EVERY MOMENT COUNTS
Our Purpose: We believe all children should have access to the same opportunities, regardless of the circumstances into which they are born. Our purpose is to help children in impoverished areas gain access to basic needs and high-quality education.
Our Mission: The mission of La Piazza Foundation is to create a stable, nurturing environment in which children in impoverished areas can receive a quality education as we nurture the development of the whole child – physical, problem solving, academic, social, emotional and creative areas. We also provide them with access to food and water as well as a safe space where they can feel loved and have fun.
Our Vision: Our vision is to spread our philosophy on education to as many children as possible. By nurturing these children and giving them a solid foundation, we hope that they in turn can grow into productive citizens, and then male positive changes in their own communities.
Our Strategy:
Social Impact:
- We provide significant socio-emotional support for children, helping them to escape their circumstances of poverty.
- We help children to become productive, peace-building citizens of the world by implementing progressive education and enabling the participation of families and the community.
Financial Sector
- We generate social returns through efficient project management.
- We consolidate financial sustainability.
- Provide financial assistance to schools in need.
Internal processes
- Our programs, projects, methodologies, and causes are managed efficiently and purposefully.
Strategic assets
- We provide knowledge management (teaching methodologies, programs and professional development).
- We maintain and increase legitimacy and credibility.
- We count on the Foundation’s highly-qualified human talent.
OUR TEAM
Carrying Out a mission for a better world
La Piazza Foundation is about more than just one school, one country or one idea. My goal is to partner with as many international schools as possible and help them learn from us as we learn from them.
OUR FOUNDER’S STORY
I grew up in a small town called Manizales, Colombia. Growing up, I witnessed extremes of poverty. Some children have no access to clean water, food, or a safe place to live. Seeing this created an impact on me which I have always had in mind. In 2012, after the birth of my first child, I opened La Piazza Academy – a progressive school with the aim of providing the very best quality education for my own community. We developed a curriculum which nourishes the whole child and received positive feedback from our community. The demand for this program was so high that I opened a second location in 2017.
It was 5 years after opening my school, when I visited Manizales and found myself face to face with the same poverty I witnessed in my youth. Now, however, I had another perspective – these are children just like mine. The only difference between these children, struggling to survive daily, and my own are the circumstances of their birth. Children do not get to choose when or where or to whom they are born. Through the help of family and friends in Manizales, I came across a small school called Jardin Semillitas de Paz. I toured their school and witnessed their dilapidated facilities, lack of materials and understaffed faculty. The stories of these children were heartbreaking, and I could not stop thinking of my own son and daughter. The administration revealed to me that due to a lack of funding, they would need to close the school. This would leave the 40 children who rely on the school for their daily nourishment, learning and recreation without a hope in the world. I knew that I had to be the person to make a difference and help these children – I was put in this position for a reason. At that moment, the seed of La Piazza Foundation was sown. We adopted the school and have been providing funding and teacher training to the faculty since the summer of 2017.
La Piazza Foundation is about more than just one school, one country or one idea. My goal is to partner with as many international schools as possible and help them learn from us as we learn from them. My vision is to give a chance to these children who the world has written off due to their financial circumstances. I want them to not only have access to basic needs, but I want to see them flourish through our program. My hope is that these children can then turn around and further the development of their community and build a future which is kinder, gentler and more compassionate.