Accelerator
Accelerator
2022 Yass Prize Virtual Accelerator Industry Experts
All 2022 Yass Prize Applicants are invited to an exclusive three-week virtual accelerator which will help them coalesce to learn from one another as well as entrepreneurs, technology leaders and investors. We are thrilled to introduce our 2022 Yass Prize experts.
Dre Bennin
Managing Partner, ReThink Education
Rob Blevins
Executive Director, Discovery Center of Springfield
Linda Brown
Former CEO, Building Excellent Schools
Joy Chen
Entrepreneur In Residence, GSV Ventures
Renee Delos Santos
Marcom Lead, The Times Group
Colleen Dippel
CEO, Families Empowered
Sharif El-Mekki
CEO, The Center for Black Educator Development
Isabelle Hau
Executive Director, Stanford Transforming Learning Accelerator
Michael Horn
Chair, The Clayton Christensen Institute
Kelly King
CEO, StartEd
Dana Lambert
CEO, GlobalEd Solutions
Randall Lane
Chief Content Officer & Editor, Forbes
Shari Lawrence
Partner, Transcend Education
Phyllis Lockett
CEO, LEAP Innovations
Roger Love
All-Star Voice Coach, Voiceplace
Michael Moe
Founder and CEO, GSV
Dr. Archie Moss, Jr.
School Design Partner, Transcend Education
Okie Nwakanma
Partner, Transcend Education
Stefin Pasternak
Co-Founder, Living School
Ceci Schickel
Senior Director of Organizing and Advocacy, Mastery Charter Schools
Carl Schramm
Professor, Syracuse University
Mandela Schumacher-Hodge
CEO, All Raise
Tony Simmons
Executive Director, High School for Recording Arts
Brian Smith
Principal, Catalyst Academy Charter School
Sue Walsh
Former Chief Academic Officer, Building Excellent Schools
Lakisha Young
Founder & CEO, Oakland REACH
Everyone knows that without great education, our nation suffers.
Great education is a vital link for students to become successful citizens.
When we follow the money, it’s ludicrous how this country is getting away with funding education.
The funding is not following children. We're trying to make better options for kids, for poor kids, middle class kids. Wealthy people have this choice, they opt out of their systems easily, why shouldn't all children have that choice?
Believe in your mission… Ground yourself… Never give up…
The Yass Prize is truly changing the landscape of education options across the nation,
and I couldn't be more grateful for what it's done for us, and helping us serve more students and families.
The Yass Prize has brought together such diverse leaders
from all different demographics, all different states, all different service provider types that you can learn from.
It might be the first time you’re speaking where everyone is actually listening and cares about what you’re doing.
I don’t think I’ve been in a room as supportive as the Yass Prize Semifinalist room in Miami.
The Yass Prize is centered around ensuring that this [program] provides you a stepping stone...
We don’t want you to rinse, wash, repeat. We want you to build and sustain.
I’m dreaming bigger, bolder, and more bodacious [because of the Yass Prize].
It has helped me raise the ceiling on what’s possible.
One of the missions of the Yass Prize and the Yass Prize movement is really surfacing best practices in innovation—
in innovators who are doing this type of transformational work, so that others can learn from it and replicate it, so that you can actually grow yourselves.
We used the Yass Prize to launch a program called Skypod catalyst, which is essentially an accelerator to help other people start microschools.
We believe very much that microschools should be bottoms up, they come from the community. They're founded by educators who know their community really well. And they want to design a learning environment for the kids in that community.
Our newest endeavor – that was part of our Yass Prize initiative – we're bringing career and technical education into the school
I'm in the process of going through the construction of a 20,000 square foot $11.5 million dollar building dedicated to career and technical education for the students in the Philadelphia region.
The Yass Prize process has created an awareness of the education freedom movement within churches and communities.
It's given us an opportunity to start critical discussions with our congregations, parents, community leaders and members, about the laws that govern education in Pennsylvania.