Annual Report 2021
From holding our largest Annual Convening yet, to launching the inaugural regional hub and continuing to support partner institutions to implement and scale quality educational models, 2021 was a year of growth at the Education Collaborative.
300+
Individual Stakeholders
The 2021 Annual Convening welcomed over 300 individual stakeholders from over 100 organisations; an 8.4% increase from 2020. Jointly organized by Ashesi University, Kepler, Centre for Social Innovations Ghana, University of Gondar and Ayenit Alolom Africa, the three-day event featured plenary sessions, workshops and talks focused on entrepreneurship, employability, and diversity and inclusion within African higher educational institutions.
Annual Convening
120+
Institutions
represented in Annual Convening across 26 countries, 65% in Africa: 73 Higher education institutions; 47 Non-higher education institutions. The Annual Convening also achieved a 27% repeat rate for attendance from 2020.
9 Higher
Education Institutions
with a combined student population of 30,000+ joined the first regional hub to lead the strategic implementation of Education Collaborative vision in the region.
Regional Impact
$30 Million
raised by a member institution, with support from the Education Collaborative under its mentorship program. $30K was also distributed in the form of grants to support institutions implement initiatives to achieve impact and growth within their context.
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Through the contributions and support of the Collaborative’s leadership, consulting committee, network members, and other stakeholders, we are steadily deepening collaborations and scaling our impact across Africa.
– Rose Dodd, Director, Education Collaborative
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Letter from the Director
Three Communities of Practice (CoPs)
created, establishing four CoPs with a total of 52 members to foster multi-institutional and multi-country innovation.
Mentorship and Development
Five High School Teachers Trained as Trainers
in online learning management system (LMS) hands-on science program. The teachers trained an additional 45 high school teachers in four regions in Ghana.
Ethics and Leadership
- A public college of education receive capacity training for 100+ executives, staff, and student leaders on building an ethical campus culture for a student population of 1200. The capacity development was received during mentorship to develop a student-led honour system. One private higher education institution formally adopted an honour system led by the student government.
- Three beneficiary institutions of Giving Voice to Values (GVV) train-the-trainer program in 2020 trained additional 185+ individuals on building skills for ethical action in 2021.
- 36 employees of a corporate organization received training on building skills for ethical action.
Focal Initiatives
Giving Voice to Values Africa Project
The GVV Africa Project is a two-year program under the Education Collaborative’s ethics and leadership focus area. Led by a team of leaders and professionals within the higher educational space, the program explores the dynamics of values conflicts and how industry professionals can navigate those dynamics.
Focal Initiatives
The Systems Change Program- Employability
The Systems Change Program is an 18-month systems transformation process designed to fundamentally develop the components and structures of key systems that drive outcomes in higher education institutions (HEI).
Entrepreneurship Ecosystems Development
The Education Collaborative supported the setup of a business incubation centre that has enrolled 40 students’ business with the potential of serving as innovation hub for four universities in the Sahel region.
Focal Initiatives
2021 Stories
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2021 in Review
In many ways 2021 was an eventful year for us, our partners and our stakeholders. In addition to our key outcomes, here’s a look at some of the stories that helped shape the year.
In 2021 the Education Collaborative began rolling out the first phase of our 10-year strategy to transform over 1 million students into ethical, entrepreneurial leaders who create jobs, transform industries, and lead economies. As part of the first phase, we focused on improving graduate employability, building entrepreneurial ecosystems, and building capacity in ethics and leadership. We as a network have achieved 10% of our goal, directly influencing systems that impact 116, 200 students across the continent. Through the contributions and support of the Collaborative’s leadership, consulting committee, network members, and other stakeholders, we are steadily deepening collaborations and scaling our impact across Africa.
This report shares an overview of the progress the Education Collaborative made in 2021, from launching our first regional hub in East Africa to supporting a member institution to raise $30 million to improve access to higher education in Niger.
We are excited about the endless possibilities for transformation that our collaborations continue to create. I believe there is a lot to be proud of from our outcomes in 2021.
The next phase of scaling our impact focuses on four (4) main areas:
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- Leveraging our anchoring through the regional hub of higher-ed institutions to build a critical mass and voice for regulatory and policy action
- Strengthening the operations and administrative engine needed to support the scaling of the Education Collaborative.
- Growing our footprint of members through our formal membership process
- Expanding the reach of the focal initiatives piloted in 2021 to reach more institutions in graduate employability, entrepreneurship, ethical leadership development, and faculty development and pedagogy.
This mandate to bring an African renaissance cannot be done by one institution alone but by a collective of institutions across and beyond higher education working together. I look forward to a year of growth and further impact through our combined work in the Education Collaborative.
–Rose Dodd
Director, The Education Collaborative