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  • The 2023 Yass Prize Quarterfinalists
  • The 2023 Yass Prize Quarterfinalists

The Most Innovative Education Providers of 2023

The 2023 Yass Prize Quarterfinalists represent a microcosm of 21st century, personalized approaches that better educate students, pre-K through higher education. The extraordinary breadth and depth of these competitors for the grand prize are carving pathways to success that defy convention. From educational metaverses and AI-driven organizations that address the whole learning cycle, to more familiar yet unique learning environments, and from content-rich learning solutions to training and leadership, these amazing 64 awardees are all transforming education for students at every level and every stage of life.

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Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School

Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School

Bessemer, AL

Industry-based training and tech for aviation work

AloeVR

AloeVR

National

VR & research-backed platform for well-being

ASU Preparatory Global

ASU Preparatory Global

Tempe, AZ

Multi-place, tech-driven learning

Atlanta Unbound

Atlanta Unbound

Atlanta, GA

HBCU-grounded, culturally-empowering education

Be More Colorful

Be More Colorful

Fargo, ND & National

VR-based immersive career-exploration

Bill of Rights Institute

Bill of Rights Institute

National

Training and curriculum for a love of liberty

Black Pastors United for Education

Black Pastors United for Education

Harrisburg, PA

Hybrid, community-centered learning pods

Brooklyn STEAM Center

Brooklyn STEAM Center

Brooklyn, NY

Public CTE industry-connected innovation

Brothers Liberating our Communities

Brothers Liberating our Communities

Kansas City, MO

Black male educator recruitment

Burbrella Learning Academy

Burbrella Learning Academy

Burlington, NC

Online & on-ground microschool network

Career Academy of the Palm Beaches

Career Academy of the Palm Beaches

West Palm Beach, FL

Career making for students with disabilities

Center for Creative Education

Center for Creative Education

West Palm Beach, FL

Arts center launched school for underserved

Charleston Classical School

Charleston Classical School

North Charleston, SC

Tuition-free, low-country redeeming humanities academy

Chesapeake Bay Academy

Chesapeake Bay Academy

Virginia Beach, VA

Entrepreneurial learning for special needs & Navy families

City on a Hill Christian Academy

City on a Hill Christian Academy

Fairmont, WV

Growth-focused K-12 Mountaineer microschool

Coleman A. Young II Educational Foundation

Coleman A. Young II Educational Foundation

Detroit, MI

Civil rights legacy-partnership cultivating talent

College Achieve Public Charter Schools (CAPS)

College Achieve Public Charter Schools (CAPS)

Tinton Falls, NJ

Fast-scaling network where every student is a scholar

CREATE Conservatory

CREATE Conservatory

Mount Dora, FL

Reimagined STEM & Arts learning for the most marginalized

Cristo Rey Network

Cristo Rey Network

National

Innovative work-study model equalizing opportunity

Detroit Achievement Academy

Detroit Achievement Academy

Detroit, MI

Holistic, college-oriented and character developing K-8

DreamHouse ‘Ewa Beach Public Charter School

DreamHouse ‘Ewa Beach Public Charter School

Kapolei, HI

Place-based education affirming Native Hawaiians

Durham Charter School

Durham Charter School

Durham, NC

Pioneering excellence for underserved students since 1997

Edwins Leadership and Restaurant Institute

Edwins Leadership and Restaurant Institute

Cleveland, OH

Award-winning culinary training for the at-risk

Esperanza Academy Charter School

Esperanza Academy Charter School

Philadelphia, PA

Flexible, dual-enrollment & career tracks for Hispanic community

Expert IEP

Expert IEP

National

Revolutionizing AI solution for the future of IEPs

Families Empowered

Families Empowered

Houston, TX

Bilingual support to navigate educational options 

Fugees Family, Inc.

Fugees Family, Inc.

Columbus, OH

Refugee & immigrant-created education & training

G-Star School of the Arts, Inc

G-Star School of the Arts, Inc

West Palm Beach, FL

Recognized film, digital media production & acting high school.

