Marina Orth Foundation

About us

The Marina Orth Foundation, a non profit organization founded in 2007, strives to improve the education of children and youth from disadvantaged socioeconomic areas. Working in support of The Sustainable Development Goals, we specialize in STEM with a focus on technology and robotics, English, leadership, and social/emotional skill building both inside and outside the classroom.
We also train teachers to become more creative and competent in these areas so that their students can excel and contribute to the development of their country.
We promote bilingualism, gender equality and give both students and teachers the tools to compete in the 21st century.

Our model is based on three fundamental pillars:
• English: We believe learning English is essential to becoming a global citizen. English is the key pathway to both the information explosion and the information economy. English fluency gives our students greater earning power throughout their lives. They learn new cultures and ways of thinking.
• Technology: Our teachers and students use of technology in the classroom is double the average for Latin America. Our implementation of technology based projects helps to develop our students critical and analytical thinking. We are constantly seeking to innovate.
• Leadership: Not all learning takes place in the classroom. We emphasize creative extracurricular activities so that each of our students can strengthen and develop the skills to empower them to be leaders of their own lives, and at the same time exercise leadership in their communities.

Projects:
• Step by Step: Step by Step, the foundation’s first program, teaches learning by doing based on our three pillars: Technology, English, and Leadership.
• SparkTIC - Our Partnership with Microsoft “NINIS@”–Youth Who Neither Study Nor Work: Funded by Microsoft, our SparkTIC centers are scattered in strategic locations throughout Medellin and surrounding towns. Participants aged 14-25 attend 3 hours per day for 6 weeks in special boot camps with programming tutors who lead these former dropouts to short or long term internships in public or private organizations and businesses. NINIS learn how to make Apps for Smartphones; Multimedia Graphics, coding and how to start a Business Drone.
• 4Ward: We have doubled the average use of technology in the classroom. Our 4Ward teams teach teachers how to use and take full advantage of technology in their classrooms, to foster creativity, complex thinking, teamwork, research and problem solving in new ways. In less than 2 years schools with our 4Ward teams have doubled the use of technology in the classroom from the Latin American average of 40% to 80%.
• Scholarship Program: At the high school level our best English students are able to study at the Colombo Americano center in downtown Medellin after school and on the weekends. We not only support them financially but also offer a wide range of services to make sure they will succeed. We have meetings on study techniques, assertive communication, body language, anxiety management and self knowledge. We make both home and campus visits.

Marine Richard is the Volunteer Coordinator at the Marina Orth Foundation.

For other net participants we can offer overnight facilities. Also we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.