Nathan Stapley - Founder/Director:
Learn Achieve Become (L.A.B)
I founded L.A.B back in 2017, after spending years working in the UK education system, taking a particular interest in the support and education of children with disabilities and special educational needs. At age 18, I gained an apprenticeship at a local special education school, and from this moment onwards, I was certain that i wanted to dedicate my life to service through education. After completing my apprenticeship and gaining my teaching diploma, I then volunteered in Madagascar as an English teacher with a (now non-existent) NGO. Now, this was my first time travelling. Prior to this experience, I  had no experience of the wider world and the educational needs of children across the world. My time working as a volunteer was disappointing to say the least - I paid a huge sum of money to work with them, and wanted to put my teaching diploma in action, to test my skills whilst learning new ones. The volunteering experience didn't offer this. Instead, I was met with poorly organised teaching programs, which had no continuity, no structure, and no consistency.  This didn't necessarily cause me to suffer, but, instead, my students did. This outraged me. After returning to the UK, I thought about all of the experiences that had passed over the last few months, and then gathered a team of young professionals, and together we founded L.A.B.

Now, all these years later, too often in the non-profit world, I see the work of a non-profit as pet-projects to satisfy the aims of the founding member. I don't want L.A.B to be like this, but instead, I want to work collectively with those in need. To bring the knowledge and skills that I have, and to share this with lived experiences to co-create sustainable, strong, and effective educational programs.

As L.A.B grows in size, and as our projects gain more success, I attribute this to the professionalism of our local staff members, and their dedication to the projects that we deliver. On a personal level, I would love to see L.A.B to deliver multiple projects in multiple countries, supporting thousands of people, but I also recognise that these projects take time. Rather than make a range of small projects, we are instead looking to create and implement philosophies & models of work, which can be replicated across the world.

At L.A.B, we don't gate-keep our ideas, we share everything that we can with those that are interested. As i mentioned, L.A.B isn't a personal project of mine to share my personal aims, but rather a collective vehicle of shared experiences, ideas and philosophies that allow for life changing projects to be delivered.

If you would like to speak to me personally, or learn more about my background, then please do contact me on the main address of learnachievebecome@gmail.com - It is me behind all of the communications &  social media, whilst also being stationed almost 24/7 on the ground in Madagascar or Guatemala, and I hope it remains this way forever.