In 2021, continuing to prioritize, expand access to and improving the quality of education will be core to any pandemic recovery strategy. The Global Business Coalition for Education’s 2021 campaign will rally companies to ensure every child has the best start in life, a safe and inclusive place to learn, and skills for the future. It will allow business leaders to publicly champion a call to action, rally their corporate peers in support of education, and participate in tangible actions contributing towards ending the global education crisis and unleashing the potential of the next generation.
Become a Member of the Coalition
Education is the key to unlocking all social, economic, and development goals: innovation, economic growth, anti-racism, climate action, equity, skills for the future of work, gender equality, health outcomes, job creation, and closing the digital divide, to name a few. By joining us, companies like yours become part of a global movement to accelerate education and economic opportunity around the world for the next generation.
Join a movement of businesses committed to ending the global education crisis.
Connect with Our Membership Team
Complete this form and our membership team will contact you with more information on becoming a member.
Why become a member?
Every company has something to contribute toward solving the global education crisis. Our goal is to help companies identify the best way to make the largest social impact.
A company can activate its diverse assets to support education in the communities where its employees and consumers live and the places where the business operates. These assets vary from social responsibility, philanthropy, communications expertise, and government relations to employee talent and volunteerism, human resource policies, core business, goods and services, supply chain, and disaster responses.
Becoming a member of the Global Business Coalition for Education provides companies unparalleled access to our team’s expertise and vast networks of companies, foundations, international organizations, NGOs, and youth partners engaged in shaping education policy, programs, and public campaigns.
How We Work
Building a Movement to End the Global Education Crisis
Tools and Resources
The Business Investment for Education Impact initiative provides businesses with the tools and resources they need to assess their own positioning in the broader ecosystem of actors and develop strategies aimed at maximizing impact across social and business goals.
Partnership & Action Platform
The Global Business Coalition for Education’s diverse network spans business, government, international organizations, NGOs, youth, and other stakeholders. Our partnership platform helps businesses find the right partners to connect and collaborate with to unlock change and leverage contributions through the major global funds and institutions impacting education in countries and regions around the globe.
Program Areas
There are several program areas where businesses can participate directly in shaping policy and action for the next generation, such as:
Skills Friendly Cities is an initiative setting out opportunities for city governments, education systems, industry leaders and youth-serving organizations to work together to advance skill development for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In 2021, a national competition will launch in the United States for cities to put forward bold plans for city investments in skills for the future alongside corporate partners.
The Disability Task Force is an initiative identifying opportunities for the business community to make an impact in inclusive education for young people with disabilities and build a strong bridge from education to inclusive employment. In 2021, the Task Force will release its report and recommendations for how companies can take action to better support and include young people with disabilities in the workforce.
Research
The Global Business Coalition for Education’s reports advance the evidence base in the business community to inform and improve business investment in education.
Our latest resource, The Key, helps the business community make concrete links between investment in education and the advancement of other social impact priorities, ranging from climate change to anti-racism and public health.
Communications
Our communications team works to tell the stories about businesses making strong investments in education, showcase examples of what works, and highlight member companies making an impact in the world.
“The Key” conversation series features business leaders alongside subject-matter experts and youth innovators and campaigners focused on setting the agenda for social impact. Senior corporate leaders will be able to participate as panelists in these discussions which are streamed across our platforms and promoted in all of our global markets.
Member Impact
Reducing the impact of the digital divide during Covid-19 with HP
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly one in five students between kindergarten and 12th grade did not have computers or good internet access in the US.
In March, when schools turned to e-learning, millions of children were suddenly at risk of falling behind due to a lack of access to a computer or the internet. GBC-Education partnered with HP to help distribute equipment to underserved families in Chicago, Dallas and Houston.
Photo: Colin Dempsey / Comp-U-Dopt
Helping businesses make social impact in education with BHP Foundation
Whilst the business community’s investment in education is significant, it’s not resulting in the impact required to address this enormous challenge, nor is it having the transformative effect like we’ve seen in response to global health or climate change.
When businesses do decide to invest in education, they lack the tools and resources to make informed decisions that can maximize impact. We are working with the BHP Foundation to develop a set of tools and resources to help businesses make strategic decisions and greater impact in education.
Photo: MMG1 Design / Adobe Stock
Getting the word out with Omnicom and Porter Novelli
Every business values education, but communicating how businesses can get involved has not always been easy. The Omnicom Group and Porter Novelli have helped make the connection by supporting media relations and activities to amplify the corporate voice in support of education and identify opportunities for speaking engagement and partnership building across the Sustainable Development Goals.
Photo: Red Pixel / Adobe Stock
Satellite broadband for entrepreneurs in Uganda with Avanti
With an 83% unemployment rate before the COVID-19 pandemic, young people in Uganda already lacked economic opportunities unless they could start their own business. GBC-Education and Avanti Communications worked together to provide free high-speed internet connection to the Social Innovation Academy (SINA), an NGO transforming marginalized youth into social entrepreneurs and job creators.
Photo: Red Pixel / Adobe Stock
Membership Benefits
Member companies are entitled to the Global Business Coalition for Education’s personalized corporate strategy sessions with our expert team. The sessions are tailored to educating members of your team about global education issues and opportunities for engagement which advance your company’s social impact goals and objectives. The sessions are approximately 60-90 minutes each and provide frameworks for building the foundation for an efficient and impactful strategy. Our core sponsors have the option of quarterly sessions; platinum members have the option for two sessions annually; gold members have one session annually.
In addition to our signature strategy sessions, our members receive:
- Recognition in project materials and at our events (Core Sponsor only)
- Nomination of senior leadership to the Advisory Board (Core Sponsor and Platinum Only)
- One annual promoted brand feature or case study showcasing your company’s work in education (Gold and above; additional opportunities for third-party promotions available upon request)
- Priority consideration for speaking opportunities at events (Gold and above)
- Priority consideration for early use of new corporate tools and resource
- Priority consideration for working level project guidance groups
- Exclusive invitations to executive roundtables
- Curated networking opportunities with industry experts
- Invitations to GBC-Education’s high-level events
- Showcase thought leadership on our website, digital channels
- Curated semi-weekly education news digest
- Recognition on our website