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How can education philanthropy make a real difference? Throughout this series, we have examined strategic approaches and critical entry points for education philanthropy to effectively engage in climate education. From identifying leverage points and supporting teachers on the front lines, to fostering cross-portfolio integration and building partnerships with climate-focused funders, the path forward is becoming clearer.

In this final episode, we present concrete examples - individual, collaborative, and innovative - of education funders who are already demonstrating meaningful impact in advancing climate education. These cases illustrate the potential of strategic philanthropy to drive systemic change at the intersection of education and climate.

Hosted by Sally Vivyan from Gower Street, you will hear from:

• Veronika Blach - TUI Care Foundation: Veronika is Head of Environmental Programmes at the TUI Care Foundation, where she is part of the programmes team that looks for and co-creates projects with global partners. In this role, Veronika developed over 60 projects in over 25 countries, including several environmental education projects that follow the TUI Junior Academy Programme model.
• Sophie Marple - Gower Street: Sophie is the co-founder of Gower Street, which supports education and climate work in the UK and Ghana. In 2020, she also helped set up Impatience Earth, a philanthropy consultancy offering pro-bono advice to people looking to give in the climate sector and the grassroots organisation Mothers CAN (Climate Action Network). In 2022, Sophie became the Chair of The Climate Coalition.
• Jorge Manhique - Disability Rights Fund: Jorge Manhique is a disability inclusive development practitioner, a disability rights advocate and PhD candidate at the School of Social and Political Science, University of Lisbon.
• Emma Gremley - International Rescue Committee: Emma is an international education and development expert with over 20 years of experience leading policy, programming, research, and implementation. Based in Nairobi, she currently serves as Senior Director for Education, Economic Recovery and Development at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), where she leads two of the organisation’s five global focus areas across more than 30 countries.

Resources

• Investing in Disability-Inclusive Climate Justice: A Guide for Funders
• Risk Financing in Education scoping paper

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How often do you engage with colleagues across different portfolios? Have you ever considered how your Education and Climate portfolios could collaborate to generate shared impact? Many don’t, but this episode invites you to start that conversation.

In this compelling new episode, hosted by Kevin Marinacci, CEO of the Fabretto Children’s Foundation, we bring together key voices from IEFG members Porticus and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), to explore the practical realities of cross-portfolio collaboration. What are the barriers? What’s needed to spark meaningful cooperation? And what does a successful future of integrated strategy look like?

From CIFF:

• Eunice Ogolo, Director, Girl Capital – Africa
• Terri Wills, Climate Director

Sharing insights on the opportunities and challenges of bridging climate and education priorities.

From Porticus:

• Luis Felipe Serrao, Senior Programme Manager, Education
• Daniela Prioli, Senior Programme Manager, Climate

Discussing why collaboration between education and climate portfolios matters, and how a bold shared vision can shape the future.

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How can education and climate funders collaborate more strategically, sharing insights, evidence, and approaches, to deepen understanding and strengthen the critical connections between climate change and education?

In this episode of the BIG Series, we bring together funders from both sectors who are actively engaging at the nexus of climate and education, they will share with you concrete examples of successful collaboration. The discussion will explore how aligned funding strategies and shared learning can catalyze more effective, long-term collaboration, ultimately advancing solutions that respond to both climate and education challenges in an integrated way.

Sarah Beardmore, Strategic Partnerships and Capabilities Team Lead, Global Partnership For Education (GPE). Sarah is dedicated to improving children's education and well-being through her role at the Global Partnership for Education, where she leads the Strategic Partnerships and Capabilities team. With over 20 years of international experience, she collaborates on strategies to address challenges like climate change and school nutrition. Sarah is at the forefront of GPE's Climate Smart Education Systems work, driving technical assistance and climate finance initiatives to support the most climate-vulnerable regions.

Katrin Harvey, Secretary General, the Foundations Platform F20. Katrin is the Secretary General of the Foundations Platform F20. She previously served as Chief Operations Officer at the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens, working with global leaders and youth to advance the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement. With over 15 years of experience, she has led sustainability and climate action projects across Europe, Africa, and Asia in collaboration with international partners.

Bapon Fakhruddin, PhD, Water Sector Lead, Green Climate Fund. Dr. Fakhruddin is a leading expert on climate resilience. He has over 23 years of experience advising governments and organizations around the world on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. As a hydrometeorologist, his specialty is in climate risk assessment, early warning systems, community resilience, and water security. He is currently leading the Water Sector at the Green Climate Fund. He oversees climate investments in vulnerable countries around the world to support water security and early warning project origination.

