It’s a global learning community for youth. Here you can take free courses, exchange ideas, gain new knowledge, and practice competencies offered by pioneering NGOs in controversial and often neglected topics such as sexuality, sexual & reproductive rights, climate action, health, and the SDGs.
Now back to my story… pre-pandemic our partners were predominantly located in Europe. This is of course a democratic problem, as we want our vibrant community to be shaped by diverse voices from all over the planet. With the onset of the pandemic, we saw a huge opportunity as many of the NGOs were forced to stop their face-to-face sessions and workshops. Most of them had little knowledge or resources as to how to digitize their activities. We set a very ambitious goal: Reaching 100 partners by the end of 2020.
The hunt for diverse partners begins
Through your introductions, Facebook, and Instagram we met with organizations focusing on sustainable agriculture in Colombia and Taiwan, NGOs empowering women in Kenya and the United States, and leaders fighting for human rights and democracy in Denmark and Malaysia. And “Las Niñas Lideran,” an NGO from Guatemala became our 100th partner on December 28th, 2020. This network, led by young girls, works in the prevention of violence against women, awareness of rights, and empowerment.
“Las Niñas Lideran,” an NGO from Guatemala became our 100th partner on December 28th, 2020. This network, led by young girls, works in the prevention of violence against women, awareness of rights, and empowerment.
Who are our partners
So who are our 100 NGO partnerships and what is the impact they have on our LAB community? We are proud of these amazing accomplishments in one of the most challenging years of our time:
- Every continent represented with at least one NGO
- Courses in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and Danish
- Groundbreaking courses on Technology, AI, and humanity
- Clear and trustworthy courses on sexual reproduction and reproductive rights
- Thought-provoking courses on sustainability, climate action, and ocean conservation
- Inspiring work and courses on advocacy and human rights
- A personal space to learn about mental health
The reason why this milestone is huge is because of the impact that reaching 100 partners has around the globe. We want to celebrate each of our partners because they have believed that the obstacles in 2020 were opportunities to grow, they have taken training sessions and have created awesome courses that are available to our growing community of more than 250,000 users.
Let me show you through a specific example why these partnerships were so important in 2020: Amigos del Mar is a Colombian NGO that has a mission with the children from an island called Tierra Bomba; they have one of the highest dropout rates in school and this organization helps them go back to school and has after-school programs related to the environment. We helped them create courses that they were able to get to the island so that they didn’t lose contact with the community; over 130 children benefited from this.
Amigos del Mar is a Colombian NGO that has a mission with the children from an island called Tierra Bomba; they have one of the highest dropout rates in school and this organization helps them go back to school and has after-school programs related to the environment. We helped them create courses that they were able to get to the island so that they didn’t lose contact with the community; over 130 children benefited from this.
We also had partners such as “My Menses” and “Power Period” who developed courses on menstruation allowing hundreds of girls to become familiar with this natural process while they were not getting any education about it in school. This means that organizations were able to reach more users than their direct community, they helped young students from all over the world and our users could have more content and courses available to them.
Nelson Mandela once stated that education was the best weapon you could use to change the world. We truly believe it. With one learner at a time and one NGO partnership at a time, we are making sure youth can have all the tools they need to take action and create a better future.
