Our Mission

We create the conditions for educators to act as local catalysts and drive meaningful change.

Our Vision

We strive to create educational systems that truly support teachers to act as innovators and to make a difference in their communities. We believe that by investing in the human capital in our schools we drive systems change so that schools better serve students, and teachers are valued as professionals.

Our 4 Pillars of Action

  • The Educators’ Fund: Investing in Teachers

    Impact happens when we invest in teachers' ideas. Through micro grants and startup style programming, we enable educators to drive meaningful change in communities, increase student learning outcomes, and demonstrate the transformative power of teachers to the world.

  • Teacher Catalyst Programming

    We provide teachers with place-based pathways to advance educational initiatives. We work with specific schools, districts, universities and education systems to facilitate, design and implement programming that ensures teacher-catalysts are supported in-house to drive positive change. 

  • Strategic Partners

    From the future of work to climate mitigation, from civic engagement to responsible tech and regenerative economics, we create spaces that connect educators with the causes they care about. We partner with organizations and translate impactful ideas for the education space. By bridging  organizations and teachers, we spark the collective action needed to create systems change. 


  • Storytelling Lab

    Teaching must be seen as a valued profession, and society must trust in its teachers. For this reason, we think it's critical to use storytelling and media to both capture and showcase the amazing work of our teachers. Through storytelling partners and innovative content, we shine a light on the impactful work of teachers and spread their ideas for how we might improve conditions for those in the profession.

Impact happens when we invest in teachers' ideas. Through micro grants and startup style programming, we enable educators to drive meaningful change in communities, increase student learning outcomes, and demonstrate the transformative power of teachers to the world.

The Educators’ Fund

Many teachers are already acting as catalysts within their schools and communities, actively promoting youth changemaking around the planetary crisis. For this initial cohort, we’re providing small micro-grants of 500euros to invest in teachers so they might grow their ideas and make improvements for students.

Many teachers want to realize more robust initiatives to address sustainability challenges but lack the resources to do so. We believe that by investing in educators with green ideas we give them the power to pilot localized, place-based climate solutions and unleash the potential in their students to take action in their schools and communities.

The Green Educators Cohort 2024-2025

Check out a few of the amazing teachers we welcomed into our initial cohort.

  • Climate and My Community

    Many young people in Abuja, especially those in underserved communities like Kuje, lack comprehensive understanding of the causes, effects, and potential solutions to climate change. In partnership with the KNOSK N100 A-Day Charity Secondary School, Kuje, where I teach and Ecocykle Development Foundation, Karu, Nasarawa State, I aim to implement a sustainable Climate Change Education program for 50 students at my school. As part of the program, 50 students will be selected across 5 different class grades and empowered with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to become active ambassadors and design community projects.

    - Sharihat Aliyu Hassan

  • Sustainable Food Waste Management in Schools through Vermicomposting

    This project seeks to address two critical environmental issues: the rising problem of food waste and the ongoing degradation of soil quality. At Coláiste Iósaef, we already have a small-scale vermicomposting system in place, primarily managing food waste from our Home Economics classes. However, we aim to significantly expand this initiative to handle a larger volume of waste from our school canteen and other sources of organic waste across the school.

    - Brian Kelleher

  • Student-led Solid Waste Management in the Mbaracayú Forest Biosphere Reserve

    My goal is to generate a school-community waste management system in the Aché Arroyo Bandera Indigenous community and the Ava Guaraní Mboi Jagua Indigenous community, biosphere reserve area of ​​the Mbaracayú Forest. Student-led, this will enable young people to act as environmental educators; and enable them to act as agents of change impacting both the physical landscape and the health and hygiene of their communities

    - Sara Alonso

Meet the Team

  • Michelle is an educational futurist who believes change in education can only happen if we support our teachers. For the past decade, Michelle has worked with schools and organizations to infuse startup strategies into professional learning so that teachers are empowered to reimagine education focusing on social impact topics like civic engagement, regenerative economics, and changemaking. After teaching social studies in both the U.S. and Switzerland, she co-founded the Educators’ Lab, which supports teacher-driven solutions to educational challenges. Michelle is the co-author of The Startup Teacher Playbook, and  Preventing Polarization: 50 Strategies for Teaching Kids About Empathy, Politics, and Civic Responsibility. She has worked with organizations like Getting Smart, PBS Education and Ashoka, and occasionally blogs for Edutopia. A graduate of IE University in Madrid, she is part of the Global Shaper Community of the World Economic Forum and has presented at numerous events, including SXSWedu and TEDxLausanne.