Elizabeth Maina, Regional Programmes Advisor, Climate Resilience, The Agha Khan Foundation. As the Regional Climate Resilience Advisor at Aga Khan Foundation East Africa, Elizabeth leads the development of robust climate resilience portfolios across Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. She leverages biodiversity and ecosystem services to enhance community resilience to climate change.

Rupert Corbishley, Education Advisor, Africa, The Aga Khan Foundation. Rupert, a teacher by profession, started with AKF in 2012 working in Tanzania and provides technical and strategic leadership and support for the Education Improvement Programme and ECD teams across East Africa.

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Welcome to the third episode of the IEFG Brains in Gear series. Inspired by the IEFG Together convening in Singapore last April under the theme "The Future of Teachers and the Teaching Profession," this episode explores education philanthropy's role in supporting teachers amid the climate crisis.

Our four discussants highlight the growing expectation for teachers to prepare children for climate challenges. Without adequate training and support, this responsibility significantly contributes to stress and anxiety. Education philanthropy has a critical role in addressing this gap.

Felicia Hanitio, Deputy Director of Education Initiatives, Djarum Foundation, leads efforts to nurture 21st-century skills from cradle to career. With a background spanning technology, philanthropy, and education, she advises the OASIS Schoolyards initiative on behalf of anchor funder Milklife.

Michelle Cruickshank, Lead of Child Development Innovation, Grand Challenges Canada, oversees Play Learn Thrive, a new fund for education in emergencies, and Saving Brains, one of the world's largest early childhood development innovation platforms. Michelle's work focuses on advancing integrated, science-backed and locally-led approaches, translating research into action and driving impact at scale.

Lennart Kuntze, Global Head of Climate Education and Leadership, Teach For All, works with 14,000 teachers and over 90,000 alumni in the Teach For All network to advance climate education globally. Previously, he worked in climate change and environmental sustainability for over 10 years at the UN Environment Programme, International Renewable Energy Agency, and Harvard University.

Djian Sadadou, Head of International Relations & Communities, Office for Climate Education, has worked internationally at the intersection of climate and education for 8 years. At the UNESCO-based OCE in Paris, he bridges the gap between climate science and pedagogy while connecting local and global action levers.

Here are some resources for your reference:

• Milklife OASIS Schoolyards Project
• Teach For All Earth Day 2025 Campaign “Building Teacher Readiness for Climate Education”
• Teachers for the Planet Programme
• Teach For All Climate Educator Story Series for Earth Day 2024 (with Rockefeller Foundation)
• Teach For All Climate Education Resource Hub
• Learn more about Teach For All’s Climate Education and Leadership work here.

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Welcome to the IEFG Brains in Gear Series. In this inaugural episode exploring education philanthropy and the climate crisis, we ask ourselves what we can do regarding the "climate-proofing of education philanthropy."

In this episode, we bring together four experts who are pioneering innovative approaches to climate-conscious education philanthropy across Africa and beyond:

Fia van Rensburg, Knowledge Manager at the Independent Philanthropy Association South Africa (IPASA), shares her groundbreaking work on addressing "climate anxiety" in the funding community and leading the development of Africa's first climate commitment for funders.

Kate O'Brien, Executive Director of the Costa Foundation, explains how they've integrated climate considerations into their 18-year mission of supporting education in coffee-growing communities, sharing practical examples from Guatemala to Uganda.

Simon Wanda, Programme Specialist at UNESCO, discusses how the Greening Education Partnership provides a welcoming entry point for education funders at any stage of their climate journey, with over 1,700 organizations already participating.

David Nkrumah-Boateng, Country Programme Lead for PEAS Ghana, offers insights from the ground level on co-designing climate-smart schools and the importance of locally-led, contextual solutions in climate-vulnerable communities.

Together, these four explore how philanthropic organisations can identify practical entry points for climate action without abandoning their core education mission. From addressing "climate anxiety" in the funding community to implementing solar-powered schools and climate-smart agriculture programs, this conversation offers actionable strategies for funders ready to take their first steps.

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Welcome to the IEFG Brains in Gear Series. In this inaugural episode exploring education philanthropy and the climate crisis, we examine "The things that can happen when education and climate meet."

