Tania Rosas, a 28-year-old from La Guajira – Colombia, founded El Origen Foundation, an indigenous-first model that provides at-risk youth with a second chance at education and works to close the illiteracy gap for indigengous youth, and launched O-lab, the learning app adapted for indigenous students who have the lowest education levels worldwide.
“We aim to democratize education,” says Tania. As a political scientist and educational researcher she is committed to make education more inclusive for communities, working with NGO’s, community leaders and rural schools across the Global South. Growing up in the region with the highest school dropout rate in Colombia, which is also the region with the largest population of indigenous people, Tania recognized education is the best weapon to fight against poverty and uphold sustainable development for at-risk communities.
O-lab app works online/offline and it has a virtual assistant that translates all the contents created to native languages to include indigenous learners. O-lab allows NGOs,colleges and rural teachers to share interactive educational content, improve disadvantaged students’ learning, track and engage out-of-school children and youth. This is a critical step in ensuring at-risk youth do not fall further behind in their education. Tania has been recognized by the Obama foundation, the Young Leaders of America’s initiative and as Generation Change by the United States Institute of Peace and the Dalai Lama office.