Thomas Da Jose On Deepening Systems Change With Community Led Education Technology

Thomas Da Jose is a humanitarian engineer and the Founder and CEO of Australian Edtech social enterprise WASH Education Pty Ltd. (WASH-Ed).

Dedicated to improving the quality of life for vulnerable communities in the Philippines and the wider Asia-Pacific region, Thomas sees opportunities to uplift and empower at-risk communities through increased access to dignified and inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.

Supported by the Philippine Government, WASH-Ed’s innovative interventions and education programs have reached 150,000 young people across the Philippines through workshops and partnerships with over 60 schools so far. These lifesaving programs, and Thomas, have been widely recognised by institutions like Duke University and UNICEF USA, the ASEAN Foundation, Maybank Foundation, and ASEAN Secretariat.

During the weekdays, you can find Thomas working on a variety of projects as an Advisor at E3 Advisory, including improving NSW’s social infrastructure across social housing, water, future renewable energy, and transport sectors.

Thomas discusses the power of community led education technology to scale impact and provide equitable outcomes and why social entrepreneurs excel in enabling systemic changes using innovative business models.

Highlights from the interview (listen to the podcast for full details)

[Indio Myles] - To start off, can you please share a bit about your background and what led you to working with education technology and social enterprise?

[Thomas Da Jose] - There's a lot to think about, but one thing I like to refer to is what I did during my time at university. Throughout university and during my early years practicing as a civil engineer and project manager, I always made time for volunteering. It's something I enjoyed, and for me, I was particularly motivated by using my engineering knowledge to positively contribute to my community.

Looking back (and this is not just for myself but also for others I have spoken too), family played a key role in shaping my passions. My parents taught me the Bayinahan Spirit, which is a word in Tagalog (the national language of the Philippines). It essentially translates to ‘paying it forward’, and this underscored what I had hoped to accomplish using the Australian education my parent gifted me.

Early on, I was volunteering with the likes of Habitat for Humanity and Engineers Without Borders, organisations people may be more familiar with. Those opportunities provided me with insights as I participated in and observed the solutions these organisations were coming up with to solve complex challenges.

Through that diverse tapestry of experiences, I was exposed to different advocates, NGOs, and start-ups focused on different issues. I was particularly committed to solving water sanitation and hygiene challenges. This is given the gravity of this problem and it also being a personal one.

For me, my family migrated from the Philippines, and in the Hagonoy Municipality, there is a lot of flooding. In the Philippines, there are many deaths and illnesses attributed to water related diseases.

With this in mind, after graduating I took it upon myself to learn more about social entrepreneurship. I upskilled myself so that I was able to give it a go. Through self-led learning, I could see what mistakes I was making and what I could practice.

With time and a few informative workshops in the Philippines, the seeds of what would now become WASH-Ed (WASH Education) were sowed, and it's something I'm proud of when reflecting on my journey.

As the founder and CEO of WASH Education, can you share more about your work and how are you approaching the systemic issues of water, sanitation, and hygiene?

To frame it as an elevator pitch (and I think this is something all start-ups or social entrepreneurs need to get right), the team at WASH-Ed comes together through a shared belief in creating a world where every child has equitable access to dignified schooling facilities.

At WASH-Ed we believe we are accomplishing this by reimagining “WASH” education through the creation and delivery of a holistic learning curricula and an online learning portal. What that looks like (when we look at WASH-Ed as a social enterprise is we create a standardised learning curricula that is benchmarked against best practice.

Secondly, our curricula are comprised of a repository of classroom resources that are easily accessible to teachers. It makes WASH Education easy, engaging and effective for the students’ schools are educating.

Thirdly, we host these resources in our learning portal, and that's the digital part of our solution that is embedded in the delivery of our school training programs. This approach is something that is holistic, and we are proud of that because it's been recognised by industry (particularly those in the water sector and the schools we've been able to work with).

When we get the feedback from the teachers and students, it motivates us more to continue to what we do and to know that we are on the right track.

Why is it crucial for systems change to be based in and led by local communities? How can entrepreneurs enable grassroots impact effectively?

(Being led by local communities) has been the crux of what's differentiated WASH-Ed along our journey.

We are constantly learning to work effectively with communities, and what we have learnt from our work with schools and local partners is that systems change is most effective when it is rooted in the communities it aims to serve. This is because communities understand their unique challenges and strengths better than anyone else.

When we look at case studies, projects, and initiatives (whether they are established in Asia, Africa or through WASH) many of those programs that are unsuccessful struggled because they failed to meaningfully incorporate the community into their business model.

