Firelight Program Officer Carolyne Ng’eny elected to the Board of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE)

Firelight is delighted to announce that Carolyne Ng'eny, Firelight Program Officer, was recently elected to the Board for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). Carolyne’s role is to bridge between private philanthropy and the GPE and her election represents the first time that a community-centered grantmaker has been elected to the GPE Board.

“I am proud and excited to join the GPE Board at this significant moment for education around the world. The COVID 19 pandemic has tested our resilience, aggravated inequalities and kept our children out of school classrooms for long periods of time, and it has been community-based organizations and communities themselves who have provided much needed support to one another to ensure our children are safe and learning even if the schoolhouse doors were closed.

“As a former teacher, I have seen first-hand how essential communities are to realizing government aspirations for and investments in education. A good education is not guaranteed, even if a wonderful classroom has been built. Without communities, the classroom might be full but the minds might remain empty. Communities shape the quality of education that children participate in by ensuring that children attend school, have time to do their homework and have nutrition and care at home,” Ms. Ng’eny said.

“As a multi-donor fund that works with foundations and others to support community-based organizations (CBOs), we know firsthand at Firelight that they are often at the heart of their communities. CBOs play a key role in supporting children and their families to help ensure no one is left behind and to complement government investments in education. Working with CBOs provides for the best strategy yet to work with communities, understand them, and win their trust to formulate and implement solutions that work.

“International development is more effective when aid value chains capture and incorporate the voices of all actors – from the grassroots up – in policies and practice. Over the coming weeks, as governments pledge to prioritize and protect public spending on education, it is important to remember and value the integral role of civil society in strong and equitable national education systems and I am thrilled that community organizations now have a direct voice to the Global Partnership for Education,” Ms. Ng’eny said.

Carolyny Ng’eny is Education Program Officer at Firelight (www.firelightfoundation.org)
Based in Nairobi, Kenya, Carolyne manages Firelight’s secondary education, early childhood development (ECD) and early learning initiatives and community-based grantmaking across Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. Carolyne Ng’eny has over 15 years of experience in managing interventions aimed at social justice for disadvantaged populations – including women and girls, youth, marginalized communities, and people in low-income communities in eastern and southern Africa as well as India. Her experience spans across project and program management, capacity development, and organizational development for community-based and civil society organizations. Trained in project planning and management and a teacher by profession, Carolyne joined Firelight from Edukans Foundation. During her time at Edukans, she served as a Senior Programmes Officer in Kenya to support civil society organizations and schools to achieve Education for All (EFA) goals and to improve quality, access, retention, and transition of students in educational institutions in marginalized and disadvantaged areas.