Global Business Coalition for Education

Your Journey to Impact Guide 1

What’s in the guide?

Choose Your Path To Help End the Global Education Crisis

Your Journey to Impact offers strategic ways your business can support education to create the future that all children deserve. Whether you are in charge of corporate responsibility, corporate giving, social and environmental impact, or lead a corporate foundation, you can make meaningful impact by learning about and investing in education. Our three guides are designed for leaders who want to learn about how, when, and where to invest in education.


Why Invest in Education

825 Million Youth Might Lack Basic Skills

Without drastic action, the 2030 May forecast is that 825 million children and youth, or more than 50% of young people worldwide, will lack basic reading and math skills needed to participate in the workforce and society.

The Need is $75 Billion a Year

The conservative estimate is that $75 billion a year is needed to provide the world’s children universal education. Yet annual development aid to education peaked at $16 billion in 2019, only 20% of the minimum needed.

1 Added Year of Schooling = 12% Increase in Wages Text

Each additional year of schooling for a girl helps increase her adult lifetime wages by 12%.

Current Skills Mismatch = 6% Annual Productivity Loss

The global skills mismatch is currently estimated to affect 40% of employees in OECD countries–costing the global economy 6% annually in labor productivity.

Redefine the Purpose of Education

What skills will today’s and tomorrow’s workforce require? They include resilience, curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, social-emotional skills, digital literacy, and systems analysis.

Understand and Support Learning Ecosystems

What type of learning environment produces the best outcomes for children and youth? Elements include an expansive and inclusive ecosystem of institutions, resources, mentors, and coaches that are dynamic, interconnected, and support life-long learning.

Advance Educational Equity

What factors affect the quality of a child’s education? They include gender identity and expression, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, physical and cognitive abilities, neighborhood, and country. 

Find more from the Journey to Impact series