Who We Are
The International Education Funders Group (IEFG) is the largest global network of philanthropic actors funding education. Our many different member organisatrions are passionately engaged in local, national and international grant-making, with differing priorities and individual strategies but a shared belief in the power of education and a shared drive to urgently improve the performance of education systems worldwide.
The emergence of the IEFG follows several foundations’ efforts since 2008 to informally convene foundations and donor-advised funds engaged in education grantmaking in the developing world. The group has grown organically from 14 members in 2010 to around 90 grantmakers today.
The members of the IEFG believe that philanthropy must do more and better to achieve the fourth Sustainable Development Goal. They thoughtfully employ philanthropy to foster change. They prioritise local voices, equitable access, and innovation, working collaboratively to transform education and empower communities for a sustainable, inclusive future that respects diverse perspectives and contexts.
Being a member-inspired group, our Secretariat is purposely small and light-touch, and we adhere to the principle of form following function. The Secretariat is guided by a Steering Committee of 8 – 11 IEFG members, balanced to reflect the diversity of geographies, scale, and funding types within the wider membership.
The IEFG Steering Committee asks that each member financially contributes to the network. In keeping with previous years, members choose the amount given, with a recommended amount based upon the annual grantmaking budget of the organisation.
As of 1 July 2020, IEFG is hosted by Global Dialogue, registered as a charity (1122052) and a limited company (05775827) in England and Wales.
Our Members
IEFG has around 100 member organisations around the world including foundations such as:
Our Strategy I Community, Collaboration, Catalyse Change
These principles define the International Education Funders Group, of which we are proud to be members. We need to live and drive these principles across the global education community.
We will not achieve the dramatic and urgent change that we all want to see in education outcomes unless we work together, listen to and learn from each other, and see the bigger picture of our collective endeavour.
We all want to make education systems better, to give children around the world better chances and better choices. We will never achieve perfect ‘coherence’ or singular purpose in an education system, but we can do better than the current cacophony of well-intended support.
Philanthropy can be a disruptor to the structures and silos of the global education community, with different ideas, perspectives and networks. Philanthropy can build bridges; can support innovation; can fund and do things that or fund things others can’t. But it also can be fragmented, duplicative, and untransparent. We want to bring out the best in philanthropy and realise our community’s potential to impact education outcomes.
Philanthropy is an important actor. Foundations are growing in number, stature and influence, and there is a larger and changing individual-giving landscape beyond these. In short, there is potential to catalyse change within and through philanthropy.
IEFG has supported over 100 philanthropic organisations for the past twelve years, enabling and shaping the education philanthropy ecosystem. We see that education philanthropy is at an inflexion point, ready to forge ahead – in support of government priorities and locally-led efforts, in joining forces to advocate for global and national change, and in being louder, more open and committed to harnessing the diversity of philanthropy.
In 2022, 59 philanthropic organisations signed a joint statement facilitated by IEFG and OECD netFWD, committed to transforming education systems through listening and learning from education stakeholders, consolidating and expanding the education evidence base, improving the efficiency and alignment of our support, and building sound partnerships within and beyond the education philanthropy community.
The role of a network like IEFG is to support our members. The nuts and bolts behind this strategy are not radically different to the last, but the education philanthropy community is in a bold and ambitious place in 2023, and we stand ready to enable this.
This Strategy was set in 2023 after a year of deep conversations with our members and a comprehensive review of wider philanthropy trends and lessons to be drawn from other networks. We set no end date here but commit to reviewing the same landscape again within a five-year time horizon to make sure IEFG is still needed, valued and impactful.
The IEFG Steering Committee, June 2023
funding education. We are all passionately engaged in local, national and international grant-making within diverse organisations, with differing priorities and individual strategies, but a shared belief in the power of education and a shared drive to urgently improve the
performance of education systems around the world.
1) are grant-making entities;
2) have a commitment to improving educational outcomes, particularly in low and middle-income countries;
3) receive the majority of their funding from private sources (e.g. endowments, profits, founding HNW gifts).
2) Match grantees to funders
3) Advocate for a single vision of education
4) Focus on any on topic within education, or one geography
5) Duplicate activities with other networks
1) Build purposeful coalitions to achieve amplified impact together.
2) Learn from each other, across our diverse and inclusive community.
3) Inform our grant-making by staying up to date with the latest evidence, debates and trends in education and philanthropy.
Our objectives will be achieved through various activities, which evolve year-on-year.
IEFG will…
- Support us to engage strategically as a constituency in
the global education architecture and in partnership to
national education systems - Build bridges of wider understanding and awareness of
education philanthropy among global education actors - Influence the wider education field to change practice, in part through recognising the diverse and disruptive contributions of philanthropy
IEFG will…
- Organise IEFG Together: a flagship annual in-person
opportunity for us to convene as a community, to learn,
share and network - Provide further in-person opportunities for us to
exchange knowledge, bring diverse perspectives to, and
build strong ties across our peer group - Facilitate virtual opportunities for us to share practical
knowledge and to explore potential for collaborative
philanthropy
IEFG will…
- Curate knowledge, debates and trends in global
education and philanthropy through a monthly digest and
on our online platform - Enable us to draw down on the hivemind of our
community through an online platform and interactive
dashboard
Our People
IEFG Steering Committee
The International Education Funders Group (IEFG) activities are guided by a Steering Committee that reflects the broad diversity of our group. These volunteers donate their time, expertise and experience to the proceedings of the network for a term of three to four years. We welcome new members to the Steering Committee each year, and are happy to hear of your interest.
Raman Sidhu
Chair
Octava Foundation
(Singapore)
Natalie Easton
Treasurer
Bundie Kabanze
The Global Fund for Children
(United States)
Faith Rose
BHP Fooundation
(United States)
Raymond Chipfakacha
Higherlife Foundation
(Zimbabwe)
Lindsey Barnett
The Rockdale Foundation
(United States)
Emilio Lopez
Tinker Foundation
(United States)
Marième Daff
Firelight Foundation
(United States)
Jim Plamondon
Spix Foundation
(United States)
Wangari Ngunjiri
Segal Family Foundation
(United States)
Stephen Caleb Opuni
IDP Foundation, Inc.
(United States)
Victoria Egbetayo
Gates Foundation
(United States)
IEFG Core Team
A small, agile and sustainably-funded Core Team with the knowledge and skills to weave and broker connections between us and opportunities for us is based in Denmark, France, Kenya, Pakistan, Chile, Egypt, and Germany.
Yasmein Abdelghany
Fellow, Climate x Education
Spings Akumah
Finance and Administration Manager
Leonora Dowley
Senior Lead, Philanthropic Coalitions
Gordana Kelava
Lead, Collective Intelligence
Barbara Hanisch-Cerda
Lead, Knowledge Curation
Laura Savage
Executive Director