About
VISION STATEMENT
Our vision at LEI is to create a world where learning equity and educational excellence are attainable for all. We aim to achieve this through a collaborative network of experts, institutions, and partners, leveraging our collective expertise and research-based innovations to promote equitable learning in low- and middle-income countries. By building strong and sustainable relationships between national and international development agencies, think tanks, universities, and NGOs, we aspire to improve the lives of those at the bottom of the pyramid. We are committed to enlisting, developing, and mobilizing promising future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement towards achieving educational equity for those most in need.
HISTORY
The Learning Equity Initiative (LEI) has its roots in work that spans over four decades. Beginning with the establishment of the Literacy Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania in 1983, it grew to become the federally funded US National Center for Adult Literacy. In partnership with UNESCO, the International Literacy Institute (ILI) was established in 1994, followed by the Penn-UNESCO Chair in Learning and Literacy in 2013. In 2017, the Learning at the Bottom of the Pyramid (LBOP) initiative was launched to focus more development attention on marginalized learners globally. As an initiative specifically focused on improving learning equity, LEI was launched in 2023. Our goal is to ensure that quality education and learning equity reaches and supports the most marginalized populations of children and youth.
