We are delighted to announce that two new members are joining our Board of Directors this month: Erin Ganju and George Kronnisanyon Werner.
Erin Ganju is a Managing Director at Echidna Giving, one of the largest private funders in girls’ education in lower-income countries. Erin joined Echidna Giving from Room to Read, the internationally lauded NGO she co-founded to advance literacy and gender equality. During her tenures as COO and CEO, Room to Read helped over 12 million children in 15 countries pursue a quality education.
George Kronnisanyon Werner is an experienced public-sector leader and innovator who has spearheaded successful national and government-wide reform programs across a range of areas including health and education workforce reforms. George served as Liberia’s Minister of Education from 2015 to 2018. Since leaving public service in March 2018, he has used his first-hand knowledge to assist other African and Asian leaders to implement transformative reform agendas aimed at developing human capital and maximizing demographic dividends for long-term economic growth.
Erin and George are longtime trusted advisors and friends to the Luminos Fund and were recently featured in our Education Leadership through Crisis video series. To get to know them better, we’ve asked Erin and George a few questions about themselves:
At Luminos, we’re working to unlock the light of learning in every child. What do you see as the power of education? Why is education so important to you?
Erin: “I see education as the cornerstone solution that can help solve so many other issues. If you have an educated population, they are able to develop local solutions that can best address health issues, climate change, political participation, peace, justice and so on. As Nelson Mandela so aptly said, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.'”
George: “If you want bridges, if you want hospitals to function well—good doctors, good nurses, all of these people—if you want engineers, and good presidents, you ought to invest in children. Right from the beginning of the pipeline to its end. There is a clear moral purpose to this. I think that once people get the message that we have a moral responsibility to our children not to fail them, that we should do whatever it takes so that every child, regardless of disability, regardless of gender, regardless of whether or not they come from low-income families, must have equal access to quality education. It is our moral responsibility to make sure we have citizens who are not just healthy, but literate and numerate and productive to grow the economy and to make sure that we transmit this from one generation to another.”
What excites you most about the Luminos Fund?
Erin: “The work the Luminos Fund is doing to ensure all children, no matter what their circumstances are, have access to a quality education in their local communities is very relevant. I think your Second Chance accelerated learning program is especially relevant as children are reentering school after the COVID-19 pandemic. I am particularly impressed with the approach Luminos Fund takes to collecting and analyzing data to ensure effectiveness of your programs.
George: “The practice the Luminos Fund has of hiring high potential young people who are often only Grade 10 graduates to become your classroom teachers and providing them with three weeks of intensive training followed by weekly in-classroom coaching. For countries with massively stretched school systems and average class sizes already in the 50+ range, this is an effective, practical auxiliary option to educate children.”
At Luminos, we value each students’ learning journey and emphasize activity-based, joyful learning. Erin, when you were a student, what was your favorite subject? Why?
Erin: “I loved school as a child and feel very fortunate to have been able to attend great public schools filled with dedicated teachers. I can’t remember really disliking any subjects, but, if I had to choose one as my favorite, I would choose world history. I loved learning about different cultures and important world events, and imagining all the great places I would visit when I grew up!”
Another thing we emphasize in our programs is the importance of reading. George, when you were young, what books inspired you?
George: “The first one that really got to me was Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. The second one was Camara Laye’s The African Child. It was the first time I came face to face with somebody talking about the nature of an African village and the culture around African villages.”
To learn more about Erin and George, view their interviews from the Education Leadership through Crisis video series. You can find Erin’s here and George’s here. Welcome Erin and George, we’re honored to have you on our Board of Directors!
