In the third in our Conversations series, we talk to Sabina Vigani about building diverse coalitions to transform education in Côte d’Ivoire.

Tell us a bit about yourself. What was your role until recently at the Jacobs Foundation?

I moved to Côte d’Ivoire from Switzerland in 2006 to work on projects related to elections and human rights. I joined the Jacobs Foundation in 2015 when it opened its first office outside Switzerland, in Abidjan.

I was tasked with helping design and coordinate the implementation of Transforming Education in Cocoa Communities (TRECC), an innovative public-private partnership aimed at improving the quality of education. It brought together the government, the cocoa and chocolate industry, philanthropic foundations, researchers and academia, civil society organizations and social entrepreneurs. TRECC was an experimental coalition of stakeholders in the field of learning, driven by a shared aspiration to ensure that children are in school and learning, and to eliminate child labor in cocoa-growing communities. 

What did you manage to achieve through TRECC?

The launch of TRECC marked a shift in the Jacobs Foundation’s thinking from a traditional charity towards a more strategic and evidence-led approach.

As a result of TRECC, the Ministry of Education decided to integrate Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) into the national strategy for foundational learning. Pioneered in India by the NGO Pratham, TaRL involves training teachers on child-centered playful learning strategies, with a particular focus on learners who are lagging behind.

Over the course of the five-year program, more than 200,000 children benefitted from education and early childhood development interventions. It was definitely a good achievement, but still a drop in the ocean considering the challenges facing children in Côte d’Ivoire.

TRECC was a five-year program that ended in 2021. What came next?

The Child Learning and Education Facility (CLEF) initiative – formalized in December 2021 – stemmed from the success of TRECC, building on what was learned, increasing scale and harnessing the nascent ecosystem that TRECC had established. It was designed to enable the scaling of evidence-based solutions – such as TaRL – to address the learning crisis.

CLEF is the largest partnership in education focused on a single country, with its founding partners – the government of Côte d’Ivoire, 16 cocoa and chocolate companies and two philanthropic foundations – jointly committing 69 million Swiss francs.

How did the Jacobs Foundation’s experiences with TRECC inform the development of CLEF?

With the Brookings Institution, we identified some common ingredients for success in evidence-based education interventions. One of those was to help governments cross the ‘valley of death’, where only a few successful pilots manage to scale nationally. Indeed, most initiatives and projects across the social sectors die because people tend not to think about planning the scaling process, especially from a funding perspective. CLEF aimed to bridge this critical intermediary funding phase. We wanted to take the partnership to the next level.

Both TRECC and CLEF involve a wide variety of partners, from both the public and private sectors. Talk us through what it was like to convene all these different stakeholders.

When we started, the government of Côte d’Ivoire had never heard about this Swiss foundation – we first had to build a reputation. We had to build trust.

We sought to balance the Jacobs Foundation’s ideas and clear priorities with a genuinely collaborative spirit, facilitating the government to co-design initiatives and to effectively lead on whatever emerged.

At the same time, we began to engage with cocoa and chocolate companies who would become critical partners. These organizations were already investing in several education projects as part of their sustainability strategies, but their activities were largely disconnected from the government and from each other. Companies had a project mentality, not a systemic approach. And they were not really speaking to the government to learn about their priorities.

Once this public-private partnership was established, how did you drive forward this joint work?

We took a step-by-step approach to win people’s hearts. We asked our industry partners what they wanted to do and looked for areas of overlap with our mission. The first round of work in TRECC was more project-based but we were able to build relationships. In the second round of work in TRECC, we leveraged our education expertise: we took a more systemic approach and promoted solutions we knew were effective in other countries facing similar education challenges. CLEF is the third round, bringing the partnership to the next level – where public and private partners contribute funds to a joint facility to progressively scale effective solutions, starting in the regions with greatest need.

How did you ensure fruitful, productive discussions between the partners?

These very different stakeholders have different institutional missions, different working cultures, even a different language. This was about facilitating a mutual understanding, promoting dialogue, and trying to adjust and accommodate each other’s institutional culture.

Donors often have a ready-made initiative. We did not have a template on how to conduct this process. All we had was a genuine will to listen deeply and understand the concerns and ambitions of all the stakeholders. And we wanted to understand the red lines so that we could design proper governance mechanisms to steer such a multistakeholder partnership.Humility is key, as is a willingness to listen and learn.

What were some of the challenges you faced, particularly in the early days of CLEF?
As we launched the idea of CLEF, we had to deal with a good pinch of polite skepticism by several interlocutors who did not believe that such a partnership could ever fly. Finding the right champions with the right decision-making power to transform the idea into reality proved challenging. Then we had to navigate COVID-19, the departure of a senior government champion, and changes related to the electoral cycle. All of this has considerably delayed the formalization of the CLEF partnership.  

