The LEGO Foundation and Ashoka Announce 10 Champions of the Re-imagine Learning Challenge

Innovators, educators, academics, and many others from 63 countries submitted more than 630 of the most innovative, impactful and sustainable learning projects to “The Re-imagine Learning Challenge” changemakers.com/play2learn.

The 10 Champions were vetted and selected by a panel of eight expert judges:

The Judges
• Stavros N. Yiannouka – CEO, World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE)
• Jørgen Vig Knudstorp – CEO, LEGO Group
• Sarah Brown – Chair, Global Business Coalition for Education & President, TheirWorld
• Vicky Colbert – Founder and Director, Fundación Escuela Nueva
• David Gauntlett – Professor, Media and Communications, University of Westminster
• Johann Koss – President and CEO, Right To Play International
• Mitchel Resnick – LEGO Papert Professor, Learning Research; Head of Lifelong Kindergarten, MIT
• Mirjam Schöning – Global Head, Programmes and Partnerships at the LEGO Foundation

The Champions
● Creative Classrooms through Empowered Teachers, United States/Global
● Collège Catts Pressoir, Haiti
● Design for Change, India
● Dream A Dream, India
● Fabretto Children's Foundation, Nicaragua
● Global Cardboard Challenge: Imagination Foundation, United States/Global
● Lively Minds, Uganda/Ghana
● PUPA Early Childhood Development, Brazil
● Skateistan, Afghanistan/Cambodia/South Africa
● WASH United (WASH = Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), Kenya

“Re-imagining learning requires breaking out of traditional models and institutions and venturing out on a journey filled with creativity and playfulness,” said Mirjam Schöning, Global Head of Programmes and Partnerships in the LEGO Foundation. “These 10 Champions reflect some of the world’s most promising, high-impact, scalable solutions in the field. They are role models for equipping children with the right skills to become creative problem solvers, team players and engaged, lifelong learners. We certainly hope the world will take notice of these hidden champions.”

"Children and young people need to be creative and empathic changemakers if they are to tackle the critical and complex challenges we face as a global society,” said Konstanze Frischen, Member of Global Leadership Team at Ashoka. “As we’ve learned from the Champions: Play is one of the best ways to enable children to acquire these skills. We look forward to supporting the Champions as they drive innovation in play and learning.”

About LEGO Foundation
The LEGO Foundation is a corporate foundation that shares a mission with the LEGO Group: inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow. The Foundation’s work is about re-defining play and re-imagining learning - changing the way that people understand the importance of play and the value it has in equipping children with essential skills for life in the 21st century and helping parents and education systems use the transformative power of play to improve learning for millions of children. www.LEGOFoundation.com

About Ashoka
Founded in 1980, Ashoka is the world’s working community of over 3,000 leading social entrepreneurs. It champions the most important new social change ideas and supports the entrepreneurs behind them by helping them get started, grow, succeed, and collaborate. Ashoka’s vision is to create change today, for an Everyone A ChangemakerTM society to become the reality of tomorrow.
www.ashoka.org

About the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE)
Qatar Foundation, under the leadership of its Chairperson, Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser established the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) in 2009. WISE is an international, multi-sectoral platform for creative thinking, debate and purposeful action. WISE has established itself as a global reference in new approaches to education. Through both the annual Summit and a range of ongoing programs WISE is promoting innovation and building the future of education through collaboration. WISE 2014 will take place 4-6 November in Doha.


Media Contact
Frederikke Tømmergaard, Senior Communication Manager, LEGO Foundation: Frederikke.Toemmergaard@lego.com 
Marzena Zukowska, Lead Media Manager and Strategist, Ashoka Changemakers: mzukowska@ashoka.org


*subject to completion of LEGO Foundation’s pre-award due diligence process