How one Walden graduate’s unique learning approach is helping people achieve their full potential
Jazmín Chi believes there are two keys to success and happiness: education and love. And by applying both, this Walden graduate has positively impacted thousands across the globe.
At her core, Chi is a writer, but that’s only one of the gifts she shares in a continuous quest to positively impact lives and develop leaders. She is also a lecturer, poet, teacher, and businesswoman who has given talks, workshops, conferences, and trainings around the world.
Chi has been changing young lives for years as the founder and CEO of the international company LevGrow Education, which provides innovative extracurricular educational activities for children, with a focus on developing their leadership skills. The company also creates educational materials such as books, audiobooks, ebooks, games, and songs.
“We teach that education is a tool to change your life,” she says. “It’s our passion to see people achieve their full potential.”
The daughter of medical missionaries, Chi traveled throughout Mexico as a child, benefiting from the opportunity to see how others live and learn. The knowledge and curiosity she gained from those experiences drove her desire for an education that would equip her to teach, to learn, and to uplift others.
“I’ve always thought [that] if I continue to learn, I’d have more opportunities,” she says. “With LevGrow, we’re focused on making a difference through education.”
Chi has worked her whole life to achieve her full potential. She launched LevGrow while working on dual bachelor’s degrees in business administration from Walden and the Universidad del Valle de Mexico. It was during this time—as she thought about her future—that a friend suggested she combine her love for children and writing by authoring a children’s book. She took that advice and wrote a three-book series designed to teach children about months, days, and time. Nearly 20 books later, she’s still writing and still teaching.
She went on to continue her education with two graduate degrees—a master’s in education with a focus in cultural diversity from Far Eastern Federal University in Russia and a master’s in education with a focus in technology, innovation, and education from Harvard University.
But even with her diverse and global educational experiences, Chi continues to be uniquely connected to Walden, having been named a Walden Scholar of Change early in her career in recognition of her progressive work with children.
“Walden encouraged me to keep achieving my goals and gave me the tools that helped me open two schools,” she says. “Walden never said no. They said, ‘You can do it.’”
Inspired in part by her daughter, Chi’s mission for LevGrow centers on teaching children using values and love, concepts she incorporates throughout her work.
“I love the idea of creating something from nothing,” she says. “And from the start, I saw how people’s lives changed as a result of our work. That captured me.”
Her passion to help has taken her to more than 40 countries across five continents—through both LevGrow and its social program, Spreading Love, which has provided free workshops and educational materials to vulnerable children in Morocco, Japan, Colombia, Mexico, and Taiwan.
Chi also founded Nivet Language School, which offers online workshops, conferences, and Mandarin language classes and also has a social program to benefit underprivileged children.
“My own experiences and background have served to develop a perspective on life that’s helped me connect heart-to-heart with the people we’re serving,” she says. “We’re helping them find their voices.”
And while much of her focus has been on working with children, Chi also speaks to adults to promote the ways education can drive transformation and help change societies and the people in them.
Ultimately, Chi measures her own success by the success of those around her. “We can see that our students start to think with a broader vision and develop their leadership skills, and achieve things they never thought possible,” she says. “One of our students won the State Youth Award in our state in Mexico, and another co-authored a children’s book and is giving workshops raising environmental awareness. Two others have recorded audiobooks with a professional and international team. It validates our motto that we build global leaders.”
Chi herself has also been recognized as a global leader. She was featured on the Athena40 Global List 2020 as one of the 120 most forward-thinking women in the world, a designation she shares with influencers including Michelle Obama and Angelina Jolie. As a speaker, she has shared her knowledge and expertise in Mexico, the United States, Russia, China, Poland, Japan, Peru, and Colombia.
With a constant focus on the future, she plans to keep moving forward with her educational, artistic, and entrepreneurial work—and do so with love. “I hope we can keep doing what we’re doing around the world,” she says. “I want to keep spreading love and knowledge.”