not adequately educated about
the workings of their bodies while also being ostracized because of what is a natural and healthy
process. Ohajuruka explains that in Nigeria, many women and girls are not allowed to socialize or
even cook while on their periods. This culture of shame fosters more dangerous ignorance, with
scores of women being subjected to female genital mutilation, while also not learning about safe
birthing practices or the benefits of immunization for their children.
54
55
HERE FOR GOOD
AWARDS
The challenges for Ohajuruka and HAFAI are many, as they work to dispel engrained beliefs,
often among people who don’t want the truth to spread. Ohajuruka is now being asked to expand
countrywide, and the areas with some of the largest needs are those where the Boko Haram
extremist group is a major threat. She has found many willing partners in her work, including
the Nigerian Ministry of Health and UNICEF, but the ever-growing needs of women and girls are
always at the front of her mind.
Another disturbing side effect of misinformation and shame about periods, besides the major
health risk, is that many girls opt not to attend school while on their periods. In the course of
her work, Ohajuruka did a study that revealed that a quarter of the girls in her area of Nigeria,
called Abuja, stayed home while on their periods, missing valuable school days. The study
also showed that 72 percent of girls had no accurate information about their period, with most
believing it was an illness or curse.
This led Ohajuruka to create HAFAI’s first permanent programming, called the Red Diamond
Project, which provides menstrual health instruction in schools to girls, while also distributing
free, washable sanitary kits for managing their periods. The percentage of girls who missed
school while on their periods fell from 23 percent to just eight percent after the program was
implemented. It is now funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and works
with over 4,000 girls in 20 schools in rural communities in Abuja. HAFAI has employed local
women to manufacture the kits, working with over 100 women in 15 communities, giving them
a steady source of income.
“It is difficult, but I am hopeful,” Ohajuruka says. “I am here to change things for girls and women
in Africa. I am here to give them back their dignity and work for their equality.”
4000+
girls in 20 schools
educated by the
Red Diamond
Project
72%
of girls had received
no education about
menstruation before
HAFAI’s programs
“It is difficult, but I am
hopeful, I am here to change
things for girls and women
in Africa. I am here to give
them back their dignity and
work for their equality.”
100+
women employed
in the making of
sanitary kits for
HAFAI programs
56
57
HERE FOR GOOD
AWARDS
LEARNING HOW
TO EAT, WITH
A LITTLE FUN
MIXED IN
NUR AL-ALI
Universidad Europea de Madrid (UEM)
CómoComo (How to Eat)
It was two simple statistics that
spurred Nur Al-Ali, a doctoral student
of Biomedical Science and Health at
Universidad Europea de Madrid (UEM),
to action. She discovered that three
in 10 Spanish children are likely to be
obese as adults and that cardiovascular
issues, often caused by poor nutrition,
have become the top cause of death
worldwide.
It was these troubling data points that led Al-Ali,
who has always had an interest in the intersection of
nutrition and healthy cooking, to start CómoComo,
a play on the Spanish words that mean “how I eat.”
CómoComo aims to provide practical instruction to
school age children on how to cook healthy meals
with natural ingredients.
“I wanted to do something that wasn’t just
theoretical, but was practical and fun,” Al-Ali
explained. She is a trained nutritionist, so the mission
of the organization played directly to her strengths.
Al-Ali had been interested in medicine while growing
up, but through her studies, Al-Ali realized that
nutrition could actually prevent many of the ills that
medical doctors end up trying to cure.
58
59
Through a series of cooking workshops with children
aged three to 11 at a local school, Al-Ali was able to
put her ideas into practice and see the effects that
instruction on healthy habits could have. In late 2015,
she started a pilot program with 90 children, doing an
hour-long workshop each week in which the children
learned to cook a healthy meal through interesting
instruction.
“We believe that a healthy lifestyle can be learned,”
Al-Ali said. She found that the children often ended up
teaching their parents elements of what they learned,
leading to insightful conversations and much-needed
changes in the homes. Al-Ali points to the many side
HERE FOR GOOD
AWARDS
effects that unhealthy eating and an inaccurate view
of food can have on children as they mature, including
eating disorders and inactive lifestyles. Through her
continued research, she has shown that the kind of
education offered by CómoComo dramatically reduces
the risk of health problems later on.