The Jacobs Foundation, as a philanthropic organization, is quite unique within the CLEF coalition. What role did it play?

The intermediation role of an honest broker is crucial. The Jacobs Foundation played this role throughout the TRECC program as well as in the preparatory phase of the CLEF initiative. The fact that the Jacobs Foundation contributes substantially to the funding of TRECC and CLEF gave it undeniable leverage.

The Jacobs Foundation is deeply committed to promoting the use of evidence in all the initiatives it supports. How did this inform your work on TRECC and CLEF?
We commissioned a landscape analysis to see which effective education interventions could address the learning crisis – this gave us examples of what works to show partners. We also mandated several researchers to investigate possible correlations and causal links between child labor and access to and quality of education. Cocoa and chocolate companies are not in the business of improving the quality of education. They needed to be convinced of the business case for investing in this area, as a preferred way to address one of the root causes of forced labor in their value chain.

This evidence-based approach created a ‘neutral base’ to make decisions from, avoiding any dependence on doctrine or opinion. This demonstrates how a Foundation can operate within such an exploratory space that many others would see as too much of a gamble.

What do you hope CLEF’s legacy will be?
We set out to have a positive impact on 5 million children and their learning. This is the legacy we hope for, that literacy and numeracy improve as a result of what we (and others) are doing. We want to make sure that by the end of primary school all children in Côte d’Ivoire can read and do math. The government in Côte d’Ivoire is now finalising a national strategy for foundational skills that has TaRL as an important cornerstone.

I also hope CLEF will trigger wider systemic changes. It can serve as a blueprint to address complex social challenges efficiently. This requires coordinating efforts, aligning initiatives with national priorities, addressing the root causes of a problem, investing in relevant, effective and scalable solutions, and leveraging the benefits of cross-sectoral cooperation.

What lessons can you share with other philanthropic organizations?
If you want to disrupt business-as-usual, you have to be brave enough to stand out. Don’t be afraid to stand alone and start your own dance. Not many people believed that we could make it. Foundations can afford to be braver and just try. Don’t be afraid to fail, as failures can be a source of useful learnings too. And shoot for the moon! Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.

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The Jacobs Foundation played a vital broker role in creating these innovative public-private partnerships. We share Sabina’s insights and valuable lessons here.

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Cathrin explains her work in developing three cross-sectoral partnerships that support and incentivize researchers and practitioners to create evidence-based education practices. LSX, LEAP, and the Coalitions for evidence-inspired action.

The ‘In conversation with’ series is designed to reflect critically on how we can do better and to capture useful lessons in the process. Read about our insights with Cathrin here: https://jacobsfoundation.org/in-conversation-with-2/

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In the second of our Conversations series, we talk to Cathrin Jerie about building diverse communities across a range of programs at the Jacobs Foundation.

Tell us a bit about yourself. What is your role at the Jacobs Foundation?

Originally from Switzerland, I have worked and lived in the US and Netherlands. My background is in journalism, communication, and the health sector, and I am passionate about leading social change. I have been at the Jacobs Foundation for six years, where I work as a program manager.

I develop complementary programs to build cross- sectorial partnerships that provide education and learning opportunities children need to thrive. This means creating the conditions that allow diverse actors to share and learn from each other.

Can you tell us more about each of the programs you run?

Overall, I oversee three main programs that foster communities striving to transform learning ecosystems around the world.

Firstly, I run the coalitions for evidence inspired action. These are partnerships between accelerators, universities, thinktanks and others. The coalitions support social entrepreneurs as they integrate evidence of what truly helps children learn and thrive. The partnerships are tailored to each stakeholder’s needs to accommodate geographic or structural demands. Through these goal-driven partnerships, the Foundation supports and incentivizes researchers and practitioners across the globe to work together to create evidence-based solutions for the 21^st century. For example, we are collaborating with the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education to create a pathway for education venture development, acceleration, and ecosystem engagement for the Jacobs Fellows and partner network bringing their resources and expertise in education research to entrepreneurs in the Jacobs Foundation ecosystem.

Secondly, Leveraging Evidence for Action to Promote Change (LEAP) brings together researchers, social entrepreneurs, and education ventures. Through these collaborations, the Foundation strives to support education ventures on their evidence journey through tailor-made support from experts in science and entrepreneurism. LEAP creates the conditions for change in the education system, removing the barriers that inhibit researchers and practitioners from working together successfully.

