Educating For The Modern Era And The Future

Einstein is CEO at Global Startup Ecosystem one of the first digital accelerator education startups. He is a partner at Africa Future Fund investing in initiatives across Africa and the diaspora that leverage advanced technologies to “leapfrog” Africa’s future. He has also launched tech summits across emerging markets in Haiti and Ghana.

Education fundamentally serves to illuminate and liberate, bring awareness to a situation, inform and transform one’s perspective. Education provides a bright spot that spreads to illuminate and liberate in order to empower an individual to improve their environment, their community and lead to a transformation of his or her life. This has been our sole goal; to help people appreciate the very opportunities that lie at one’s fingertips or understand that new ones can be created.

Data suggests that smartphone penetration continues to grow rapidly – within the next 4 years there will be an increase from a 60% mobile phone penetration to 95% even in low income nations. As it stands, many people across Haiti, Africa, India, the Caribbean, South America and many more places are unable to make ends meet but have smartphones which are often just used for basic entertainment such as social media. However, these smartphones can be used to learn new skills, conduct research, learn from diverse economies across the world and also to tap into the global market. These platforms also help to gain access to teachers, mentors and guides who can illuminate people’s lives and educate for the future.

Education also provides the avenue to affect the moral wellbeing of people or individuals living in a country. Good education helps the individual to identify what is morally right and good for the complete development of humanity. This helps reduce the chances of civil wars and conflicts which occur as a result of the lack of, or because of, inadequate education.

Education transcends skills development and the provision for economic empowerment. It helps to reduce gender inequality, increases support for people in trauma or in need of mental health care. It also facilitates understanding and appreciation of entertainment, design, the arts and the like. Collectively this shows that by increasing an individual’s ability to gain education, the illumination it provides raises that person’s standard of living, joy and overall growth and development.

A lot of progress has been made towards achieving SDG 4 as globally as more people are literate across the board even in remote areas. However, the key area that has not been keenly addressed is the digital divide because of the rapid growth of technology and the dependence on technological proficiency in this modern age. This is why it is significant that in order to achieve SDG 4, education in technology has to be a key component. This will equip individuals with the requisite skills needed in most jobs.

That is why the building of strong tech hubs via the Haiti Tech Summit and Haiti Tech has led to such a rapid transformation in the lives of so many; the building of vital training mechanisms has served to liberate and enlighten people. Such a strong push towards building tech ecosystems and hubs across emerging markets has served to bring global thought leaders in technology and innovation to Haiti. This initiative and project helps train people in digital skills locally, whilst educating international leaders about the opportunities available in Haiti and its increasing readiness to be part of technological innovation worldwide.

Believing that education alone is not enough but rather the need for appropriate education which is relevant for context

and time is one of the objectives of Haiti Tech Summit. This is why education around technology is paramount even for the

basics of work. We have endeavoured to help teach people across emerging markets and emerging communities ; the power of leveraging education in technology in order to build the appropriate skills. Haiti is proof of where many young people, people from very underprivileged backgrounds and even people with limited literacy, have been taught how to go on education platforms on their phones to do courses, how to do basic design work, how to research and how to provide services to a global market which can pay for such skills and service.

In a world where there is so much abundance, the missing link is how people can access the right information. This can be achieved through education, which helps people to learn. Leveraging technology helps provide high quality education and opportunities no matter which part of the country people or individuals find themselves. This provides a platform which can train teachers and they can also train the youth and pass on the information to them. The problem often is access to quality and appropriate education. The core mission for the Global Startup Ecosystem has been to increase access to people and through our digital platforms we have been able to train people across remote regions so long as they have access to a phone and connectivity. We saw with the global startup ecosystem that the best way of providing access to experts is through technology.

Within three years we have been able to help transform Haiti into one of the leading tech hubs and ecosystems of the Caribbean. Haiti now has the largest programming and developer communities in the region who have been educated to code and build platforms, websites, applications and more that help empower people and enterprises in the region. The belief that education has to serve the young, the old and be appropriate for the modern day and the future has been a core driver for us. This belief is the biggest reason we have been able to achieve so much so quickly. We are collectively educating over 6000 people in Haiti alone with our programs around technology, promoting understanding of the future of work, helping them gain new skills to reduce the level of unemployment, increasing literacy, female recruitment, self-empowerment and access to a wider global audience to further increase the propensity of continuous learning.

We have found education to be a catalyst to solve issues across all the rest of the SDGs from economic empowerment, gender equality, health, poverty and much more. This has been witnessed firsthand by seeing how relevant education around technology and access to technology has led to the lives of many people in Haiti and across the world being transformed through the programs and access we tirelessly work to provide. It has been an uplifting journey seeing less privileged people have their lives liberated through education and those with resources have their world views focused on regions that

have traditionally been relegated and not properly considered.

From Engage issue 20.

