GEP Director Adam Braun Announces Pilot Launch Alongside UNGA

Getty Images for #upforschool.

This week at the #UpForSchool Town Hall event sponsored by UNICEF and British charity Theirworld, Global Education Platform (GEP) Director Adam Braun announced the launch of the pilot phase of the GEP.

“We’re excited to announce the first execution of this initiative which we believe will be the largest and most inclusive digital writing contest in India’s history,” said Braun, alongside individuals representing the initiative’s partners from Wattpad, STiR Education, and HP.
The pilot, to be rolled out in collaboration with Twitter India, HP, Wattpad, STiR Education and Teach for India will take the form of a writing contest tagged, “YourStoryIndia,” on the Wattpad platform, and will enable Indian youth ages 13 and older to write and publish their own stories, in one of more than 10 Indian languages as well as English before the March 31, 2016 deadline. Braun made the announcement before upwards of 1,600 attendees including local high school students, high level politicians, global development practitioners, private sector leaders and celebrities gathered to push for increased progress for global education and to celebrate the success of the #UpForSchool petition.

At GBC-Education’s #Tech4Ed Global Education Platform meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 29, Braun presented more details of the initial phase before roughly 50 attendees representing GBC-Education members and leaders from technology, business, global development, and academic sectors. The meeting focused on the theme of harmonizing delivery of education via technology through partnerships, and included a panel of leaders from across the space:

• Candice Faktor, Head of Business, Wattpad

• Mike Feerick, Founder & CEO, ALISON

• Sharath Jeevan, Founder & CEO, STiR Education

• Jacob Korenblum, CEO and President, Souktel Mobile Solutions

• Jennifer Young, Director of Social Impact Programs, Pearson Education

Additionally, participants discussed future directions for the GEP and opportunities for the GEP and the Global Business Coalition for Education to facilitate partnerships and help to accelerate leading companies, organizations, and projects using technology to advance educational opportunities for marginalized youth.

Through several #Tech4Ed forums, GBC-Education has convened technology entrepreneurs, business leaders, global development experts and educators to identify how technology can be used to deliver learning opportunities for the most marginalized youth. Ultimately, GBC-Education aims to expand the GEP to create pathways to employment and 21st century skills.

The GEP is continuing to identify partners for collaboration; to learn more, please contact Adam Braun, Director of the GEP, at [email protected], or Julia Firestone, facilitating partnerships and research for the GEP, at [email protected].