Child-centric, Data-driven Impact

We believe data should inform how education is planned, organized, and delivered. By keeping evidence at the heart of our work, we create measurable outcomes for all learners.

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Improving measurable outcomes

Our model improves many aspects of how education is delivered and is designed with a singular focus: ensuring all girls and boys can read, write, and do basic math.

Impact data reflects all-time programming across all countries of operation and is up-to-date as of August 2026.

70.5%

Achieve the literacy skills expected of their grade, compared to 12.0% at baseline

70.4%

Achieve the numeracy skills expected of their grade, compared to 15.2% baseline

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Child reached every 78 seconds with Roots to Rise

Building foundational skills

Roots to Rise has helped more than a million children improve their reading, writing, and math skills

R2R-trained teacher Monica leads an energizer during a literacy camp at Bululu Primary School in Bugiri District, Uganda.

Roots to Rise

Creating capable and confident readers

Learners who achieve the Minimum Proficiency Level (MPL) in literacy are able to recognize letter sounds and syllables (Primary 1–2), read words and paragraphs (Primary 3), and read and comprehend full stories (Primary 4–5). Roots to Rise excels at teaching learners new literacy skills, advancing them through the various levels of reading ability and toward grade-level proficiency.

Roots to Rise

Making math make sense

Learners who achieve the Minimum Proficiency Level (MPL) in numeracy are able to demonstrate number sense up to 100 (Primary 1–2), perform multi-digit addition and subtraction (Primary 3), and perform all four basic arithmetic operations (Primary 4–5). By participating in a Roots to Rise camp, most learners master new numeracy skills, including those needed to understand classroom instruction.

Roots to Rise

Consistent growth

We’re reaching more learners every year with Roots to Rise, giving children of all abilities the foundational skills they need to thrive.

Roots to Rise

Meeting learners where they are

Community Education Teams (CETs) comprise Building Tomorrow Fellows, trained Community Education Volunteers (CEVs) and teachers, and local leaders. They join forces to make sure every child can access quality learning.

Learn how we are Building Foundational Skills

Gloria, works on the number chart during a R2R camp while Community Education Volunteer, Sarah, watches.

Behind the numbers

Roots to Rise transforms Gloria’s learning journey

Gloria, an 8-year-old learner from Iganga District, Uganda, struggled with reading, writing, and math before joining a Roots to Rise camp. Since joining Roots to Rise, Gloria has advanced from Level 1 to Level 3 in both literacy and numeracy and discovered a love of helping her classmates. Now, she dreams of becoming a teacher—a testament to how community-led, evidence-backed learning support helps children build the skills and confidence to thrive.

Train Community Education Teams

Community powers quality education

A Community Education Volunteer and learner read together St. Kizito Kijaguzo Primary School in Nakaseke District, Uganda.

Community Education Teams

Building Community Education Teams

Community Education Teams (CETs) comprise Building Tomorrow Fellows, trained Community Education Volunteers (CEVs) and teachers, and local leaders. They join forces to make sure every child can access quality learning.

Community Education Teams

Vital contributors to impact

CEVs are diverse in age (17-70 years old), background (farmers, educators, shopkeepers, parents), and skills (teaching, public speaking, sewing), but share a common drive to contribute their time to help children in their communities learn.

Community Education Teams

Powering Roots to Rise

Tens of thousands of community-based Roots to Rise camps, implemented in backyards, community-gathering spaces, and places of worship, are facilitated by CEVs.

Community Education Teams

Enrolling out-of-school children

Nearly one million children are out-of-school across Uganda and Rwanda, but CETs are working to eliminate this statistic.

Learn how we Train Community Education Teams

BT Community Education Volunteer, Christopher Waiswa, teaches an R2R camp in his yard in Kaliro District, Uganda.

Behind the numbers

Learning That Sticks: A Volunteer’s Remarkable Literacy Turnaround

In Eastern Uganda, a local tailor has found a creative way to boost school attendance and literacy: using interactive learning and skills-based training to help girls thrive

Strengthening Education Systems

Partnering with government to improve learning outcomes

9-year-old learner Jenifer Nalwegayo, reads with a friend during an R2R literacy camp in Mityana District, Uganda.

Partnering with Government

Providing expertise to government partners

We deploy Education Systems Strengthening Coordinators (ESSCs) to local government offices to bolster education from the ground up.

Partnering with Government

Delivering Roots to Rise through government

ESSCs support teachers, school leaders, community and government officials in implementing our proven Roots to Rise foundational learning program.

Learn how we’re Strengthening Education Systems

See our impact year-to-date

Review our latest Program Dashboard to explore our impact in detail.

View the dashboard

View the report

Dive into our work

Now that you’ve seen our impact, learn more about what we do and how we do it.

Our work

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