Burt Martin
Organization: Fundación Paraguaya
Year Founded: 1985
Country: Paraguay
Website: www.fundacionparaguaya.org.py
Video Interview 1 Video Interview 2 (Español) A national high-impact development programme focusing on microfinance, youth entrepreneurship and rural high schools has expanded to support the work of more than 50 partner organizations in 27 countries. Focus: Civic Participation, Education, Environment, Microfinance, Rural Development Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Geographic Area of Impact: Global Annual Budget: US$ 7 million (2009) Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 52,000 (2009) Percentage Earned Revenue: 83% (2008) Recognition: Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum Background Paraguay is one of the poorer countries in Latin America, with a per capita income of US$ 1,670 and a third of the population living on less than US$ 2 per day. The population is also young and in need of greater educational opportunities. Around 30% of young people aged 15-24 are neither obtaining marketable skills in school, nor using such skills in productive work, an indication that a valuable economic resource – human capital – is being wasted. Innovation and Activities Fundación Paraguaya was the first microfinance institution in Paraguay and is a founding member of the Acción International microfinance network. In 1995, the foundation pioneered financial literacy and entrepreneurial education programmes in Paraguay, adapting junior achievement methodologies to underprivileged youths. In 2002, it took over a bankrupt boys’ agricultural school and set out to turn it into a financially self-sufficient, co-ed school. Five years later, this goal was achieved, and since then the school’s 17 on-campus educational enterprises have been generating enough income (US$ 300,000 per year) to cover all of the school’s operating costs. At the same time, the practical, market-oriented education allows the students, immediately upon graduation, to find jobs in the modern agricultural sector, create their own small enterprises, and/or enter university. Drawing on this experience, Fundación Paraguaya has become a pioneer in a new kind of sustainable agricultural education, a model which provides 100% employability to poor rural youth through a market-based curriculum in free, high quality, 100% financially self-sufficient schools. In 2007, Fundación Paraguaya made a commitment called “education-that-pays-for-itself” under the Clinton Global Initiative to replicate its model in 50 schools around the world in 10 years. To date, there are more than 50 partner organizations in 27 countries working on replicating the model. In addition, the foundation is disseminating this model through its London-based partner, TeachAManToFish, which has developed a network of 1,400 institutions in over 110 countries. The Entrepreneur The man behind the Fundación Paraguaya is Martin Burt, a highly energetic, extroverted social entrepreneur. Burt has twice served in public office, once as Paraguay’s vice-minister of commerce, and once as the mayor of Asunción. He has received the Inter-American Development Bank’s Microfinance Award, the Skoll Foundation Social Entrepreneur Award, the Templeton Freedom Award and the World Innovation Summit in Education Award. He has also received distinguished alumni awards from the University of the Pacific and the George Washington University, as well as the 2007 Social Innovation Award from Brigham Young University. Burt is an Avina Foundation leader, and a Synergos and Eisenhower Fellow. He was twice elected president of the Paraguayan-American Chamber of Commerce. In addition, he is a founding board member of the Bertoni Conservation Foundation and the Mbaracayu Biosphere Reserve, as well as a trustee of the Karatara Project in South Africa. Martin Burt is a visiting professor in Social Entrepreneurship at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. His commitment to education is featured as part of the Clinton Global Initiative.
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