How the Academy for Educational Development is Shaping Tomorrow’s Leaders?

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) was a non-profit organization that worked to address global challenges in education, health, and economic development. Founded in 1961, AED aimed to improve education, health, and economic opportunities for underserved communities around the world.

At its core, AED strove to build local capacity, ensure lasting impact, and promote self-sufficiency in the communities where it worked. The organization placed great emphasis on evidence-based models, monitoring and evaluation, and adapting programs based on results. AED worked closely with local partners and stakeholders to develop context-specific solutions to entrenched development challenges.

With expertise across multiple sectors, AED aimed to take an integrated, comprehensive approach to human development. The organization believed multi-faceted programs and partnerships were key to enabling communities to create their own solutions. Driven by its mission to make a lasting difference in people’s lives, AED worked for over 50 years to empower underserved populations around the world.

History

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) was founded in 1961 by a group of leaders in education, public health, and social change. The organization was established as a nonprofit with the goal of addressing critical social issues around the world.

AED was founded by Dr. William G. Carr, an education professor at George Peabody College, along with Dr. Jack Josey and Dr. Richard C. Moultrie. Carr served as the founding president of AED. The founders were motivated by a desire to harness the power of education to create positive social change on a global scale. They aimed to build an institution that could bring together expertise across sectors to tackle entrenched problems in education, health, and economic development.

In the early years after its founding, AED focused on projects in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Some of their early work involved developing textbooks, training teachers, and providing fellowships. AED expanded over time to work in over 150 countries, while maintaining education as a core priority. The organization grew to have over 2,000 staff members globally before its closure in 2011.

Programs

AED implements programs across several focus areas including education, health, gender equity, youth development, fragile states, and more. Some of their major initiatives and focus areas include:

• Basic Education – AED has implemented basic education programs in over 30 countries, working to increase access to quality education for all children. Major initiatives include early grade reading programs, support for marginalized groups like girls and children with disabilities, and education policy reform.

• Higher Education – Through partnerships with universities globally, AED has provided training for faculty, supported curriculum reform, promoted skills development, and more. This focuses on strengthening higher education systems, especially in developing nations.

• Workforce Development – AED implements skills training programs, often using a market-driven approach tailored to local employer needs. Initiatives equip youth and adults with employable skills and connect them to jobs.

• Democracy and Governance – AED supports democratic participation, elections, civil society groups, media, and governance reforms. Projects strengthen democratic institutions and citizen engagement.

• Gender Equity – AED implements programs focused on girls’ education, women’s leadership, gender-based violence prevention, maternal health, and more. Goals include empowering women and promoting gender equality.

• Youth Development – AED empowers young people through education, civic engagement programs, health services, skills training, and more. This aims to support their positive development into adulthood.

• Health and HIV/AIDS – AED implements health programs worldwide, with a focus on HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, infectious diseases, and more. Initiatives increase access to care and prevention services.

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Locations

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) operates programs around the world, with a focus on improving education, health, and economic opportunities. Some of the key locations where AED has had a significant presence include:

• Washington, D.C. – AED is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and has maintained a strong presence there since its founding in 1961. The D.C. office houses many of AED’s leadership, research, and program support functions.

• Africa – AED has run numerous projects across Africa over the decades, aimed at improving health, education, and food security. Countries where AED has been especially active include Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

• Asia – In Asia, AED has focused efforts on education reform and workforce development in countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

• Latin America & the Caribbean – AED’s work in Latin America and the Caribbean has spanned early childhood education, workforce training, and youth development programs in countries like Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru.

• Middle East & North Africa – In the Middle East and North Africa region, AED has run education, health, and economic growth programs in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestinian Territories, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen.

So in summary, AED has leveraged its expertise in education, health, and economic development to operate hundreds of programs across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and more over its 60+ year history. Its global reach has enabled it to adapt solutions and best practices across continents to improve lives around the world.

Partners

The Academy for Educational Development partners with a wide range of organizations to advance its mission of improving education, health, civil society and economic development around the world. Some of AED’s key partners include:

• USAID – AED has partnered with the United States Agency for International Development on numerous projects focused on education, health, democracy and governance in the developing world. This includes initiatives like the Basic Education Program in Morocco and the Health Policy Initiative.

• World Bank – Working with the World Bank, AED has implemented education projects funded by the International Development Association in countries like Ghana, India and Morocco. This collaboration allows AED to leverage the Bank’s resources to expand access to quality education globally.

• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – As a champion for innovations in teaching and learning, AED has teamed up with the Gates Foundation on initiatives like the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa and the Global Libraries program. These partnerships harness the foundation’s significant investments in education and development.

