Team4Tech

By 2030, it is estimated that over half of school-age children will not be on track to acquire the skills they need to participate in the global economy. Team4Tech works to advance the quality of education for under resourced learners around the world through technology capacity building and relevant technology solutions. We partner with education-focused nonprofit organizations for 3-5 years, providing them with technology grants and pro bono staff training to accelerate core learning outcomes for their students and build relevant skills for quality employment through tech-supported, project-based learning. 

To fuel our programs, we harness human capital trends in the technology industry, where millennial employees consistently report that purpose and growth are their most important professional priorities. We engage these professionals in a human-centered design approach to solving ed tech challenges for community-based nonprofits around the world, through our unique project-based learning curriculum and our ed tech solutions roadmap.  

According to a UNESCO 2021 report, 258 million children and youth still do not attend school; 617 million children and adolescents cannot read and do basic math; less than 40% of girls in sub-Saharan Africa complete lower secondary school and some four million children and youth refugees are out of school. Additionally, forecasts show that over half of school-age children will not have the skills to participate in the global economy by 2030.

This data suggests that the quality of education needs to be examined, improved, and perhaps even transformed, especially in developing countries. Distressed economic conditions, combined with scarce government funding, result in a lack of opportunity for both teachers and students. Schools have poor infrastructure, and teachers have little training and few resources. Additionally, technology is contributing to disturbing inequality and a widening digital divide. Without digital literacy and universal access, the growing demand for employees with technology skills favors those who are better educated, well connected, and well off. 

According to a UNESCO 2021 report, 258 million children and youth still do not attend school; 617 million children and adolescents cannot read and do basic math; less than 40% of girls in sub-Saharan Africa complete lower secondary school and some four million children and youth refugees are out of school. Additionally, forecasts show that over half of school-age children will not have the skills to participate in the global economy by 2030.

This data suggests that the quality of education needs to be examined, improved, and perhaps even transformed, especially in developing countries. Distressed economic conditions, combined with scarce government funding, result in a lack of opportunity for both teachers and students. Schools have poor infrastructure, and teachers have little training and few resources. Additionally, technology is contributing to disturbing inequality and a widening digital divide. Without digital literacy and universal access, the growing demand for employees with technology skills favors those who are better educated, well connected, and well off. 

Team4Tech’s approach is grounded in research around how technology can effectively advance the quality of teaching and learning. Technology-assisted learning, together with teacher-training programs, have the largest positive effects on learning outcomes (World Development Report 2016). A meta-analysis of 77 randomized education experiments in developing countries (McEwan 2015) found that the largest mean effects of school-based interventions on learning were produced by treatments with instructional technology and teacher training. Guided by research, Team4Tech focuses on integrating relevant technology, content, and pedagogy to produce measurable improvements in teaching and learning.

Team4Tech selects innovative local nonprofit partners serving under-resourced learners, and helps amplify their impact through technology grants and pro bono consulting projects over three to five years. Our ultimate goal is to increase the number of youth and adults who are empowered with relevant skills for employment, decent jobs, and entrepreneurship.

We use detailed criteria to carefully identify local nonprofit partners with the necessary capacity, track record, scalability, and demonstrated commitment to improving education. We collaborate with them to scope projects to ensure quality deliverables can be achieved within specified timelines and to define success metrics. We then recruit corporate partners to provide financial sponsorship and pro bono consultants with the relevant capacity building skills. We meet at least quarterly with each non-profit partner to support the local solution implementation, to track progress against their defined metrics, and to help plan for scale in their national education ecosystem.

Team4Tech works with local nonprofit organizations whose target beneficiaries are under resourced learners - those who do not have equal access to quality education (girls, students in rural communities, students in urban townships and slums, and youth living in institutional environments). 

By building capacity for local staff and teachers through technology solutions and training, Team4Tech’s model has already demonstrated improvement in student academic outcomes and engagement. In Rwanda, the number of STEM student exhibitions grew 40% within just two years of Team4Tech’s partnership with the Rwanda Girls Initiative. In Malawi, students at the Team4Tech sponsored centers attended more classes (90% attendance rate) than their peers (83%) at other centers. These same students had higher passing rates on their term assessments than learners at centers without devices. Specifically, the passing rates for Math (89%  vs. 68%) and English (94% vs. 80%) is significant. In South Africa, the national drop-out rate during the COVID crisis was 15% across all public schools, while for Team4Tech’s partnership township schools, it was an astounding 0%. These are just three examples of increased learner engagement due to Team4Tech’s long-term partnerships with local educational nonprofit organizations across the globe to improve the quality of education and expand economic opportunities for under-resourced learners.

Over the past eight years, Team4Tech has engaged nearly 400 technology professionals to provide over $13M in technology grants and in-kind services to 35 nonprofit organizations in 19 countries, advancing the quality of education for 85,000 under-resourced learners. We have also launched an online Community of Practice in 2020 to facilitate knowledge sharing across 50+ educational organizations through monthly webinars and to provide curated ed tech tools for under-resourced environments. 

Our approach uniquely engages tech volunteers for both their expertise and implementation. Each year we engage over 100 pro bono technology professionals and have developed one of the most efficient operating models in the industry, reaching across 19 countries. For every dollar donated, we create up to 20x in value through our pro bono volunteer work and corporate partnerships. By ensuring that all of our technology grants are supported by pro bono capacity building, we deliver a holistic, sustainable model of technology integration and support over a three- to five-year period for our nonprofit partners. 

