In Colombia, where access to quality education remains deeply uneven across regions and communities, Teach for Colombia has spent over a decade working to close that gap. The organization recruits exceptional professionals and recent graduates, known as Ecos, and places them in classrooms in the country’s most underserved communities, where they teach for two years while developing the leadership skills to drive change far beyond the classroom.

The two years in the classroom are the beginning of a longer commitment. Alumni of the program go on to work across education policy, civil society and social enterprise, with 86% continuing as active agents of change long after completing their placement. In over a decade, Teach for Colombia’s Ecos have reached more than 150,000 students across 20 regions, with measurable results in mathematics, critical reading, English and scientific thinking.

Kaizen Foundation provides a grant that makes this work possible — the infrastructure, training and support systems that allow Teach for Colombia to recruit, develop and sustain the exceptional professionals at the heart of its model.