Activity
Activity
The Yass Prize is a year-round initiative devoted to finding, rewarding, expanding, and accelerating transformational education providers.
The cycle begins at the start of each new year when we open the application window with the goal of finding more innovators doing exemplary work for students and families. Starting the moment our Quarterfinalists are revealed, we celebrate our Awardees with various events and opportunities, including a business accelerator where Semifinalists learn, collaborate, and make their final pitch. In December, we announce the Finalists and recognize one preeminent organization with the prestigious $1 million Yass Prize. Our work continues post-announcement as the Road Show takes us to visits on-site with several of our Finalists to meet their teams and students, and to see their inspiring contributions in action.
Key Dates & Happenings
JAN 18 2024
The Yass Prize 2024 Application Window Opens
WINTER 2024
On the Ground with Yass Prize Awardees!
APR 18 2024
2024 Application Window Closes
SEPT 5 2024
2024 Awardees Revealed
SEPT 12 2024
2nd Annual Yass Summit in New York City
SEPT 2024
Parents Choice Award Voting Opens
OCT 14-18
2024
Yass Prize Accelerator
NOV 7
2024
Gala Revealing the 2024 Finalists and $1 Million Yass Prize Winner
More than $20 million will be awarded to dozens of game-changing education providers in 2024!
Share the 2024 Yass Prize application & help us find more worthy innovators
Stay informed about the latest with the Yass Prize
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.
If you're committed to wanting to be one of the change makers of the future in education, I believe that this is a place for you.
Not only because of the capital, but because of the knowledge that comes by communing with the diverse group of people as opposed to everybody that thinks the exact same way that you might think.
Yass brought us together, creating opportunities to create an educational universe within which we can look at education differently…
we have to find academic experiences that represent neuro-divergent learners, kids who want to learn about gaming, who want to do stuff online, who dropped out of school.
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.
Education is one of the most fundamental pillars for democratizing opportunities for success that we have in our society.
It’s thanks to organizations like the Yass Prize that our children are going to have a better tomorrow.
The Yass Award is about celebrating and rewarding those who make students the priority.”
In a state where alternative education is often overlooked, the Yass community helps us shine.
The Yass Prize has empowered our youth, families and community by bringing great visibility to our efforts.
I’m dreaming bigger, bolder, and more bodacious [because of the Yass Prize].
It has helped me raise the ceiling on what’s possible.
Being a part of this experience has amplified the access we can give to our students in a way that nothing has, and the access is just critical.
The Yass Prize is almost like Burning Man for education reform.
Being a part of the [Yass] family confirmed that what I'm doing is right,
focusing on what we know is important for kids really works, and having a network of people now that also agree was super huge.
Having the status of Yass Prize Semifinalist has opened doors that we’ve been knocking on for years,
including public recognition from our Governor and partnership conversations with other education innovators from around the country.
The Yass Prize has significantly impacted the trajectory of our organization.
When we originally applied, we simply provided supplemental support services to homeschooling families. Now, we are growing into an education network that provides community, coaching, and curriculum nationwide.
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?
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 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.
There is absolutely zero downside to being a part of this network by submitting your application and what you will encounter is unlike any other grant.
It's actually mind blowing. I really see myself as an education entrepreneur, but this expanded me.
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.
Everyone knows that without great education, our nation suffers.
Great education is a vital link for students to become successful citizens.
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.
Because of the Yass Prize, we were able to add an additional pre-K classroom.
I'm a Yass Prize finalist from last year.
And through that, we were able to open up our second campus in the city of Wichita.
We have a tremendously transformative model that could stand for a little disruption.
The Yass experience has given us “permission” to do exactly that.
Being a part of the [Yass] family confirmed that what I'm doing is right,
going against the common core and focusing on what we know is important for kids really works, and having a network of people now that also agree was super huge.
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.
Believe in your mission… Ground yourself… Never give up…
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.
The foundation of any society is a good education.
Connect with us
2022 STOP Awards Key Dates & Happenings
64 Quarter-Finalists Announced
32 Semi-Finalists Announced
5 Finalists Announced
STOP Award Finalist Celebration and Yass Prize Winner Announced