Al-Ali is in talks with schools and hopes that in the
coming year over 500 children will be involved in
CómoComo workshops at schools in Madrid. She
also has been supported in her venture through
her selection as a fellow of UEM’s 2015 Young
Social Entrepreneurs Awards, conferred through
the university’s partnership with Laureate and
YouthActionNet.
For Al-Ali, the possibilities for future programming with CómoComo are endless because of the everpresent need and because of the interest that she has seen that children have in healthy eating. And the
best part is, Ali is showing that healthy eating is not only the best route, but can also be the most fun.
3 in 10
Spanish children
are expected to
be obese in
adulthood
90
children participated
in a pilot workshop
on healthy eating
with CómoComo
500+
children will be enrolled
in workshops through
CómoComo during
the 2015-16 school
year
60
61
HERE FOR GOOD
FEATURED ARTIST
His message to
others who face the
kinds of challenges
he has faced in his
life is simple: “No
matter what bad
happens in your life,
there is always hope
for more, for a
better life.”
HERE FOR GOOD FEATURED ARTIST
HOPE THROUGH ART FOR HONDURAN ARTIST
OLVIN FERRERA
Olvin Ferrera’s path to becoming
a painter, and eventually a
graphic designer, was one
of trials, pain and, finally,
redemption. At 18, he left his
native Honduras to try to enter
the United States through
Mexico. He was deported to
Guatemala before he eventually
returned to Mexico to work in
construction, sending money
back to his family in Honduras.
Two years later, while working on
an electrical project in Mexico,
Ferrera touched a cable that he
did not know had live current
running through it and received
a massive electrical shock. He
was hospitalized in Mexico with
severe burns all over his body.
Both of his hands had to be
amputated, forcing Ferrera to
face a life that would look vastly
different from this point forward.
“I felt limited in every way,”
Ferrera said. He eventually
returned to Honduras after
recovering in Mexico and
began to experiment with using
prosthetic implements at the
ends of his arms. Ferrera had
completed schooling only up to
sixth grade, so he undertook the
process to finish high school and
62
started to think about what he
would do to support himself and
his family, as he was now married
and considering having a child.
“I remembered that I had liked
painting and drawing when I was
young,” Ferrera said. “I started
drawing just to feel useful.” This
rediscovery of a childhood hobby
proved to be a lifeline for him, as
he figured out how to hold pencils
and paintbrushes with his new
prostheses and began to channel
some of his creative energy into
making beautiful paintings and
drawings for friends.
“I tell things [through painting] that I cannot tell with words,” Ferrera
said. “It is a way to be liberated from all of your negativity and
limitations.” After this discovery, he enrolled in the graphic design
program at Centro Universitario Tecnológico (CEUTEC), which awarded
him a scholarship to pursue his degree. He graduated in 2013 and now
works part-time for a magazine in Honduras and also as a freelance
graphic designer and painter, courting Honduran and international
clients. His message to others who face the kinds of challenges he has
faced is simple: “No matter what bad happens in your life, there is always
hope for more, for a better life.”
Olvin Ferrera produced the painting used as this year’s cover
for the Global Impact Report incorporating Laureate’s Here for
Good logo.
ABOUT
LUIS ZUNIGA
2016 Global Impact Report
Designer
Luis Zuniga is a Laureate employee
based in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. His
work focuses on finding creative,
impactful ways of telling the stories
of Laureate network initiatives. Luis
is a graduate of Centro Universitario
Tecnológico (CEUTEC), a member
of the Laureate International
Universities network, in Honduras.
“We believe that when
our students succeed,
countries prosper and
societies benefit.”
-Laureate Founder’s Mission
laureate.net | laureatehereforgood.net
[email protected] | Twitter: @LaureateIntlU
Laureate Education, Inc.
650 S. Exeter Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
United States of America
Telephone (U.S.): 1-866-452-8732 | Telephone (International): +1 410-843-6100
This report is printed on Certified FSC®, 100 percent recycled post-consumer paper made with biogas energy.

laureate global impact report | 2016

Transcription

Similar documents

I`m helping to end MS by participating in the 2016 Jayman BUILT MS

The Board of Directors of Qatar Fuel (WOQOD) is pleased to invite

5 `S` Training Program at ABV-IIITM, Gwalior on 21.07.2016

4 star ALOE HOTEL, PAPHOS

loyola institute for ministry on-campus open house thursday, may 12

HALF OFF - Bavarian Inn

The Magic Wizard

Flyer! - Cruzzin` Dreams

KMEA Standards Handout

2016 MW Alliance Raffle - Manitowish Waters Alliance LTD

LNPS Brochure June 2013 Digital Edition