From its inception, the Teach English for Life Learning (TELL) program has planned and implemented all activities with the Ethiopian Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ethiopian Regional State Education Bureau (RSEBs) by utilizing existing MOE structures and by building the capacity of the MOE at all levels. In so doing, TELL ensures strong sustainability and ownership of the project.

TELL's success in securing and supporting the MOE's active ownership and involvement in the training activities is facilitated by a TELL partners and stakeholders. The partners group is comprised of members drawn from the MOE, USAID, USAID/AEI Textbook and Learning Materials Program (TLMP) and TELL, and each supports each of Ethiopia's 11 regions to develop and implement their own teacher training program. As a result, regions are empowered to take ownership of the program and developed a training customized to the region's education needs and challenges.

The strong voices of the MOE and RSEBs in all TELL activities has allowed the program to work within the MOE structure of in-service teacher education and planning, providing the MOE the essential tools and experience to carry out future teacher training programs of that scale.