Since our founding in 2013, Team4Tech has engaged 700 technology professionals to provide technology and training to 35 educational nonprofits, reaching 85,000 learners across 19 countries: Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, Paraguay, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United States, and Vietnam. Through these projects, we have contributed over $13 million in technology grants and pro bono consulting services.  In 2021, we are supporting 24 current nonprofit partners reaching over 20,000 learners this year alone.

In 2022, Team4Tech will be supporting 30 nonprofit partners directly, benefitting at least 30,000 learners.  Through our online Community of Practice, we will provide knowledge resources to at least 50 additional organizations, indirectly benefiting 50,000 additional learners.  

In five years, we will have at least doubled the size of our nonprofit partner portfolio to provide direct support for 50+ community-based education organizations worldwide.  We expect to scale our indirect reach to support over 100 additional organizations with ed tech resources and knowledge through our online Community of Practice.

Team4Tech tracks the number of teachers and learners who benefit directly from our grants and capacity building.  Over the past eight years, we have made a difference for 85,000 learners in 19 countries.

We also work with our nonprofit partners to track progress every six months against their chosen indicators in four areas:  learner outcomes, learner engagement, teacher and staff productivity, and organizational sustainability and scale.  While each partner organization chooses the specific metrics in these categories that make the most sense for their work, some impact examples include:

• Improved learner outcomes: Since 2016, Team4Tech supported LEAP Science and Maths schools to integrate technology and STEM education into their curriculum across six campuses within townships of South Africa. Overall, the LEAP Class of 2020 achieved the highest university access pass rate of 79% since the inception of LEAP schools in 2014, compared to the national average of 36.4% and less than 2% for black South African students nationally.

• Increased learner engagement in STEM fields: Starting in 2017, Team4Tech supported teachers at Gashora Girls Academy in Rwanda to integrate technology into instruction and learning. In just one year, the number of STEM student exhibitions grew 40% for their senior capstone project, and in 2020, 100% of their learners completed STEM-focused capstone projects.

• Staff and teacher productivity: Of all NPO staff and teachers who have participated in a Team4Tech training, 94% reported increased technology knowledge and skills to train others and/or pass onto their students. Further, 92% of staff and teachers report increased productivity due to their improved technology skills, enabling them to spend more time focusing on student learning.

We have a team of 10. It includes 5 full-time staff and 3 part time staff. In addition, we also work with 2 part time consultants.

Team4Tech co-founders, Julie Clugage and Lila Ibrahim, had a long, shared history of working together at Intel Corporation to advance education and economic development through technology. Early in their lives, they each witnessed the transformative power of education in expanding opportunities for under-resourced students in Guatemala and Lebanon.

Our team members have a wide and deep background in the fields of education, technology, corporate social responsibility, and international development. Our five Program Directors have experience and degrees in engineering and international education. Nearly 80% of Team4Tech’s staff are women and Team4Tech’s two founders are both women in tech. Addressing the gender gap is pervasive in our mission to reach underserved learners - often women and girls in the majority of countries where Team4Tech projects are implemented. We strive to support women-led organizations and currently 17 of our 27 partners have women founders, CEOs/EDs, or country managers.

Team4Tech has a diverse team with 33% members from minority races. Our two co-founders are both women in tech and nearly 80% women in our staff. We strive to support women-led organizations and currently 17 of our 27 partners have women founders, CEOs/EDs, or country managers. Addressing the gender gap is pervasive in our mission to reach underserved learners - often women and girls in the majority of countries where Team4Tech projects are implemented.  Furthermore, we include representatives from the countries where we work on our Board, and we use an asset-based development model to co-create desired project outcomes.

We believe that the increased visibility from the Solve awards would help us connect with new, high-impact nonprofit partner organizations, as well as technology companies who would like to engage their employees in service learning projects focused on improving educational opportunities for underserved students around the world. We are also interested in partnering with ed tech experts at MIT to collect feedback on the resources we have developed for our projects.

As we seek to scale Team4Tech’s impact, we are interested in sourcing new ed tech solutions for our toolkits, raising awareness of our work to attract the right nonprofit and corporate partners, and support in pitching to new donors to support the matching technology grants we provide to our nonprofit portfolio.

We are interested in partnering with MIT, including the Poverty Action Lab on impact evaluation and the Media Lab on promising ed tech solutions/curriculum that we can incorporate into our solutions roadmap.

Team4Tech engages young girls in STEM education and promotes female entrepreneurship by providing tech capacity building and solutions to community-based education nonprofits across 19 countries. Team4Tech partners with established, high performing local nonprofits to advance STEM education and entrepreneurship for women and girls through projects that bring technology solutions and training - addressing the gender gap from schooling all the way up to workforce development and business leaders. The goal is to improve engagement and outcomes for women and girls by empowering them with the skills they need for better employment and economic opportunities. We are currently supporting 7 nonprofit organizations focused on girls’ education across 6 countries, with annual technology grants and pro bono capacity building projects. 

Team4Tech partners with these organizations for 3-5 years, providing annual grants and pro bono capacity building to achieve their impact goals according to a co-created Partnership Development Plan. For example, Team4Tech partnered with Kidspire Vietnam in 2019 to integrate Technovation, a global challenge for girls, into their after-school curriculum for girls living in one state-run orphanage. Team4Tech trained Kidspire staff and teachers in coding, design thinking, and entrepreneurship. By 2020, Team4Tech supported Kidspire to expand the Technovation curriculum across all seven of its program sites. In 2021, a Kidspire staff member became a Technovation regional director and Team4Tech volunteers are mentoring Kidspire’s girl teams to competitively pitch their apps in the global Technovation challenge.