?? Coschool update: Q1 2023

I send out a monthly update to over 800 contacts from over the years. For the first time ever, I'm sharing it on linkedin as an article (as an experiment, I guess). If you'd like to be included on the email list, please let me know. Here it is, word for word:

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Dear Coschool friends, supporters, and investors. Here's a brief look back at the start of 2023 in 10 bullets or less!??

Asks

• ?We're hiring!?We are currently hiring for a Marketing?lead, a Sales?Executive, and Edumocion grant project?lead.?Please do share! This?update has an amazing?track record of finding new staff!??
• ?Parents' products.?Which great educational products for parents do you love??With the help of one of Coschool's early employees, Ed Halliday (who is out in Bogota at the moment) we are doing a one-month investigation into a new parents product. You can learn more about?Ed's process?here.?

The good

• ?Our partners at Templeton World Charity Foundation confirmed funding for two major grants?(total of $760K) for taking PRIMED into 10 public schools in Bogotá and researching its impact (30 months; School Leaders Program), and to continue building?Edumoción?(36 months; resources on Kindness, Compassion, Gratitude, Measuring SEL and dissemination/marketing).?
• ?Lean team.?Following last year's cut backs, we've begun the year with a much leaner cost structure ($61K to $32K) and a smaller and more efficient team. Team size used to feel like an indicator of success. Not any more...?
• ?Relaunch of our national?partnership on SEL (AFSEC)?- inspired partly by an incoming OECD report that will highlight Colombia as a global hub of SEL activity, and with help again from TWCF, AFSEC is up and running again.?
• ?We were featured by the IDB in their?latest disruption brief.?This is?amazing?recognition for Edumoción! Kudos to?Ed?for writing the?article (without any help from chatGPT).?

The bad & the ugly

• ?Sales area rebuild.?2022 was a poor year for sales, with the internal pivot to Edumocion and external factors, and we're now in the process of reorganising better strategies, processes, tools, and team. It feels like a new start: and I'm back at the front-line of sales as we look to?find Product Market Fit for Edumoción.?
• ?Product development slows down. After a lot of focus on product last year (building content, MVP for Edumoción), we're focussing more on sales, and this has created a backlog of product updates to do further down the line.?

Short story

?Philanthropy done differently.?Instead of sharing a story from Coschool this time, I want to mention the visit we had from a travelling group of international Philanthropists (and Social Entrepreneurs):?Greenwood Place. We had such a fun day hiking the Bogotá hills with the amazing?Livehappy?and then in the Coschool office, where I shared the Coschool story, we did a quick gratitude activity, and heard from an amazing panel of allies including Coschool's "star" Dilan (currently the top ranked student in The National Pedagogic University... we're so proud!). GP struck me as a thoughtful group, truly interested in learning: listening first-hand to the social & environmental challenges of Colombia. It was inspiring to see how Philanthropists are educating themselves, and see how Philanthropy is?moving with the times to ensure funds are deployed in effective and innovative ways.??

Something personal

?I'm sure many of you will know already that I am a huge fan of Brene Brown. Ah, Brene. I just finished listening to the audiobook of?Atlas?of the Heart, and I'm going to put my neck on the line and say it's the?most important book?I've come across for our sector (those working in SEL/ Emotional development). It's a fantastic journey through the 87 emotions that humans feel. It is the definitive map of emotions. As Wittgenstein said: "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world": Brene's work has definitely expanded my world and made me think again about so many parts of my life. I love how she writes: scientific, concise,?but mainly full of stories that make you feel like you're sitting round the dinner table with her family chatting over a cup or tea (or whatever they drink in Texas). She inspired me to read Kristin Neff's book on Self-Compassion and?I posted something on Linkedin?that seemed to resonate with lots of people about that.?I truly believe the world would change for the better if everybody was able to access and digest Atlas of the Heart. I'm going to develop a workshop on Spanish around the book - if you're interested in piloting it, let me know. Give "Atlas" a read or listen?and let me know what you think!

With gratitude,

Henry