Luis E. Garcia de Brigard

Luis E. Garcia de Brigard is the Founder and Managing Partner of Appian Education Ventures, an international investment firm that specializes in education. He previously served as Deputy Minister of Education of Colombia where he led efforts to reform the teaching profession, create effective measures of learning, and promote school accountability. During his tenure, the Ministry of Education received the largest budget in the country, surpassing that of defense for the first time in the nation's history. He has served as Chairman for the Colombian Institute for the Evaluation of Education, and the National Pedagogic University, Colombia’s largest teachers' college.

Mr. Garcia de Brigard is also a committed social entrepreneur and has advanced the cause of educational opportunity in his country by co-founding Teach for Colombia (partner of the Teach for All Network). He has served as a board member and advisor for numerous international organizations including Harvard University’s Global Education Innovation Initiative, LASPAU, Varkey Foundation’s Atlantis Group, SOS Children’s Villages, and the Dean's Leadership Council at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Mr. Garcia de Brigard earned his J.D. from Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, received a Master of Education from Harvard University, and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As the son of teachers, I cannot think of a higher privilege than that of honoring and celebrating the teaching profession. The Global Teacher prize has brought the world's attention to those who most contribute to its future.