Asociacion Kantaya
Improving Education for Children
Fast Facts
Peru
Vijay Raghunathan and Mike Watt
2022-23, 2024, 2025
Education
How Kantaya Is Making a Difference
Kantaya’s mission is to promote quality education for children living in impoverished communities in Peru, where a lack of quality teachers has created an educational crisis.
Kantaya’s Podera program trains teaching assistants to help fill this need with curriculum, coaching, and mentoring, and provides a certification validated by the Peruvian Ministry of Education. Peruvian women facing economic barriers, limited access to higher education, and a lack of opportunity for personal and professional growth can qualify as teaching assistants and earn a life-improving income.
Kantaya’s After School education program also offers children an additional learning opportunity.
What Kantaya Initiative Does
- Trains teaching assistants via a set of virtual modules: workshops on socio-emotional skills, presentations on technical skills and employability, and sessions of personalized coaching.
- Provides trainees with cell phone or zoom call contacts with professors.
- Offers scholarships to open the program to more women.
- Seeks alliances with educational institutions, companies, and municipalities for additional support for trainees.
Initiatives Supported by Project Redwood
2022-2023: $30,000 to help fund the expansion of the Podera program and the building of alliances to provide scholarships to more Venezuelan migrant women.
2024: $40,000 to help fund the further expansion of Podera and support program alumni through a job bank, development workshops, publicity, and strategic relationships.
2025: $30,000 to support the continuing expansion of Podera and the creation of a partnership with Cuna Mas, a government-sponsored program that provides Caregiver Mothers, enabling parents to work during the day. Kantaya expects this partnership will lead to Cuna Mas participating more broadly in Podera.