For a decade, we have worked to transform how professionals learn, connect, and lead change.
We have reached tens of thousands of participants in over 100 countries.
If you have participated, you experienced the power of peer learning.
When health and humanitarian workers support and learn from each other, they grow stronger.
This speeds up progress to improve health outcomes.
Now, we are transforming our model to ensure this work can continue and remain truly independent.
This article explains how our model for access and certification is evolving.
Most importantly, it outlines how these changes gives power back to our community.
There is no such thing as ‘free’ education
For many years, you have accessed our courses and received certificates without paying a fee.
We want to be transparent about the reality of education.
There is no such thing as “free” education.
Every course requires significant resources to design, host, facilitate, and manage.
In the traditional development model, donors often cover these costs.
Because they pay, they often decide what you learn, how you learn it, and who gets to participate.
We faced a difficult choice between two goals that often seem to contradict each other.
- To generate income. We need resources to build the best possible learning experiences for you and to remain true to the needs of the communities you serve.
- To preserve equity. We must ensure that no health professional is ever excluded from learning because of their ability to pay.
Our solution: Open access and mutual solidarity
Our answer is a model based on “Open Access.”
We commit to keeping participation free.
The Foundation invests its own resources to ensure that the door to learning remains open.
Anyone, anywhere, can join our courses.
You can access the learning content and activities.
You can share your experiences.
You can solve problems with your peers.
You can build your professional network.
You do not need to pay to learn.
What is the value of a certificate?
While access is free, the rigorous process of verifying your competency has a distinct value in the job market.
This requires the formal assessment and validation of your skills.
When a learner or an employer pays for certification, they are not just buying a document.
They are investing in the infrastructure that keeps this platform, community, and network alive and growing for 80,000 practitioners.
They are ensuring that the Foundation remains accountable to you, the learners, rather than only to external donors.
It is about a community pooling its economic power to build something that belongs to everyone.
This gives us the freedom to focus on what will benefit everyone.
It allows us to tackle neglected or difficult topics that donors may not prioritize but that you face every day in your work.
What is the financial value of a certificate?
We assign a high financial value to our verified certificates.
We do this even though we know many of our participants work in low-resource settings.
How can we claim a certificate may be worth significantly more than what a health worker earns?
The value is not based on the cost of living in any one country.
It is based on the value of the transformation the certificate represents.
1. You do not just listen. You produce knowledge
We do not offer simple learning where you get technical knowledge.
Technical knowledge can be found everywhere.
Our model is based on active knowledge production and network formation.
In our courses, you are not a passive consumer.
You are a creator.
- Critical thinking: You do not just read text. You use critical concepts to diagnose the specific realities of your challenges.
- Peer learning: You do not take a quiz. You create a project and analyze the work of colleagues. They do the same for you in return.
- Taking action: You do not just plan. You implement. You test ideas in the real world and report back on the results.
This pedagogical rigor has a significant value.
It produces a professional who is far more capable than someone who has merely watched a video, read books, or sat through a training.
2. We validate the results you get, not just memory or ability
A standard certificate often only proves you attended a course.
Our verified certification proves you have the competency to solve complex problems.
It validates that you can lead.
It proves you can analyze data, manage immunization programs, or lead teams in primary health care.
When you make actually improve health outcomes in the Impact Accelerator, we can certify that.
For an employer, this certificate reduces risk.
It is proof that you can translate theory into action.
This can lead to career advancement and new roles.
The cost of the certificate reflects this return on investment for your career trajectory.
3. Independence requires resources
To maintain a platform that serves thousands of people without selling your data or pushing external agendas, we need independent revenue.
The price of the certificate represents a fraction of the true cost of the experts, the technology, and the support team required to run a global “digital engine” for collective intelligence.
What if I cannot pay?
We know that for many of you, paying for certification is difficult.
We want you to know that you are still the heart of this community.
- You can still learn. You will never be turned away from a course because of a lack of funds.
- We seek scholarships. We actively work to find partners to subsidize costs. In many cases, the Foundation covers these costs entirely because we believe in you.
- Your experience matters. By participating, sharing your stories, and reviewing your peers, you create value for the network. This contribution is as important as financial capital.
From learners to leaders
As we map out our second decade, we are building a Foundation governed by our learning communities.
We are creating new pathways for our most dedicated learners to step into leadership roles.
- Facilitation roles: We are moving away from the “sage on the stage” model. We will induct alumni to become TGLF Facilitators. This creates economic opportunity within our network and recognizes that your experience and commitment matter.
- Volunteer ambassadors: We will empower passionate alumni to serve as Ambassadors. You will represent the Foundation in your countries, helping to reach those who need this learning most.
- Global council: We are forming a global council of alumni. This body will contribute to our governance. It will help steer the future of the Foundation, ensuring that our strategy remains grounded in the realities you face.
This is a shift from aid to ownership.
By diversifying how we are funded – through partners, through paid certification, and through our own investment – we secure our future.
We invite you to join us in this new phase.
Learn with us.
Lead with us.
And, if you are able, invest with us in a system that serves everyone.
The Geneva Learning Foundation