Educating The Future was founded in April 2016 with the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission after co-founders Adam Hegedus and Alessandro Piovano walked 750km from Sydney to Byron Bay and raised $20,000 to build the first preschool.

Educating The Future is governed by a Board of Directors. Reporting into the Board are two Committees including Finance, Audit and Risk, and Fundraising. We have a Managing Director who both sits on the board as an executive director and occupies the position of CEO. The Managing Director has 8 direct reports; Chief of Technology, Chief of Communications, Chief of Timor-Leste Programs, Chief of Fundraising, Chief of Finance, Chief of Policy and Compliance, Chief People & Culture Officer, Chief Operations Officer. Each team has a number of volunteers.

The organisation is supported by an Advisory Panel, and a number of pro-bono contributors including Auditors, Lawyers and Graphic Designers.

No. This is detailed in more depth in our Non-Development Policy here.

No.

Educating The Future’s founding values are as follows: 

1. We believe education can make the biggest change in the world. 
2. We engage young people in our mission. 
3. We empower the future leaders of tomorrow. 
4. We walk the talk. 
5. We adopt local systems of design, implementation and management.

Educating The Future builds preschools in Timor-Leste by raising funds in Australia and engaging volunteers between both nations. The organisation works at a national level with the Ministry of Education Timor-Leste, and has received funding from grant partners including the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The organisation then implements the program with the local School Management Committee in Timor-Leste.

The organisation is accredited by the Australian Council for International Development.

As an organisation that has operated for 5-years in Timor-Leste explicitly and has key knowledge of the context, strong relationships and the efficacy of our program, largely as a volunteer-run organisation, Educating The Future believes its best placed to deal with infrastructure related to an existing gap, pre-school, and with a strong track record continue working to this UN Sustainable Development Goal.

We partner with the Ministry of Education Timor-Leste through a Memorandum of Understanding that was signed in July 2019. This details our working relationship between selecting, constructing and handing over the preschool for sustainability. 

We also partner with the relevant local School Management Committee for each community that we work in. This is a diverse group of 4-6 local Timorese people who execute the project at a local level. All construction is done by Timorese persons, with decisions, implementation and monitoring being localised and contextually relevant.

You have to be a volunteer with Educating The Future and volunteers are required to apply to attend our twice yearly visits to Timor-Leste. There are a number of roles that are held by our volunteers during trips to Timor-Leste, requiring extensive engagement with our policies and training.

Yes. Educating The Future externally and independently audits their financial statements every financial year. You can find them here. They are also published in our annual reports.

As demonstrated in our Audited Financial Statements here for 2020-2021, approximately 10% of funds went to administration. This includes our Directors and Officers Insurance, Public Liability Insurance, XERO Accounting Platform subscription and other disbursements.

You can make a complaint to Educating The Future via our website here. Alternatively, you can make a complaint to the Australian Council for International Development Complaints Committee here.

You can see all our publicly available policies here. Some policies are available in Portuguese and Tetum.

Yes. You can apply here.

No. Anyone can volunteer with Educating The Future as long as you espouse the organisation’s values, can commit at least four hours per work and enter into our volunteer agreement.

Yes. In 2020 and 2021 we operated exclusively online in Australia. In 2022 we will engage with some face-to-face events and team meetings where possible and safe to do so.

Yes, we are a tax-deductible entity. You can find our tax-deductible status here.

Please contact people@educatingthefuture.org or contact us via the website here.

Please contact people@educatingthefuture.org. All our merchandise is ethically sourced and sustainable.

If you are interested in joining the Board, please contact us via the form here. We also have an Advisory Panel, a Finance, Audit and Risk Committee and a Fundraising Committee where we engage with external experts.

We have had interns in the past given that they are fully remote. You can send us a formal request at people@educatingthefuture.org

Yes. We accept and encourage all people from Australia and Timor-Leste to apply here. If you are not domiciled in these areas, please email us at people@educatingthefuture.org

Educating The Future Australia Limited is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission. You can find our registration status here.

Our Mission

Empower children and communities through a quality education to have the capacity to achieve their potential.

Our Purpose

We work with volunteers in Australia and Timor-Leste to raise awareness and funds. In turn, we work with the Timorese Ministry of Education to provide pre-school education infrastructure built by local communities and run by the local Municipal Governments.

Our Vision

A world in which all children have the opportunity to access quality education to reach their full potential.