WASH -Ed's business model is driven by our close collaboration with schools and local partners. We empower and trust them to take ownership in localising the delivery of our school outreach programs and curriculum. This means our programs are contextually relevant and sustainable for each community.

We recognise what we are great at in WASH Education, developing curriculums, learning portals, and resources. We also recognise what we do not necessarily possess. As mentioned with the grassroots approach, how things may specifically operate in each community varies greatly.

By listening deeply to communities and collaborating with them, we have become a trusted education technology solution. Our success is because we have shifted our mindset of helping to one of creating genuine partnerships, where the community is the driver of change, and the entrepreneur (WASH-Ed) is a facilitator of that.

Why is digital technology ideal for scaling impact led businesses, and how can changemakers leverage its potential?

Digital technology as everyone knows offers what the market is saying are unprecedented opportunities for scaling impact led businesses. Technology breaks down geographical barriers and enables the rapid dissemination of information, which in our case are educational resources that are being made publicly accessible.

Digital technology allows change makers to reach a global audience, gather and analyse data efficiently. If you want to best approach it from a start-up point of view, iterate solutions quickly. This means you can get your enterprise right through considering the feedback you receive from those you're trying to serve.

It takes a combination of community consultation, feedback and iterations to leverage technology’s full potential. To your second point (being how can change makers leverage its potential), if I look back at WASH-Ed's experience, the lesson I would share with my younger self or anyone who is looking to digitise their solution is to consider the essentials when building your first iteration.

One essential aspect that is sometimes understated or underestimated is that you should prioritise building a solution that is user friendly and accessible. That means ensuring your technology serves as a bridge rather than a barrier. Make your solution simple and easy to use.

A second consideration could be embracing an open-source model. That could look different depending on the organisation, but it’s about leveraging collaborative networks to drive uptake in the communities you're serving, to get their support and to amplify your impact.

As a Westpac Future Leaders Scholar, what key traits and characteristics have you observed in successful social entrepreneurs?

There's four that I have thought about, and I think these are the four qualities I have found that many social entrepreneurs I've had the privilege of meeting and learning from share with each other.

The first trait is exhibiting a deep sense of empathy and a relentless drive to solve pressing social issues. As a result, you will find that social entrepreneurs (especially the ones who inspire a lot of people) are visionaries, but they remain grounded because they're able to see the big picture while understanding the nuances of the communities they serve.

The second trait is resilience. With social entrepreneurship, there are many challenges and setbacks you will experience, so a degree of resilience and grit is needed to succeed through the tough times.

The third trait is that social entrepreneurs also possess a collaborative spirit, recognising that complex problems require diverse perspectives and collective action through working with multidisciplinary teams. Finally, they are lifelong learners, constantly seeking new knowledge while adapting to changing circumstances.

Where do you see key opportunities to grow the purpose driven business movement and what do you think we need to make business for good business as usual?

I believe the purpose driven business movement can grow by organisations embedding social and environmental impact into the core of their business models rather than just treating impact as an add on.

Department of Education (Philippines).jpg

We are seeing this in the wider market and industry, and I think that's the unique perspective [social] enterprises bring, because they embed social and environmental impact into the core of their business models (rather than just making it a retrospective addition).

Beyond WASH- Ed, key opportunities lie in many sectors. These include renewable energy, sustainable agriculture and ethical supply chain management (where innovation can drive both profit and positive impact).

To make business for good the norm, we do need to shift cultural and economic incentives to reward long term value creation over short term gains. There are many interventions, but what's needed is a combination of policy changes and impact investments.

Something WASH-Ed leans into is consumer education to create a market that demands and supports responsible business practices. Ultimately, it's about redefining success to include the well-being of people and our planet.

What inspiring projects or initiatives have you come across creating a positive change?

This may not be what you had in mind, but one program I didn't expect to create such a positive impact for families around the world is Bluey, the Australian heeler dog and her family!

The show can take important messages, like managing healthy relationships and empathy, and make them accessible and playful for young people to not only enjoy but to learn from. I'm learning from Bluey as I get to watch it on the side, and in a time where we are all suffering from a media overload, Bluey is refreshing and simple. It helps to bring out the warm and kind side of people.

To finish off, what books or resources would you recommend to our audience?

I can't even begin to list the self-improvement books I’ve read. I do lean into them a lot, but if I had to recommend one what I did appreciate and find helpful, it would be the book titled The Courage to Be Dislikedby Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi.

In one sentence, this book is about recognising that we can't put our own wellness and needs on the back burner if we want to be happy and work effectively, especially if you want to do your part in making the world a better place.