Q Life Magazine Q Magazine (US) June 2017 | Page 52

Education and Sport | | Issue 3 WISE: World Innovation Summit for Education Education is the driver of human development and Qatar Foundation’s World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) is a celebration of innovative and collaborative educational projects that work to build a prosperous future. S ince 2009, WISE has built a thriving global, and multi-sectoral community, which generates fruitful dialogue and productive partnerships to deliver quality education. WISE works towards bridging the widening gap between the education systems currently in place and those required to meet the needs of future generations. Through an annual conference held in Doha, and a range of initiatives, WISE is a platform for creative thinking, debate, and purposeful action. As the world’s challenges appear increasingly intractable, QF and WISE champion the belief that education is the key to addressing these challenges: poverty, conflict, challenging geographies, and inequality, to name a few. WISE’s initiatives include an “Accelerator” program to support and develop innovation in the field of education. Through mentorship programs, WISE selects projects with the potential for scalability, with a view to increasing impact and addressing specific needs. The program 52 al lows Qatar to share learnings in the field of education to a global audience, with the current cohort of applicants hailing from countries as diverse as Canada, the Philippines, the Netherlands, and Australia. WISE also seeks to recognize those providing an outstanding, world-class contribution to education through the WISE Prize for Education. Every year, laureates are awarded $500,000 to continue their exemplary work and advocate for education worldwide. Previous winners include Dr Sakena Yacoobi, Ms Ann Cotton, Ms Vicky Colbert, Dr Madhav Chavan and Sir Fazle Hasan Abed. Dr Yacoobi for example, founded the Afghan Institute of Learning, an organization that provides teacher training to Afghan women to support education for children. Dr Chavan received an award for his role as CEO-President of Pratham, an organization that reaches three million primary school children in India every year. Education is the key to addressing these challenges: poverty, conflict, challenging geographies and inequality, to name but a few. | Michelle Obama speaking at the 2015 WISE Summit, Doha 53