Thirdly, the Learning Sciences Exchange (LSX) program facilitates conversations between scientists, education leaders, entrepreneurs, journalists, and entertainment producers. LSX brings together participants from around the world – known as LSX Fellows – and split them up into teams to develop cross-sector projects to transform learning both in and out of school. LSX breaks down siloes and strengthens relationships between leaders and talented individuals from across Africa, Europe, and South and North America, creating an international network of change agents from different sectors. The aim is to advance the translation of developmental and educational science to drive change in schools, communities, and societies. 

Within these programs, how does cross-sectoral collaboration work in practice?

We have had to bepragmatic and creative in approaching the challenge of weaving together people from different fields and creating a space for collaboration between researchers and those from a market-oriented background. Social entrepreneurs often lead the process, working with others to improve a pre-existing service or product, such as an app. Through the LEAP program, sub-communities work in 3-4 person teams over a 12-week project ‘sprint’. In the LSX program, sub-teams of 5 people from each of the participating sectors collaborate over a two-year period. 

The first LEAP pilots started in January 2021, so the initiative is relatively early stage. MIT Solve were brought on as a partner, and their active facilitation was critical in driving the program forward.

Both LEAP and LSX provide a vehicle to bring people together. It’s important to challenge mindsets so that participants really listen to each other and understand divergent perspectives.

Why do you engage with communities in this way?

We know that we cannot achieve our goals alone. As a lean organization, we need people who help us drive change. People are the basis of change and that’s why we believe in and engage with them. When you bring together people from different sectors, from different fields, you see a kind of magic happening.

People want to meet each other, they want to talk to each other, they want to exchange ideas, and that’s when we see an explosion of creativity and innovation. It can be structured with co-creation moments but we always make sure there is time to socialize.

What are some of the challenges you have encountered when convening diverse groups?

It’s not easy to find people who are passionate, dedicated and keen to translate their skills into a different setting. The sweet spot is finding those who can benefit from this approach and support but who are also close to the market and able to bring products and services to end users. The main point is the impact on learning outcomes. So many apps are nice and glitzy but have no impact on learning. We are trying to support solutions with proven learning outcomes.

Bridging the needs of different sectors can be difficult. There’s the language issue: people use jargon specific to their sector, and they talk differently because they think differently. There are differing perceptions of urgency: the researcher wants to slowly accumulate evidence whereas the social entrepreneur wants to get into the market.

Another challenge is finding a balance when guiding the formation of the community. You want different voices in the room, but you need to facilitate the forming of teams with care and community management, so that you can take the team through phases of development to create strong bonds.

What lessons have you learnt on how to overcome the challenges of managing incredibly diverse groups?

First, you need to work with an experienced facilitator who accompanies each team through the phases of community evolution. Equally, it’s important that participants own the process and establish relationships independently. I have found that participants are willing to address these challenges collectively as they recognize and appreciate the inherent novelty of the approach.

I also think it’s important to focus on connecting individuals who are at a similar stage in their career to enable a more aligned level of interaction.

Finally, I believe programs could foster even more innovation through the recruitment of a more diverse set of people. It’s a shift we are focusing on within our own projects at the Jacobs Foundation, so that different voices from different cultures and locations are heard and new perspectives are included.

Besides the careful set-up, it’s really worth investing in the early stages of a program or initiative. It’s good to focus a bit less on the direct return on investment and believe in the longer-term benefit.

We should also recognize the circles that are being created – it’s a drop in the water but what participants take back and how they inspire others in their community expands the program’s impact beyond the immediate participants. We might not be able to monitor that but it’s there. Change can only happen slowly. We have to take the time and believe in the people who can make change happen.

Why do you think it is so important to foster cross-sectoral communities?

Not many organizations are trying to bridge this gap between sectors deliberately and systematically. Participants tell us that the premise is quite unique – there is not much space elsewhere for such collaborations. There is a hunger for this space to collaborate together. This hunger is evident in the data – for 40 places on LEAP last year there were 220 applications.

Breaking down barriers and working across sectors collaboratively can inspire the top-down systemic change we want to see in the education system. With LEAP, we’re working bottom-up on education solutions that are evidence based to create a learning environment where children are learning and thriving together. This will be the long-term legacy of building these communities.

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Welcome to the first in a new series of conversations with team members and partners at the Jacobs Foundation. In each instalment, hear our insights into approaches and challenges on the path to impact.

Today we talk to Audrey Pessot about the Jacobs Foundation’s impact investment journey in Côte d’Ivoire, where the Jacobs Foundation has worked since 2015.

Tell us a bit about yourself. What is your role at the Jacobs Foundation?

I am originally from France. I joined the Jacobs Foundation in 2017 as an associate to help manage a new impact investment program in Côte d’Ivoire.