This episode explores a pivotal question: Can education funders fulfil their missions without addressing climate change? As host Sally Vivyan notes, "You can't be an education funder in lower and middle-income countries if you aren't thinking about intersections with climate." Our four discussants challenge us to recognise that most education funders are already climate funders - they're just not realising it yet.

Sally Vivyan, Co-Director of Gower Street, leads a spend-out grant maker focused on climate crisis intersections with education in Ghana and globally. She previously worked in international development and migration, holds a PhD in charity leadership, and continues writing on philanthropy topics.

Naghma Mulla, CEO of EdelGive Foundation, has spent over a decade transforming collaborative philanthropy in India. Under her leadership, EdelGive evolved from grant-making into a philanthropic asset management platform bringing together diverse stakeholders to co-design ambitious projects for India's most marginalised communities.

Francesca Beausang, Global Director of Communication and Partnerships at the Pharo Foundation, brings unique experience spanning academia and corporate finance. After completing her PhD at Cambridge University and lecturing at LSE, she transitioned to macroeconomics, covering emerging and developed markets. She has authored two books on globalisation and multinationals.

Ross Hall, Education Portfolio Lead for Fondation Botnar, models system change architecture, ensuring holistic child development while communities learn to thrive together, focusing on sustainable educational frameworks supporting individual growth and collective resilience.

Christina Kwauk, Ph.D., social scientist and policy analyst specialising in girls' education, 21st century skills, and gender-education-climate intersections. Co-editor of "Curriculum and Learning for Climate Action" and co-author of "What Works in Girls' Education," she serves as an education consultant at Unbounded Associates and co-founder of Unbounded Alliance.

Through candid discussions, these five reveal how climate change intensifies inequalities, examine barriers preventing greater climate education investment, and offer practical solutions for moving from indirect to direct climate action through education. From insights on India's education system, where only 120,000 of 1 million schools have eco clubs, to Kenyan water bank schools boosting attendance up to 95%, this conversation provides sobering realities and inspiring innovations.

The discussion emphasises education as the strongest predictor of adaptive capacity while warning against limiting impact to indirect links. Speakers advocate for intentional climate education integration, systemic resilience approaches, and collaborative action moving beyond silos to create change at the scale and speed our climate crisis demands.

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Welcome to the “Brains in Gear” series, or as we like to call it, the BIG series, brought to you by the International Education Funders Group (IEFG).

This podcast is a space for dynamic, timely conversations on varied themes most relevant to the current global landscape in education. This year, we're focusing on a theme that should demand the attention of every education funder: Education Philanthropy and the Climate Crisis.

We will tackle the often unspoken questions that education funders are facing. Can education funders reach their goals without addressing climate? Why has it been so difficult for education philanthropy to step into climate education? How can education funders start integrating a climate lens into their existing portfolios without derailing core priorities? What are the most promising entry points for action?

Throughout the series, you’ll hear from funders, practitioners, and thought leaders who are grappling with these questions in real time. They’ll share what’s working, what’s not, and what’s next.

So whether you're an education funder looking to understand where climate fits into your mission, a climate funder curious about how education can support your goals, or simply someone eager to better understand how philanthropy is evolving in the face of the climate crisis, this podcast is for you.

Get your Brains in Gear, and join us as we navigate one of the most important conversations in global education today.

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Welcome to the IEFG Brains in Gear Series. In this final conversation of this season, the IEFG's Education Technology Fellow, Anjali Nambiar discusses her takeaways from this year's BIG Series with the IEFG's Executive Director, Laura Savage and the IEFG's Senior Lead for Philanthropic Coalitions, Leonora Dowley.

Nb: This episode was taped before the USAID funding freeze was announced. As a result, we may see a different involvement of the aid sector than we expected at the time of recording.

This podcast was brought to you by the International Education Funders Group, curated and edited by Anjali Nambiar, with post-production by Sarah Miles. You can learn more about the IEFG at www.iefg.org.

Subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode! And don't forget to rate and recommend this podcast to your colleagues.

You can follow the IEFG on LinkedIn here. https://www.linkedin.com/company/international-education-funders-group-iefg

Subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode! And don't forget to rate and recommend this podcast to your colleagues.

You can follow the IEFG on LinkedIn here. https://www.linkedin.com/company/international-education-funders-group-iefg