Indigenous-Led Education Network

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Mission & Vision

The ILED Network is a growing, collaborative network of organisations in support of education led by Indigenous peoples. The shared intention of these impact-first organisations is:

To harness the power of Indigenous-led education and to make Indigenous communities, especially Indigenous children and youth, more resilient for the future.

The Story of ILED

The Global Network on Indigenous-led Education (ILED) was created in 2020. The seed for an ILED Network grew when various grassroots and support organisations found each other in their shared aspirations: seeking greater recognition, visibility, support and funds for holistic approaches to community resilience, especially around community-led education.

These different organisations witnessed the various ways that formal education systems continue to marginalise Indigenous peoples across the globe. Simultaneously, Indigenous communities are facing human rights abuses, loss and destruction of Indigenous lands and territories, dispossession and discrimination. These daily challenges made it increasingly difficult for Indigenous communities to pass on their knowledge, language and culture.

Fortunately, many Indigenous communities are also responding to these challenges: by developing their own initiatives.

This is why the ILED network was created: to centre Indigenous grassroots initiatives that uphold, preserve and pass on their way of life, knowledge and language to Indigenous youth. After all, the engagement and commitment of future generations is a crucial factor for cultural resilience.

Following a series of exploratory discussions and calls, the network became a reality in January 2021. 

Members of the ILED Network

Sengwer of Embobut Community Organisation (Kenya); Keystone Foundation (India); Non-Timber Forest Products- Exchange Programme – NTFP-EP (Asia); Federation of Negrito Tribes – SPNKK (the Philippines); IMPECT Association (Thailand); Fundación para la Promoción del Conocimiento Indígena, FPCI (Panama); Allianza Ceibo (Ecuador); Federación de Comunidades Nativas de Ucayali y Afluentes – FECONAU (Peru); Friends with Environment in Development, FED (Uganda); Both ENDS (the Netherlands); Forest Peoples Programme, FPP (United Kingdom); Rutu Foundation for Intercultural Multilingual Education (the Netherlands).

The ILED Team

Contact email: iledsecretariat@rutufoundation.org