The Power of Education
I love Desert Island Discs.
Created in 1942, Desert Island Discs is a BBC Radio 4 show where a guest is invited to choose eight records they would take with them to a desert island. I was listening to a recent show where host Kirsty Young was talking to political scientist Professor Louise Richardson about the power of education.
From humble beginnings in Ireland, Professor Richardson was the first person in her family to go to university. After a string of successes in academia taking her from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), to Harvard, to St Andrews, she has now become the first woman ever to be the Vice Chancellor of Oxford University.
Richardson believes that growing up in a large family with 3 brothers exposed to her the myth of male superiority at a very young age. She became determined early on that there was nothing her brothers could do that she couldn’t.
She praises the power of education in transforming lives. Richardson encourages those who can afford to, to help those less fortunate with education. She would not be where she is today without the scholarship that initially took her to UCLA in the 70s.
This really resonated with me because we thoroughly believe in the power of education at Lever. We like to extend our enterprise beyond our own reach, and not only drive learning in the organisations we work with, but also around the world. We are currently partnering with CARE Australia, who are a leading humanitarian organisation fighting global poverty by improving basic education, health and sanitation around the world.
CARE believe supporting women and girls is one of the most effective ways to create sustainable outcomes in poor communities. Equipped with the right resources, women and girls don’t just lift themselves out of poverty, they change their families, communities and society for the better, breaking poverty cycles.
So every time one of our participants complete a learning transfer session as scheduled we donate funds to CARE. Sincere thanks to our participants for prioritising their learning, and in turn driving learning around the world by girls in poverty the opportunity to go to school.
To cap it all off, Louise made a final point around the importance of reflection – hurrah! Preaching to the converted of course. Louise is 4 months into her role at Oxford University – but is finding no time for reflection. She acknowledges that this is something that must change! It’s wonderful that Louise recognises this. Reflection for executives is so important, and as those who follow my work will know – an integral part of our learning transfer solution. Go Louise.