What drew the Jacobs Foundation to the field of impact investing, and what was it like venturing into this space?

We recognised from the start of our journey into the world of impact investment that we were working in an innovative space. Following this pathway in Côte d’Ivoire was exploratory.

We wanted to keep it small, to learn – to try out different approaches and see what worked best for the companies we were investing in. It was all about creating positive impact through finance. How can we help the business thrive and the entrepreneur succeed? We wanted to be supportive, provide companies with technical assistance, and facilitate access to appropriate networks.

How did you select the companies in which you invested?

The venture philanthropy model does not see funding as a tap to turn on when required, but rather as a ‘soft’ form of investment where financial return is part of the contract. Sustainability is at the heart of the model. These companies need to be viable and sustainable on their own. We need to know that their survival does not rely on the funding. They need to thrive in the commercial market.

We typically invested in new ventures which often needed follow-on funding to help them establish market share or overcome the latest technical challenge.

What were some of the challenges you faced?

The education sector in particular can be a tough place to make money. Business models in education are difficult to develop and scale, especially in developing countries like Côte d’Ivoire.

In Côte d’Ivoire, the commercial context is uncertain, the products and services are at an early stage of development and the domestic ecosystem is nascent. For commercial investors looking for a high financial return over a short timeframe, the risk is too high. But as venture philanthropists, we can afford to take that risk.

How did you overcome these difficulties?

We started with some ecosystem mapping and realised that the market was tiny, there was really very little in the way of an ecosystem at all. This offered us an exciting opportunity to have real impact but it highlighted a question for us: if there’s no-one here in the market, why is that?

We are trying to show investors that there is a market here, a demand, a commercial opportunity. We are taking that risk to show others that they should invest more here.

How did the Jacobs Foundation approach its role as an impact investor?

Asking how we want to finance is as important as asking who or what we want to finance. We’ve developed a clear picture of what we want to finance. What financial instruments work and help us show both a financial and impact case for investment in the education space?

In the spirit of experimentation, several models were explored. We took a minority shareholding in some of the companies we invested in. This facilitated a close relationship, and the Foundation found innovative ways to help. In other cases, funding was indirect: channelled through a separate vehicle run by an external, well-established local partner.

Did you collaborate with any other funders?

We did not have the internal capacity to deal with a huge portfolio so we partnered to launch the Education Impact Fund which enabled us to create a hub for education funding, showing there is a successful case in Côte d’Ivoire to attract other investments. This also allowed us to strengthen local capacity and attract wider funding into this space. Perhaps, through this approach, we’ve been able to show others the way and share what we have learned.

This was all about sharing knowledge, bringing different voices together. As a Foundation, we were really focused on quality education; some partners were much more focused on the investment and return side. It was not always easy to agree on a common vision, but this created opportunities for everyone to learn.

How do you measure success?

There are multiple points of impact, all of which need to be measured. Financial return is quite easy to measure: if the product, service or company succeeds – generating growth, employment, and financial return – then the investment is deemed a success. The impact on individual learners, teachers, and others across the learning ecosystem is harder to evaluate, and itwas really hard to know whether we were creating real impact. The data we gathered from each company and each investment didn’t always tell us about quality. Companies would fall back on ‘enterprise metrics’ like program completion rates or student numbers, but nothing measuring the learning outcomes. They are rarely set up to do this in a systemic and rigorous way.

It can take years for the social benefits of impact investing to become visible. How would you recommend measuring success in that regard?
We need to make sure that impact is embedded into the process. For example, a research function within these companies could comprise people who understand how we learn, how the brain works, and how to measure impact. In addition, an impact committee could include external professionals who advise on how to measure impact.

Embedding impact measurement would give a more nuanced look at the change in learners. Outcome-based funding – given to a company if they achieve and prove impact – may be part of the future for impact investment.

What is next for the Jacobs Foundation’s impact investing journey in Côte d’Ivoire?

Right now, we don’t know how we have influenced the lives of kids in Côte d’Ivoire, which is at the heart of our mission. We need to focus more on this. We need to rethink impact measurement if impact investment is going to work long-term.

Impact can also come in other ways. Broadersystemic impact can be achieved through partnership and strengthening local capacity.

The partner we worked with on indirect investments plan to run their own fund to invest in education projects in Côte d’Ivoire. This is a major impact success. We have helped to build the ecosystem for these types of investments.

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Audrey Pessot joined the Foundation in 2017 to help manage a new impact investment program. Here, she explains how the Jacobs Foundation approached its role as an impact investor, what the challenges were, and the need for data to drive impact. Read the article in full here.

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