• Local organizations – In the countries where AED operates, it partners with local civil society groups, governments, schools and organizations. These on-the-ground collaborations are key to ensuring AED’s work is tailored to local needs and sustainable over the long-term.

Funding

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) receives funding from a variety of sources including governments, foundations, corporations, and individuals. Some of their major funders include:

• USAID – The United States Agency for International Development is a major funder of AED programs related to global health, education, and economic growth. USAID has provided hundreds of millions in funding to AED over the years.

• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – The Gates Foundation has partnered with and funded AED for initiatives related to agricultural development, financial services for the poor, global libraries, and more. Their grants to AED often amount to tens of millions of dollars.

• The World Bank – The World Bank has contracted AED for numerous educational projects around the world funded by World Bank loans and credits. This includes major projects improving education systems in countries like Mexico, Morocco, and Vietnam.

AED also receives significant funding from national governments like the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. These government grants support major international development projects in education, health, microfinance, agriculture and more. AED also gets funding from private foundations and individuals who support their mission.

Impact

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) has had a significant impact through its wide range of international development programs over the past 50+ years. AED works in over 150 countries and all world regions, improving education, health, civil society, technology, and economic development around the globe.

Some key impacts of AED’s work include:

• Providing access to quality education for over 1 million learners worldwide through programs focused on teacher training, curriculum development, education policy, and more. This includes major programs in countries like Morocco, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan and many others.

• Training over 2.5 million health workers globally, helping expand access to healthcare and reduce child and maternal mortality rates. AED has implemented major health training programs across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

• Empowering marginalized groups through civil society strengthening programs focused on citizen participation, governance, human rights, gender equality, and inclusion. This work has reached thousands of civil society organizations.

• Pioneering new applications of technology for development, from interactive radio instruction to expand education access to mobile health tools improving healthcare delivery.

In total, AED has delivered over $3.8 billion in development programs funded by donors like USAID, foundations, corporations, and host country governments. Their extensive global footprint and decades of experience have enabled meaningful impact on priority development challenges worldwide.

Criticisms

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) has faced some controversies and criticisms over the years. Here are some of the main issues that have been raised:

• Lack of financial transparency – As a large non-profit organization receiving substantial government grants and contracts, AED has faced criticism over a lack of transparency around its finances and spending. There have been calls for the organization to be more open about how it uses its funding.

• High executive compensation – AED’s top executives have been paid very high salaries, with some making over $500,000 per year. This has led to accusations that the non-profit is more focused on enriching its leadership than achieving its mission. The high salaries have been controversial, especially when AED has had to lay off staff due to budget cuts.

• Program mismanagement – There have been some cases of AED mismanaging programs it was contracted to run. For example, in 2006 it had to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit over its mishandling of a USAID program in Egypt. This pointed to oversight and accountability issues within the organization.

Leadership

The key leaders at the Academy for Educational Development (AED) are its President, CEO, board members, and senior leadership team.

The President and CEO of AED is Dr. William S. Reese. Dr. Reese has served in this position since 2009. He has over 30 years of experience in international development, with a focus on education, youth development, and institutional capacity building. Prior to joining AED, Dr. Reese served as the Director of Education for Save the Children.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of AED is John Porter. Mr. Porter is a Managing Director at Capricorn Investment Group. He has served on the board of AED since 2008. Other board members include leaders in education, international development, and the private sector.

The senior leadership team includes experienced professionals in areas such as program development, research and evaluation, operations, and finance. Some members of the senior leadership team include:

• Dr. Fiona M. Mackintosh, Chief Operating Officer
• Dr. Sajit Zachariah, Senior Vice President of International Development Division
• Dr. Fredrick Muyia, Vice President of Global Learning Group
• Ms. Cynthia T. Nelson, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Their expertise and vision drive AED’s mission of strengthening education worldwide.

Future Directions

The future looks bright for AED as it continues to be a leader in international education and development. Some key areas where AED is likely to focus going forward include:

• Expanding access to education globally: AED will build on its decades of experience in improving education systems and access around the world. It is well-positioned to support countries in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal of quality education for all by 2030.

• Harnessing technology: Technology offers new opportunities to deliver education and training at scale to underserved populations. AED will leverage innovations in educational technology to reach more learners.

• Developing 21st century skills: Critical thinking, problem solving, communication and other key competencies are in demand. AED will design programs to equip youth with skills to succeed in work and life.

• Partnerships and collaboration: Tackling complex education challenges requires diverse partners working together. AED will facilitate multi-sector partnerships across government, civil society, philanthropy and the private sector.

Though challenges remain, AED has demonstrated over 50+ years an ability to evolve and address urgent needs in education.