Fundación Escuela Nueva (FEN) was built on Vicky’s twin beliefs: all children have a right to quality education, and quality education is the best way to reduce inequality. Her work has demonstrated—first in Colombia, now around the globe — that with proper innovation, rural, remote schools can develop active, cooperative, and personalized learning environments where children learn to learn.

From Vicky's perspective, policymakers have focused on improving education through administration and management. But the real way to strengthen education systems, she believes, is developing teachers and students as “agents of change”, and schools as “units of change”.

FEN trains teachers using the same methodology they’ll use with their students in the classroom. And they work on activities that allow them to reflect on their teaching practices. FEN also encourages horizontal interaction between peers to share experiences, so teachers can learn from one another. That’s how they’ve helped shift the focus on learning from a teacher-centered to child-centered learning—and become one of the longest sustained education innovations supporting underserved populations around the world.

Vicky is a Yidan Prize laureate; after completing her projects, she joined our independent Judging Committee, where she lends her expertise to the education development panel. She’s taken part in fellow laureate Professor Carol Dweck’s workshops on growth mindset with the OECD, and has reached out to fellow Council of Luminaries members to explore opportunities to work together in the future.