WHAT WE DO & HOW WE DO IT

Intervention lines

Today, Genesis Foundation manages a portfolio of projects that address the following areas:

1. Early Childhood Education: We work specifically with programs that serve children up to the age of six.  The early years of life are critical to the development of intelligence, personality and social behavior.  The right intervention at this stage can make a tremendous difference in a child’s future and can reduce future remedial investments.

2. Pedagogical Strengthening: We work to train educators in innovative classroom management techniques and administrators in more effective school management techniques, as well as guide curriculum changes that reflect best practices for educating primary school children (up to age 12). 

3. Public Policy: We work with the government and other public institutions in Colombia to influence positive changes in the sector by helping to shape education policy; fostering a culture of teacher evaluation; and aligning projects to ensure they meet the high standards for universal education mandated by law. 

To achieve our goals in these areas, the Genesis Foundation employs the following innovative, result-based pillars that differentiate us from other similar organizations working in the education space:

Training and Curriculum Development – This pillar applies to students as well as to teachers. While the Genesis Foundation works to increase quality education for our core beneficiaries—children—we also take time to invest in exposing teachers to more innovative classroom methods and creative curriculum.  This approach, above all, is what makes the Foundation stand apart: we seek to transform the way children learn, the way teachers teach, and the way schools function, all for the benefit of enhancing equality, introducing higher standards, and improving the education system overall.

Long Term Partnerships – The Foundation seeks to develop partnerships that enhance the effectiveness of each grantee by providing, chiefly, technical and fundraising support.  For this task we look mostly to individuals and institutions throughout the region who have a strong stake in Colombia, its people and its future, with the belief that the most committed supporters are those who have a direct involvement in the cause at hand.

Leveraging Funds- The Foundation is strongly committed to leveraging its own investment with additional investments from other sources, both within the United States and in Colombia.  This commitment in turn deepens the dollar value of each contribution: For every dollar we invest, we leverage $4.

Influence on Public Policy – The Foundation also holds sway over public education policy by replicating teacher training methods and curriculum, sharing best practices, and creating networks and linkages among its local grantees and partners. This approach broadens our impact by effecting change from within and by influencing other local funders towards co-operation and transparency. 

Replicable, Measurable and Sustainable – One of our most successful achievements over time is the fact that projects supported by the Genesis Foundation have the potential to be replicated nationwide. We have accomplished this by ensuring that the work we support is measurable, according to pre-defined quality standards and outcomes.  The Foundation invests a significant portion of time and resources into evaluation and impact assessment, for the sole purpose of sharing knowledge and establishing best practices so the organizations we partner with develop the capacity to become fully sustainable in a reasonable amount of time.  

MacroProjects

In 2008, as a direct result of the success we achieved across our five pillars of engagement, the Genesis Foundation launched the MacroProjects, a set of large scale initiatives aimed at developing education models that can be replicated nationwide and transform the way all Colombian children learn. These MacroProjects were developed in response to critical local needs Genesis had identified through its work over the years, and are being implemented in alliance with high-performing grantees, as well as prominent partners within the public and private sectors.

There are currently two MacroProjects actively underway in Colombia: First  Learning Steps (FLS) and Learning to Learn (L2L).  First Steps promotes comprehensive early childhood education in marginal urban areas, employing a model curriculum based on principles of social co-operation, health & nutrition, community activism and good citizenship, for the purpose of improving educational quality and impacting public policy overall.  Learning to Learn is designed to work with older students, and employs video games, software programs and other innovative interactive strategies that also serve to train teachers and engage parents to more actively participate with their children in the learning process. 

for more information on First Learning Steps (FLS) MacroProject click here

for more information on Learning to Learn (L2L) MacroProject click here