Paris, June 2026 – The Foundation for GPE, a new entrepreneurial vehicle designed to support the Global Partnership for Education’s mission of transforming education in lower-income countries, was officially launched on the sidelines of GPE’s Board meeting in Paris. Backed by a coalition of seed funders and four pioneering partnerships, the Foundation marks a milestone in mobilizing innovative private sector and philanthropic support for education across more than 90 countries.
Speaking at the launch, Dr. Tunji Alausa, Nigeria’s Minister of Education, emphasized the importance of education as the backbone of national development. Nigeria, co-host of GPE’s Multiply Possibility campaign, welcomed the Foundation as a critical step in advancing global education transformation.
Anchored in GPE’s country-led model, the Foundation aligns new investments with national priorities while scaling evidence-based solutions. It offers greater flexibility to engage technical partners, pilot innovative financing structures, and unlock new sources of capital beyond traditional grants. Contributions can also leverage GPE’s 1:1 Match mechanism, doubling the impact of private and philanthropic funding.
The launch introduced four pioneering partnerships:
The Jannik Sinner Foundation, with support from Gucci, funding GPE’s Girls’ Education Accelerator to reach 3.2 million girls in fragile and conflict-affected contexts.
The Grenada Private Sector Alliance for Education, pooling resources to ensure every child in Grenada can read by age nine.
The Cisco Networking Academy, providing in-kind support to strengthen ministries’ data and analytics capacity for evidence-based decision-making.
A new Philanthropy Guarantee instrument, enabling philanthropic actors to unlock capital at scale for education and skills programs.
Early support from leading funders such as the Jacobs Foundation, Julius Baer Foundation, Fondation Botnar, Federer Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation, Z Zurich Foundation, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation has helped establish the Foundation’s credibility and roots.
Laura Frigenti, CEO of GPE, highlighted the Foundation’s role in expanding investment: “Education is the best investment the world can make. The Foundation for GPE exists to make more of that investment possible.”
The launch coincides with GPE’s Multiply Possibility campaign, co-hosted by Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The campaign aims to mobilize financing to expand learning opportunities for nearly 750 million children in 96 countries, building momentum toward a high-level global event at the UN General Assembly in September.
By fostering private sector partnerships, piloting innovative financing, and scaling girls’ education initiatives, the Foundation for GPE represents a bold step in reshaping the global education finance landscape.