< Older Post

Newer Post >

EINSTEIN KOFI NTIM • November 24, 2021

Reflecting on 2024!

By Ann Beatty • January 1, 2025

As 2024 draws to a close, I have been reflecting on some of our achievements and some of the challenges, thankfully there have been more achievements to celebrate. We celebrated 15 years of the Foundations work and it has been heartening to reflect on how far we have come in terms of expanding our reach and supporting more partners on the ground to achieve incredible work. You can catch up on our latest news here Engage 29. We are enthused by the energy and commitment of all our partners on the ground who delivered inspirational projects in 2024, in Cuba, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Nepal, Sierra Leone and South Africa. Educators who are ensuring that colleagues are benefiting from quality CPD and are equipped to prevent gender-based violence in the classrooms and their communities and ensuring Education for All is a top priority. I am grateful for the amazing team of staff, partners, ambassadors, volunteers and our trustees who keep us going in the right direction. A special thank you to Mary Sinnott who is my mentor and keeps me grounded through the challenges. I am also extremely grateful for all of our donors and fundraisers who make our work possible, as without the funds it would be impossible. It was amazing to see how many of you bought a charity gift over the festive season for a friend or loved one and I hope you will continue to consider giving the gift of education in 2025, it can be a great gift at any time of the year. Just before Christmas I came down with a horrible bug and it was during the week of our Education for All Exhibition and Pop Up and I want to thank everyone who kept it going, whilst I rested and recovered, it made me remember how lucky I am to have such a great team supporting the Foundation. I would like to thank you all personally for being part of our community and supporting access to education for all children everywhere. You can also watch our highlights of 2024 in a short video here. I wish you and your families a peaceful, healthy and hopeful 2025. Best wishes Ann

Soroptimist Conference 2024

By Jane Slatter • November 10, 2024

On Friday (1st November), of conference it was dedicated to Education – the first “E” of the theme Education, Empowerment, Enable. Ann Beatty is the Chief Executive of the Steve Sinnott Foundation (SSF) and was one of the key speakers at the conference. The focus is on education as a human right for all. I’m proud to write this blog on Ann Beatty’s talk at the SIGBI Conference because Ann is a member of my Club – Soroptimist International St Albans & District . Ann spoke from the heart with warmth and passion for the work of SSF, as she always does – earning the support and engagement of this large audience of Soroptimists. Ann started by thanking Soroptimists who have already supported her and the Steve Sinnott Foundation. The reason for the link with Soroptimists is clear – United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (UN SDG 4) “to ensure that everyone has access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities” is so important because it is the enabler for all the other SDG’s. She asked us some questions using “Slido” the interactive audience engagement tool: “How many adults lack basic literacy skills?” – answer 765 million “How many children don’t go to school?” – – answer 360 million These statistics are shocking, the impact on girls means they have no prospects and are often married off very young. UNESCO says the world needs 44 million more teachers to achieve the SDG 4 goal of universal primary and secondary education by 2030. The SSF works with educators and to prove her point Ann got us all to share positive memories of learning with the person sitting next to us – many indicated a teacher who had influenced them. The memories were written on the silhouette of the figure of a girl. The SSF connects learners across the world with technology appropriate for their location – flexibility, simplicity and affordability is essential. Ann then spoke about the Positive Periods Project https://www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk/projects – learning how to make reusable sanitary pads using locally sourced materials is a skill for life. The products are sustainable, affordable, comfortable and give the girls and women independence. The charity works with people on the ground – training many thousands of women now in countries like Gambia, Sierra Leone, Cuba, Haiti, Malawi, Uganda – learning how to manage periods with dignity. They are then able to train others. While the young women have been learning and making the pads, dialogue has started around violence against women and girls which has also now been built into learning programs. A message Ann was keen to get across was for people to “STOP SENDING STUFF” – always ask “what do you need?” – there is so much waste.

Walking for Education For All

By Nicolet Nguyen & Becky Brace • October 24, 2024

We both love London and walking, and this year, in honor of The Steve Sinnott Foundation's 15th Anniversary we have decided to embark on this journey. We planned to complete the 10KM walk along the river Thames, passing by many iconic London attractions on the way. We wanted to raise funds, and awareness, to ensure that every child worldwide, can have the opportunity to go to school, as well as adults too. It was an amazing experience and we enjoyed each other's company on luckily a very sunny day! “Since working for the Foundation I have witnessed firsthand the impact it has in supporting young people develop essential life skills by working to ensure provision of quality education for all children worldwide. The ripple effect of this education is truly remarkable as students go on to empower and educate others.” - Nicolet “I’ve been friends with Nicolet since we were kids, and I appreciate her and support her in any way that I can! She does amazing work for the Steve Sinnott Foundation and I want to be able to support her in this as well. A sponsored walk would not only be something we can accomplish together, but the fact that our efforts could go some way to making a difference for children around the world made it very worthwhile.” - Becky