Ingrid Stange

Brainstormer, Concerned citizen, Educator/Teacher, Entrepreneur, Environmentalist, Investor, Parent, Philanthropist, Social entrepreneur

Inspiring children to learn and develop into peace builders and assisting underprivileged women to find a way to be leaders in their own lives and their society are my two major goals. These are necessary steps to build peace in our world. I have studied design (Copenhagen) , economics (Msc Norwegian school of Economics), and international business (MBA UC Berkeley). Having 4 kids - now all grown up to be active change makers - led me to build up Montessori schools, which I am still actively engaged in. The philosophy behind Montessori education is my leading principle in building social change. "Help me help myself" is as adequate a formula to help trafficked girls finding a way out of poverty as it is to inspire privileged children to develop a good path in their lives, both intellectually and socially. Also as a leader in business you get the best out of your staff by helping them help themselves. I built the first Montessori school in Norway in 1990, and have since developed several schools. We are devoted to the SDGs, and actively work towards inspiring teachers and school leaders all over to grasp the link between Montessori and the SDGs, and to actively promote this as an obligation to our heritage. Our junior high school building outside of Oslo is a pioneer in climate tech. Check it out here: https://snohetta.com/projects/349-powerhouse-drobak-montessori-secondary-school. Inspired by the Skoll World Forum, in 2011 I started a series of annual conferences in Oslo, bringing leading international changemakers to Norway to help create a climate for a new way to build social change, using Venture Philanthropy and see our partners in the global south as just that: partners in change. Norway has a generous budget for development aid, but unfortunately, the money is not always spent well, and we have a tendency to think of our selves as masters. I want to change that. This was the beginning of Partnership for Change. We are a small organisation, but we have managed to set the stage in several areas by piloting change and bringing larger partners in to scale up. We have been active in Myanmar and Ethiopia since 2012. Presently we focus on Ethiopia, working with the most underprivileged girls, to help build education and decent jobs. (PfChange.org) I am a board member of Search for Common Ground (www.sfcg.org), Search for Common Ground strives to build sustainable peace for generations to come, working with all sides of a conflict, providing the tools needed to work together and find solutions. I urge you: Please check the website, and see how you can help. Search is more needed now than ever, with some state leaders actively promoting polarisation and violence. Also, I am vice president at the Norwegian Polytechnic Society, a 150 year old society of business leaders, tech leaders and political leaders promoting sustainable change through collaboration and awareness building. On the cultural side, I am chair at the board of the Oslo Quartet Series, promoting string quartet music and arranging concerts with leading quartets both international and national. I am also board member of Queen Sonja International Music Competition. https://qsimc.no I also invest in startups with focus on education, gender, and climate, and am a venture adviser at Antler. (www.antler.co) In my spare time, I am a keen gardener and I love to do handcrafts. I have dropped out of social media for three reasons: 1) it takes up too much of my time, and more importantly; 2) the political implications of the polarisation it creates scare me, and 3) the ad industry shifts from enabling free edited press to totally unedited and echo chamber promoting media.

Children's rights as a prerequisite for a just and peaceful society

Peace starts with raising children with respect and dignity and helping them find peace in themselves. Take a look at the childhood of the tyrants of our time.

Gender, Montessori

Knitting and embroideries