Introducing Always Learning Labs

The Always Learning Labs is a collaboration between Brink Foundation and the What Works Hub for Global Education (WWHGE), with seed funding from the Gates Foundation. Our goal is to enable implementation research at scale, throughout the Global South, through agile grant-giving, demand-led technical assistance and platform to connect grantees with each other and their evidence.

We care deeply about combining the best of discipline and innovation to advance learning through implementation research. From WWHGE, we bring global thought leadership, research expertise and a systematic approach through recognised frameworks and measurement tools. From Brink, we benefit from agility, Behavioural Innovation, experimentation and human-centred design.

Two women are sitting at a wooden desk in a classroom, engaged in a discussion over papers and notebooks. One woman, wearing a blue headscarf and a patterned dress, is speaking and gesturing with her hand, while the other woman, wearing a maroon outfit with a white shawl, is listening attentively while holding a pen and some papers.

Together, we build on a foundation of robust research depth, spanning both qualitative and quantitative methods, to ensure our work is both rigorous and responsive to the realities of implementation.

We’re grounded in shared beliefs that:

Implementers can and should lead as principal investigators of research
Researchers can and should become ever more practical and embedded in implementation
Technical assistance can be highly leveraged, especially when market driven and demand-led
Education can learn from other sectors, especially tech.

A group of school children playing a game on the ground in a classroom with bare concrete walls.

Our coalition

Pink outlined rectangle with the word 'BRINK' inside in pink uppercase letters, partially cut off at the right side.

Brink is an innovation firm that helps organisations tackle complex social, health, education and climate challenges through human-centred solutions.

The What Works Hub for Global Education supports governments in low- and middle-income countries to scale effective reforms and improve foundational learning.

The Gates Foundation seeks to create a world where everyone has the chance to live a healthy, productive life by tackling inequities in global health, education, and development.