The Nightingales is an education-based humanitarian initiative with the dual goals of 1) sourcing 50,000 new laptops to closing the gap for vulnerable students in Ukraine whose schools have been bombed and education halted, and 2) reducing learning loss and the impact of social isolation on Ukrainian K-12 students, with the help of a EdTech solution developed as part of a humanitarian hackathon on 4-5 December 2025 in NZ.

The Nightingales initiative is about mobilising the international EdTech sector to work together to support the education of Ukraine’s K-12 students, particularly those on the frontline and Russian borders, developed in partnership with UNESCO and EdTechNZ. Supported by close collaboration with Ukraine Ministry of Education, Lenovo and the Global Education Coalition.

The Nightingales initiative has two goals:

1. Delivery of humanitarian aid of 50,000 laptops to Ukrainian students in frontline and borders regions with Russia, to enable them to resume their education. This part of the initiative is called “Hunt for the Nightingales”

2. Implementation of a whole-of- Ministry innovative (non-curricular-based) EdTech solution that reduces learning loss and the impact of social isolation for K-12 students in war torn Ukraine. This part of the initiative is called “Spirit of the Nightingales”

In war-torn Ukraine, education has become a lifeline for the hundreds of thousands of students whose schools lie in ruins. For vulnerable students, of all ages -particularly those from low-income families and orphanages—remote learning is often their only path to a future. Yet, without laptops, even this opportunity slips away.

Hunt for the Nightingales goal is the delivery of humanitarian aid of 50,000 laptops to Ukrainian students in frontline and borders regions with Russia, to enable them to resume their education.

At the start of the war in 2022, the Device Coalition (2) was set up to secure 350,000 devices for vulnerable students with the means to access remote education. The Device Coalition has received great support and donations of devices from various governments and a couple of large private companies around the world, so now the number of devices needed is down to 50,000. Nightingales goal is to close this gap and ensure that education is available to every K-12 Ukrainian student despite living in an active war zone.

The aim is to mobilise K-12 EdTech companies to “purchase” 1, 5, 10 or 20 Nightingales laptops at US$500 each (3). There are almost 500,000 K-12 EdTech companies in the world, pursuing the mission of making education more democratic and accessible. If 5% of these companies each donated two laptops, the goal would be met.

In collaboration with

Eco Shepherd Ltd is the collection agent of donations for the Nightingales initiative. Upon collection, funds will be transferred to UNESCO as our NGO intermediary, who will do the procurement of laptops on behalf of the Nightingales initiative.

Complete the form below, choosing how many laptops you intend to fund/donate.

Account name: Eco Shepherd_Nightingales

Bank details: tbc

How to fund Nightingale Laptops

Register to fund Nightingale Laptops

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Nightingales are the national animal of Ukraine. Nightingales represent resilience and hope. 

  • DNo. Due to the cross-border All donations will be cross-borders transactions, so GST or Sales Taxes are not applicable. GST or Sales Tax is typically applied to purchase transactions, even as donations for charitable organisations, they are not applicable for this initiative as all donations are cross-border transactions.escription text goes here

  • Hunt for the Nightingales will be purchasing the laptops & software through several manufacturers who have provided us with a special Nightingales prices in USD. This means that we are able to avoid losing funds from currency fluctuactions.

  • New laptops is a prerequisite of the Ukraine Ministry of Education, as it means that every laptop received by students commences in identical condition. This reduces propensity for technical issues, which are difficult to overcome when many communities are devasted or remote rural.

  • IHunt for the Nightingales is an independent initiative fully owned by impact consultancy, Eco Shepherd Ltd, a limited liability company registered in New Zealand (Company No. 8963237). Eco Shepherd operates a Purpose over Profit social enterprise model, working on behalf of not-for-profits, in the provision of commercial strategy, operations, fundraising and initiatives to address major societal and environmental issues.

    As Eco Shepherd is working on behalf of NGOs and charities for Hunt for the Nightingales, organisations are able to receive a registered charity tax receipt for their purchase of Nightingale laptops, if required.

  • A group of trustees is being established to provide independent governance for this initiative. A list of their names will be provided here by early September.

  • Our European logistics partner, Vector Global have experience sending humanitarian aid packages into Ukraine, and have an office in Kyiv. Vector Global will oversee and manage all the customs and regulatory paperwork associated with sending a humanitarian aid package in the Eastern Bloc.

  • The Ukraine Ministry of Education will work with each of the local education authorities across Ukraine, who have comprehensive lists of vulnerable students in their region, but unable to share those to the Ministry or elsewhere due to privacy regulations.

  • Humanitarian aid is the provision of material support and logistics that goes direct to people affected by natural disasters and military conflicts. Importantly, humanitarian aid aims to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity by providing essential needs during and immediately after a crisis. Education is considered an essential need.