When Education Comes Full Circle: buildOn, Fitch Group, and School in a Bag

Creating access to education doesn’t stop at building classrooms. It takes sustained partnership, shared vision, and the right tools to ensure students can truly learn and thrive.

That’s why buildOn’s partnership with Fitch Group and School in a Bag is so powerful in creating lasting impact. Together, we’re expanding access to education by building schools, re-enrolling students, supporting adult learners, and ensuring children have the supplies they need to succeed.

A Shared Commitment to Education

Fitch Group’s partnership with buildOn is rooted in a clear belief: education is the foundation for opportunity.

Since partnering with buildOn, Fitch has helped construct five schools across Nepal, Guatemala, and Senegal, creating safe classrooms for 660 students. But their support didn’t stop there.

Fitch has also funded:

• buildOn’s Enroll Program, helping 83 children who were not in school due to issues like extreme poverty or gender bias, return to the classroom.
• Our Adult Literacy Program, supporting 574 adult learners, many of whom are parents gaining skills to better support their families.

As Wiktoria Stachurska, Regional Head of Fitch Community for EMEA at Fitch Group, shares, education is central to Fitch’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, starting with “building the places for education” as the first step toward long-term opportunity.

“Our two focus areas for our CSR program are education and employability,” she explains. “ We see education as the foundation for employability. It’s all linked together.”

“We’ve always been looking for organizations to partner with to help us achieve that goal and buildOn was a strong fit for what we are looking to achieve,” she adds.

From Classrooms to Community Impact

Fitch employees go beyond just funding schools.

Through buildOn Treks, Fitch has sent multiple employee groups to partner directly with communities in countries where schools are being built. These experiences bring colleagues together across regions while working alongside local leaders to construct classrooms that will serve generations.

Seeing the completed schools in action has been especially meaningful. On one visit, Fitch participants returned to a school they had helped build and saw it being used not only by children, but also by adults participating in literacy classes, reinforcing that buildOn schools are true community spaces.

“Some of the stories from the women that we heard were quite powerful,” Wiktoria says. “They’re now able to help their children with their homework, which is absolutely fantastic. They’re also able to take the skills they learn in the classroom and apply them by setting up their own businesses, creating real impact in their communities. I think that was what we took away the most from the experience.”

Completing the Circle with School in a Bag

While schools provide the space to learn, students also need basic supplies to fully participate in class. That’s where School in a Bag comes in.

School in a Bag provides backpacks, called “SchoolBags,” filled with essential learning materials—exercise books, stationery, hygiene items, and water bottles—so students can attend school prepared. Each SchoolBag is designed to remove one of the most common barriers to education: lack of supplies.

Fitch has partnered with School in a Bag for years, packing thousands of SchoolBags with employees across multiple offices. In one project alone, 168 SchoolBags were taken to Senegal so Fitch Trek participants could hand them directly to students at a buildOn school. That effort later expanded to a 40-foot container carrying 3,000 SchoolBags for communities in Senegal.

Luke Simon, Founder and CEO of School in a Bag, explained that a SchoolBag does more than hold supplies: it helps children attend school consistently and learn more effectively. With tools to write, draw, and study, students no longer have to rely on memory alone. 

“A SchoolBag is like a magnet,” Luke says. “It draws children into school. When children have nothing, all they can do is try to remember information, and that’s incredibly difficult. Our bags allow children to write things down and learn much more efficiently. That changes everything.”

“Ultimately, I think the biggest thing is that our SchoolBags just give children the chance to dream of a vocation,” he adds. “Because suddenly getting an education is much more realistic if you have a very simple bag and all the contents.”

When a Backpack Opens the Door to Learning

A backpack can seem like a simple thing. But in rural Senegal, it makes all the difference.

At Touba Sarr School, Abdou, a 10-year-old fifth grader, had dropped out of school because his family could not afford notebooks, pencils, and other essentials. Like so many children, the lack of supplies made attending school impossible.

When Abdou learned that School in a Bag was distributing backpacks, everything changed. He got his new bag and returned to school immediately.

“He had dropped out of school. As soon as he heard that School in a Bag was distributing SchoolBags with learning supplies, he returned,” his teacher, Mr. Mbodji, shared. “Since then, he has never left school again.”

Since receiving his SchoolBag, Abdou’s attendance has been consistent. He participates actively in class and approaches his learning with confidence. For him, the bag represents far more than materials: it represents dignity, opportunity, and a future he can imagine. Today, Abdou remains fully enrolled in school and dreams of becoming a police officer, determined to build a better future for himself and his community.

“As soon as he heard that School in a Bag was distributing SchoolBags with learning supplies, he returned. Since then, he has never left school again.” —Mr. Mbodji

At Ndieyene Thialaw School, Nogoye, a 15-year-old fifth-grade student with a physical disability, faced different—but equally real—barriers. Before receiving school supplies, her attendance was irregular and often depended on her motivation and emotional well-being.

“Nogoye was born with a physical disability, and she only started walking recently,” Her mother, Ndiaba Cissé, explains. “One day, she told me, ‘Mom, I want to go to school like everyone else.’”

Through School in a Bag, Nogoye received a SchoolBag filled with essential learning supplies, helping remove both the practical and emotional obstacles that kept her home from school. Since then, her attendance has become more regular, and her commitment to learning has grown stronger.

For Nogoye, the SchoolBag represents encouragement, inclusion, and belief. It has reinforced her confidence and her determination to learn, despite the challenges she faces. Today, she remains actively engaged in school, showing how something as simple as supplies can create meaningful, lasting change.

Strengthening Every Layer of Learning

Together, buildOn, Fitch, and School in a Bag address education from multiple angles:

As Luke shared, one bag can be the difference between a child attending school or dropping out. And improved attendance leads to stronger outcomes, especially for girls.

Why This Partnership Matters

This collaboration shows what’s possible when organizations align around a shared long term commitment to education.

By combining infrastructure, programming, and practical resources, buildOn, Fitch, and School in a Bag are helping ensure that education is not just available, but accessible, inclusive, and lasting.

When education comes full circle, communities are stronger. And opportunity has room to grow.

If you want to help us strengthen communities around the globe, consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our work today.

You can also support School in a Bag’s powerful work by donating on their website.