A new partnership agreement will bring the Helen Doron English franchise to Panama – the 38th country to join the education franchise’s global network.
The new Panama-based Helen Doron partners, Nelson Guardia and Juliana Liu, were looking for a business to start that would enhance the lives of the children in their community.
The first Helen Doron English learning center will be launching in Panama City in April 2020, and a second location is planned for later in the year or early 2021. The couple will also open additional centers in further locations within the next five years.
Nelson, an industrial engineer in the field of logistics and a native from Brazil and his wife, Julianna, a business and marketing professional and native from Panama, met while studying in the United States. “We got married there and worked in corporate jobs in New Jersey and New York, before deciding to move to Panama where we both continued working for multinational companies,” said Nelson. “We have two children now and as their parents, we have always been very involved in their education and their activities. We learned of Helen Doron while researching business opportunities in the education field and were impressed with its methodology and product offerings. We saw there was an opportunity to bring it to our market and decided to buy the franchise for Panama.
“Unfortunately, Panama scores very low on international English assessments tests. Children receive English classes starting from elementary school, but quality varies greatly depending on the school. What is important is not only to have a basic understanding of English, but to let the children become truly comfortable with the language, so they can speak it as if it was their native language.”
Juliana adds: “English is the global language to conduct business and Helen Doron contributes to making a difference in children’s lives by helping them grow to become skillful and successful citizens of the international future society. We believe children’s education is the most rewarding field and Helen Doron presented a proven business model in this field, that we believe fits nicely into our market.”
