My Nonprofit Reviews

ConnecTeach stands for everything that made me want to become an educator. Founder Bhavani Parpia recognizes that education is the key to solving every single one of the challenges in the world today. Poverty, hunger, disease, violence- you name it. Every sustainable solution to every imaginable challenge must be centered around educating and empowering people. What I love most about ConnecTeach is that all partners are treated with dignity and humanity. CT does not approach a project with the mindset of how Americans can help people in other parts of the world, as some organizations do. Rather, they seek to collaborate and form lasting partnerships that empower educators and students to become change agents in their own communities, and in the global community. There is no "us" and "them" mentality, to which many well-meaning organizations can unintentionally fall prey. This is what sets ConnecTeach apart, and what will ensure that its impact will be seen and felt for several generations.

Volunteering with this incredible organization transformed me as a teacher, as a global citizen, and as a human being. In the summer of 2017, I had the opportunity to facilitate a training for preservice teachers at a Teachers' College in Uganda. During that workshop, the teacher trainees engaged in discussions about real issues in their community, and how they could use their role as educators to create meaningful, positive change. They tackled issues such as gender inequality, violence in schools, and generational poverty, and developed their own action plans for how to address these problems as educators and community leaders. Those 300+ teachers will each influence thousands of educators over the course of their careers, and each one left the workshop with a toolkit of resources to start creating real, sustainable change in their schools and communities. The recognition of an educator's viral influence is genius, and what makes ConnecTeach an invaluable partner in the global community.