November 19, 2024
The award ceremony took place on the 15th.Best Practice PrizeThe award was presented by the Jacobs Foundation, which this year awarded Labedu alongside Fundación Escuela Nueva and Imagine Worldwide. The organizations were recognized for their work based on the effective application of scientific evidence, the use of a clear results framework, and the potential for scaling and implementation worldwide. The event took place in Zurich, Switzerland, where the Jacobs Foundation is headquartered.
During the opening ceremony, the CEOs of the host organization, Simon Sommer and Fabio Segura, highlighted the efforts of the Jacobs Foundation over the past 30 years to help children grow into successful individuals capable of fulfilling their potential. “We are here tonight to celebrate three examples that show us that change in education is possible if we believe in the transformative power of evidence,” said the leaders.
In her speech, Beatriz Cardoso, who shares the direction of Labedu with Andrea Guida and Nicole Piedra and represented the organization at the ceremony, reflected on the importance of producing knowledge about implementation processes to generate transformations, and on the challenges faced by Brazil with which Labedu's work dialogues.
“Brazil is a country that still faces very serious problems in ensuring that every child reaches their learning potential. That is why we advocate and work with evidence-based projects, with care and deep respect for the professionals who work in the education system. That is also why we make systemic changes, which are not quick or miraculous, but which have consistently contributed to the learning of thousands of children.”
At the end of her speech, Beatriz thanked the Labedu team and other organizations for their partnership, and looked to the future.“We are not content with improvements for some, we dream of gradual changes in level that consolidate quality education for all. We want to transform the extraordinary into the ordinary! It is a huge privilege to be recognized for this, rest assured that we leave here dreaming even bigger.”
From left to right: Fabio Segura, Co-CEO of the Jacobs Foundation; Lavinia Jacobs, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Jacobs Foundation; Vicky Colbert, Founder and Director of Fundación Escuela Nueva; Beatriz Cardoso, Director of the Education Lab; Karen Levesque, Director of Research at Imagine Worldwide; and Simon Sommer, Co-CEO of the Jacobs Foundation.