    Areas of Expertise:

    • K-12 Ecosystem + Strategy

    • Green Skills + Career Pathways

    • Active Learning for Sustainability

    • Social Emotional Learning and Civic Engagement

    • Transformational Leadership in Education

  • A former music and language teacher turned social innovation growth lead, David today helps mission driven organizations further their impact through the development of sustained fundraising and partnership models. Originally from Dublin, Ireland, David is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, where since 2009 he has established multi-stakeholder partnerships to drive positive change in sectors such as Family Business Sustainability with the Family Business Network, IMD Business School; Education Innovation Implementation at Scale as Director of the HundrED Foundation; and Digital Transformation and Catalytic Philanthropy with the World Economic Forum. David holds a joint International Bachelor in Music from University College, Dublin and Ludwig Maximiliian Universität, Munich; a Masters in Management from the Smurfit School UCD and is a graduate of the World Economic Forum’s Executive Masters in Global Leadership in collaboration with CEIBS, Columbia University, INSEAD, LBS, Oxford SAID, THINK and CERN

  • Lior Renous is a seasoned leader with over 15 years of international experience in the non-profit and social impact sectors. She is deeply committed to creating inclusive, accountable, and empowering environments. Throughout her career, Lior has developed expertise in organizational change, sustainable partnerships, and operational efficiency.

    Passionate about empowering educators as catalysts for meaningful, place-based impact, Lior believes that by investing in teachers as professionals, we can transform educational systems and build resilient communities capable of navigating the complexities of today's polycrisis world.

    In addition to her role at The Educators' Lab, Lior advises initiatives on optimizing structure, strategy, finances, and impact. She also serves as the Executive Director of the Chapel & York Swiss Foundation and is an active member of GivingWomen, where she champions women-led initiatives. Across all her roles, Lior is committed to building environments that enable individuals and organizations to thrive and create lasting, meaningful impact.

  • Darcy is the Founder of The Educators' Lab USA and a board member for The Educators’ Lab Global . After more than a decade in the classroom teaching English and theatre, Darcy now creates the type of PD she always wanted, driving change in education and empowering teachers as changemakers. Through her work, teachers reconnect with their purpose, rekindle their spark for teaching, and reignite the JOY of teaching and learning. She specializes in professional development design and implementation, interactive strategies for the classroom, meaningful tech integration, and building relationships with students. Darcy holds a Master’s of Secondary Education, is an ISTE Certified Educator, an experienced international presenter, and believer in the power of education. She lives in Fargo, ND with her husband Jeff, and toddler triplets, Kurt, Ben, and Cora.

  • Driven by a deep passion for environmental stewardship and community empowerment, Khulan Berger brings a resilient, entrepreneurial mindset shaped by diverse experiences in Mongolia, Singapore, and Switzerland.

    With a foundation in Electrical Computer Engineering and Sustainable Business, Khulan blends technical expertise with strategic insight to drive impactful projects and foster effective team engagement.

    At MYBLUEPLANET, Khulan established and grew HUB Romandie, successfully leading B2B projects, community events, and the communications and community department. She also holds strategic positions with The Climate Reality Project Europe, Swiss Youth For Climate, Our Impact Mongolia and The Educator's Lab, excelling in building strong collaborations with both internal and external stakeholders.

    Khulan thrives on new challenges, leveraging her intrapreneurial spirit to drive meaningful and sustainable change.

  • Beatrice is the Founder and Managing Partner of Dripstone Consulting, a purpose-driven consultancy specialized in impact assessment and measurement that works across the private, public and non-profit sector to advance collective social impact and sustainability.

    Previously, she was leading EPFL’s Tech4Dev initiative, a collaborative research program supported by the Swiss Development Cooperation. Tech4Dev has accelerated innovative and beneficiary- centered technological solutions with tangible and lasting social impact in the global South. During her time at EPFL, she established the NGO Council a cross-cutting and collaborative platform comprising 26 NGOs including WWF, Human Rights Watch, Médecins Sans Frontières, and other well-established organizations to collaboratively source EPFL’s research and innovation that could strategically accelerate their impact on the field.

    Beatrice has over a decade of experience working for impact-driven organizations such as the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship at the World Economic Forum in Geneva, the United Nations, the International Federation of the Red Cross, as well as the House of Commons, UK Parliament. She has been advising and mentoring start-ups throughout Switzerland as a trainer for Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency, whose role is to promote science-based innovation in the interests of industry and society in Switzerland, where she teaches impact measurement and impact analytics targeted to impact ventures.

     Beatrice is an Alumna of the Global Shapers Geneva Hub and a Sandbox member. She has joined the Innovation Advisory Board for UNLEASH. A London School of Economics Alumna she recently completed Executive Education in Social Impact Strategy at The University of Pennsylvania.