The LEGO Foundation has just turned 40. Hundreds of people have worked there in that time, united by one belief: that children learn best through play. If you were one of them, in Billund or anywhere else in the world, this is a place to stay connected, and to keep building on the expertise and energy that made it what it is.
The LEGO Foundation has been shaped by everyone who has worked there since 1986. Most of us have since moved on. The connections should not have to.
Over forty years the Foundation has grown from a small Danish grant maker into one of the largest philanthropies in the world working on children's learning and play. That did not happen by itself. It happened because of programme leads, researchers, grant managers, communicators, finance teams, advocates, designers, assistants, country staff and leaders who each gave it a few years of their working lives, and often a good deal more than that.
The people who have worked there now sit across ministries, universities, multilaterals, NGOs, foundations, companies and start-ups on every continent. Many still work on play, learning and childhood. Many have taken what they learned into entirely different fields. Almost all of them stay in touch with a handful of former colleagues, and have lost touch with the rest.
The Foundation's fortieth anniversary felt like the moment to do something about it. John Goodwin and I keep meeting alumni who say the same thing: they would like a better way to stay in touch, to reminisce, and to know what each other are doing now. So we are starting one. Not a reunion committee and not a commentary on the place. A way for the people who built something together to stay connected, to help each other, and to celebrate what they were part of. And something more than that. The alumni of the Foundation hold an extraordinary depth of expertise on children, learning and play, and a great deal of energy for the cause. Spread across the world and out of touch with each other, that goes to waste. Connected, it could keep doing good for a long time yet.
Whichever era you were part of, you were part of it.
1986 onwards
The founding years. A family foundation with a clear idea and a small team, giving to causes close to home in Denmark.
2000s
The idea sharpens. Play and learning move to the centre, the first international partnerships take shape, and research starts to matter.
2010s
The scale years. A global team, major partnerships with governments and multilaterals, and learning through play makes it on to the world's agenda.
2020s
A global institution with a global alumni. Thousands of careers touched, and a diaspora of people carrying the work into everything they do next.
We are not building anything until we know what people want. The aim is twofold: keep alumni connected to each other, and find ways to keep putting their expertise and energy to work for children. Here are the things it could be. Tell us which matter to you in the form below.
Who is where now, and what they are working on. Opt-in, alumni only, so you can find the person you need and be found in return.
A drink when enough of us are in the same city for the same conference. Billund, Copenhagen, London, New York, Nairobi, wherever the calendar takes us.
Roles, board seats, consulting briefs, collaborations. Shared between people who already know how each other works.
A place to ask a question, share something you have made, or argue about what learning through play should mean next. Only if enough people want it.
A few times a year, what alumni are up to. No more often than that.
The form has a box for it. The best ideas will come from the people who were there.
Two minutes. Nothing is published or shared without your say so. If enough people reply, we will build what they ask for and write to everyone who registered.
No. It is set up by former staff, for former staff, and run by volunteers. It is not affiliated with, funded by or endorsed by the Foundation or the LEGO Group. If the Foundation wants to support it one day, that would be welcome, but it does not depend on it.
Anyone who was employed by the LEGO Foundation, in any role, in any country, for any length of time, at any point since 1986. Secondees and long-term contractors who were part of a team are welcome too. Current staff are welcome to register so they are on the list for later.
They sit in a private list held by KW Strategy and are used only to contact you about this network. Nothing is published, and no directory is created, unless you opt in when we get to that stage.
John Goodwin, former Chief Executive of the Foundation, and Euan Wilmshurst, who led advocacy, partner engagement and external communications there. The site is hosted by Euan's firm, KW Strategy, at no cost to the network, the same way Euan started the Global Education Events Guide: put it out there and see who needs it.
Then it becomes a small directory and a drink once a year, which is still worth having.
Register, then share this page with former colleagues. Between us we can reach everyone. The expertise and energy that built the Foundation did not leave when we did.