In 2015, George K. Werner took a big risk. As Liberia’s minister of education, it was his job to bring the country’s shattered educational system back to life. After civil wars and the Ebola crisis, he had 16-year-olds in first grade and teachers who, in some cases, could not read well enough to teach them. Half of Liberia’s kids were out of school entirely, and in 2015, not a single high school graduate passed the college entrance exam.

A couple of years ago, Minister Werner and President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf went to see Bridge International Academies in Kenya. Bridge is a chain of low-cost for-profit schools that provides a quality primary education for about 60 bucks a year. Minister Werner was deeply impressed with the schools he saw and upon his return, came up with a radical idea: He’d bring in Bridge to run a small cohort of government schools with the intent to scale up if the experiment went well. A public-private partnership with Bridge would employ government teachers in government schools under close government oversight, and kids would get a quality Bridge education for free. Werner asked Mulago Foundation to help fund the partnership, which we did, alongside a small group of like-minded funders.

All over Africa, there is a rising tide of capable ministers—men and women, often young—who genuinely want what’s best for their people. They’re all under a lot of pressure. Let them do their job! When and if it’s appropriate, we should weigh in persuasively and passionately. But when the decision comes down, and unless there is evidence of corruption or malfeasance, people like me should shut the hell up and throw in our support. These leaders deserve our respect, and they need our support. Don’t cross the line.

Read the full article about when to speak up and when to stand back by Kevin Starr at Stanford Social Innovation Review.