Collective leadership is key to lasting impact, in education and beyond

Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach for America and CEO of Teach for All, a global network of organizations working in 63 countries, believes that with enough leadership, it’s possible to change anything, including education. But that requires prioritizing people over things. Five years ago, she joined forces with other organizations focused on leadership development, including Global Health Corps and Emerging Public Leaders, to launch the People First Community, championing the importance of collective leadership for sustainable development. At Devex World, she was joined by Musimbi Kanyoro, board chair at United World Colleges International, and Jaime Saavedra, human development director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank, to discuss how leadership at all levels — in classrooms, school leadership roles, and government ministries — is essential to creating the systems change needed in education. Kopp said the global development community works hard to improve education outcomes through various strategies. “We're throwing a lot at it, and what we've come to think is the issue is what we're throwing at it is largely things,” she said. “And they're important. In fact, they're crucial. Like we need the standards, the assessments, the curriculum, the technology, the teacher training. We need all that stuff.” The problem is it's not sufficient, she said, making the case that collective leadership is the X factor in global development. “The missing piece, and this is what keeps me in this work, is intentional cultivation of collective leadership,” Kopp said. “And when we invest in that, finally, we see outcomes improving.” Local leadership can mean a lot of things, Kanyoro added. “Is it just the people who belong to the place? My answer is no,” she said. “It can mean people who have the skills, the training in those particular places, but also people who interpret for the rest of the world.” While Kanyoro is from and based in Kenya, she has worked all over the world, leading organizations including YWCA, formerly Young Women's Christian Association, where she was the first nonwhite, non-American, non-European leader in 150 years. Saavedra, formerly the minister of education in Peru, echoed Kopp’s points that collective leadership is key to addressing the global learning crisis. “The key thing is the people,” he said. People need to have a sense of shared mission to focus on what is best for children and to work with urgency to achieve those outcomes, Saavedra added. “Many of the policies that are implemented are not really thinking about the student,” he said. This focus on things over people isn't unique to education. It’s a trend seen across many global development sectors, including global health, where funding often prioritizes products over the people needed to deliver them. But the education sector does provide valuable insights into the power of collective leadership while highlighting the challenges of achieving the kind of buy-in needed to invest in people over things.