Today we celebrate an important milestone in Laureate’s journey.
With the acquisition of Universidad Europea de Madrid (UEM) on April 1, 1999 – Laureate, as you know us today, was established.
Over the past 25 years we have impacted the lives of millions of students – growing the workforce of today and tomorrow – and expanding access to quality education, predominately in emerging economies.
Like all successful companies, we have learned to pivot and transform. At times, this has been driven by our own sense of opportunity and a disciplined strategy, and at times, has been in response to an external catalyst – of which there is no better example than the Covid-19 pandemic. Unlike many, we had invested in digital and hybrid learning long before there was any sense of what remote learning and remote work would become, and this investment prepared us well.
The pandemic was a test – not only of how we made decisions to ensure disruption to our students was minimized and the resilience of our business was protected, but also of how we truly serve the communities in which we operate.
In the earliest stages of the pandemic, it was our professors who were sought out to educate communities about the public health challenges we were facing; it was our student and faculty working together pioneering technology to address unmet medical needs in real time; it was our campus leaders who transformed campuses into testing and vaccination sites; and it was our leadership who adapted, responded, and served with clarity and purpose, protecting our students and our business.
The pandemic has certainly not been the only challenge we have faced, but it is illustrative of how we have always sought to balance business and community. Profit and purpose.
We have been a private company, and a public company. We have operated in a small number of markets and have operated on almost all continents. We have faced challenges large and small, causing us to change our model and our strategy. However, what has sustained through all stages of our journey is an unwavering commitment to serving our students through delivering meaningful education experiences that offer the greatest chance of employment and success. We have not compromised on the belief that quality and scale go hand in hand, and that the single greatest determinate of our success are the outcomes we generate with and for our students.
As you know, today we enroll close to 450,000 students across Mexico and Peru and employ almost 30,000 staff. Today, I honor and thank each employee who has chosen to be part of our journey, and each student who has trusted us with one of the most important choices they will make.
Looking ahead, I see tremendous potential to continue to deepen and expand our impact across Mexico and Peru. We have earned our outstanding reputation in these countries, and will continue to do all we can to serve students and communities – in partnership with the wide range of stakeholders who continue to contribute to our growth and success.
Eilif Serck-Hanssen
President and Chief Executive Officer
Laureate Education, Inc.
