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HundrED Foundation will manage and administer the BHP Foundation's Education Development Fund from the end of this year and continue its legacy by overseeing the funded pilots and sharing the associated learning.
“The EDF portfolio was intentionally designed with a higher tolerance for innovation risk and experimentation, something we at HundrED appreciate immensely. This kind of catalytic funding is rare. We feel honoured to continue the legacy of the BHP Foundation, and we hope that sharing the learnings will inspire other funders to provide similar funding for innovation”, says Lasse Leponiemi, at HundrED Foundation.
"This kind of catalytic funding is rare. We feel honoured to continue the legacy of the BHP Foundation, and we hope that sharing the learnings will inspire other funders to provide similar funding for innovation."
“We’re very proud of the work being done by the partners through the EDF and feel fortunate that HundrED Foundation has agreed to provide the platform and expertise to support the continuation of that work” says Faith Rose, Program Director at BHP Foundation.
Rapid Piloting Continues
Rather than operating as a conventional grant-making mechanism, the EDF has been funding agile, time-boxed pilots: each runs for up to 18 months, operates on a budget under US$1.5 million, and has been selected specifically for its ability to produce real-time evidence of potential impact rather than a finished, proven-at-scale program. This work is now being transferred to the HundrED Foundation.
The scope remains focused on the underserved and rural teenagers and on STEM and future skills initiatives. Why? The early years of secondary school are a tender moment for a young person. Identity and aspirations are forming, and many bright and talented students from marginalised or disadvantaged populations already have their options narrowed at this stage. The EDF was built on the premise that intervention needs to happen early enough to change a young person's trajectory still, but at a moment when they have the agency, interest, and emerging skills to act on it.
Building upon existing collaboration
To date, the EDF has invested US$10.5 million in seven STEM-focused pilots and five pilots focused on Future Skills. Pilots are run in Canada, Chile, Australia, Peru, and Argentina. Collectively, these pilots aim to support more than 80,000 students and over 1,000 educators.
HundrED partnered with the BHP Foundation last year to document and closely follow the pilots, and fund management is a natural next step as the BHP Foundation approaches full investment of its endowment.
“BHP Foundation leaves us an incredibly well-managed portfolio with impressive pilots and rock-solid impact tracking”, says Lasse Leponiemi.
“We have had the pleasure working with HundrED when we partnered with them to support the EDF partners to communicate the findings and impact of the pilots. This therefore felt like a natural evolution of that partnership and we’re grateful they will be bringing both their expertise in education innovations and in communicating effectively with a broad set of audiences.” says Faith Rose.
What Happens Next
BHP Foundation and HundrED will share the learnings and progress of the current pilots with the wider education community in a joint campaign starting this week.
Next, during the transition period, some existing partners will be offered the chance at a second round of funding to take the evidence from the current pilots even further. HundrED’s role, in the spirit of carrying forward the legacy of the BHP Foundation's EDF, is to manage these reinvestments and maximise the learning and impact generated from the initial portfolio. By providing a platform to amplify learnings from funded projects, HundrED also ensures the wider ecosystem can draw on pilot experiences and provide targeted support and connections where they matter most.
“As BHP Foundation approaches the full investment of the endowment, it is incredible to see the impact that these partners are having on marginalized young people across so many different contexts and the potential for that impact to scale over time. We feel confident that HundrED Foundation will work with the EDF partners to ensure that happens in a thoughtful and sustainable way” says Faith Rose.
More about BHP Foundation & Education Development Portfolio
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