Liesel Pritzker Simmons (Co-Founder) and Corina Gardner (CEO) of the IDP Foundation, on building a sustainable education ecosystem

Liesel Pritzker Simmons brings us into the origins of the IDP Foundation, which she co-founded with her mother, Irene Pritzker. The foundation’s mission: To participate in building a sustainable education ecosystem that embraces a mixed economy of provision, and caters for all children through access to finance for low-fee private schools, quality interventions and advocacy in Africa and beyond. Corina Gardner joined the IDP Foundation as its CEO in 2020 and she starts by providing a broader context on the state of global education (SDG4) and how they’re driving systemic change. The IDP Foundation is an active funder and champion for the complementary role that the non-state education sector plays in supporting national education systems.   Governments are responsible for providing quality free education for all children, however in many developing countries this is not happening, despite often meeting, or exceeding, recommended UNESCO benchmarks on budget allocation. As a funding partner and champion of the affordable non-state education sector (ANS), the IDP Foundation believes that low-fee private schools play a crucial role in increasing access to education and improving learning outcomes in low and lower-middle income countries. They call for the global recognition, integration and support of this sector as part of a centrally-governed mixed economy of provision that embraces all hands on deck to build resilience into national education systems. This episode will inform and inspire you, from education and policy to philanthropy and innovative finance, there is something for everyone. Thank you for downloading this episode of the Do One Better Podcast. Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 200+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.