Gem Innovation Schools

Gem Innovation Schools

Deary, ID

Mastery- based, hybrid & growing charter network

Gentlemen’s League

Gentlemen’s League

Memphis, TN

Male mentorship serving boys of color

Goodwill Excel Center

Goodwill Excel Center

Memphis, TN

Accelerated GED and certification pathways partnership

Gordon Bernell Charter School

Gordon Bernell Charter School

Albuquerque, NM

Career training and GEDs for incarcerated youth

Herring Gut Coastal Science Center

Herring Gut Coastal Science Center

Port Clyde, ME

Apprenticeships in marine fisheries & coastal trades

Indi-ED

Indi-ED

St. Petersburg, FL

Radical approach to personalized learning

Leaders to Legends

Leaders to Legends

Omaha, NE

Black parent-directed learning communities

Leading Little Arrows

Leading Little Arrows

Arlington, TX

Personalized, hybrid homeschooling options

Lutheran Urban Mission Initiative, Inc. (LUMIN)

Lutheran Urban Mission Initiative, Inc. (LUMIN)

Multiple cities, WI

Scaling blended-learning for students in failing schools

Maryville Academy

Maryville Academy

Des Plaines, IL

Publicly-funded education & training for students with disabilities

Modern States Education Alliance

Modern States Education Alliance

National

Freshman year for free

National Fellowship for Black and Latino Educators

National Fellowship for Black and Latino Educators

National

Leader recruitment, mentoring and coaching.

Odyssey

Odyssey

Washington, DC

Technology platform for ESAs & microgrants

Odyssey Charter School

Odyssey Charter School

Wilmington, DE

Odyssey Leadership Academy

Odyssey Leadership Academy

Oklahoma City, OK

Mastery- & mentor-based learning for out-of-the-box learners

Old Sturbridge Academy

Old Sturbridge Academy

Sturbridge, MA

Co-located history museum and school in demand

On Your Mark

On Your Mark

National

Revolutionary individualized literacy instruction

Optima Academy Online

Optima Academy Online

Naples, FL & National

Standards-aligned, flexible, & accessible VR schooling

Positive Tomorrows, Inc.

Positive Tomorrows, Inc.

Oklahoma City, OK

Specialized wrap-around model for homeless students

Randolph Eastern School Corporation

Randolph Eastern School Corporation

Union City, IN

Dual enrollment & industry training for rural students

Savannah Legacy Academy

Savannah Legacy Academy

Savannah, GA

PreK-8, hands-on college prep

School of Hope

School of Hope

Fayetteville, NC

Holistic program for high poverty students with autism

Sora Schools, Inc.

Sora Schools, Inc.

National

Personalized, interest-based, comprehensive virtual school

Special Care

Special Care

Oklahoma City, OK

Specialized preschool for students with disabilities

St. George Municipal School Unit

St. George Municipal School Unit

Tenants Harbor, ME

Contemporary, inventive, & diverse in-district curricular offerings

Thales Academy

Thales Academy

National

Affordable, classical, private school network

The Innovation School

The Innovation School

Bismarck, ND

Growing inquiry- and project-based multi-age learning pods

The Melanin Village

The Melanin Village

Princeton, NJ

Culturally affirming programming for Black homeschool moms

Tutwiler Community Education Center

Tutwiler Community Education Center

Tutwiler, MS

Critical after-school growing to all-day experiential learning

Urban Assembly Charter School for Computer Science

Urban Assembly Charter School for Computer Science

Bronx, NY

Computer science training opening opportunities.

UrbaNeXt

UrbaNeXt

Cincinnati, OH

Blended, personalized & affordable Christian HS model

Valiant Cross Academy

Valiant Cross Academy

Montgomery, AL

Rigorous & discipline-focused Black-led all-boys school 

Verdi EcoSchool

Verdi EcoSchool

Melbourne, FL

Project-based, entrepreneurial, community focused pre-K-12 

VictoryXR

VictoryXR

National

Innovative metaverse VR & AR curriculum

West Virginia Academy

West Virginia Academy

Morgantown, WV

State’s first charter enabling use of new ESAs

Wildflower Schools

Wildflower Schools

Minneapolis, MN & National

Growing Montessori school leader movement

It's not the university someone graduated from or the degree they hold.

Do they have the resilience and perseverance? Do they have grit? It's the most important skill.

Joy Chen
Entrepreneur In Residence,
GSV Ventures

If the entrepreneur's mindset embraces failure as learning and development, then we must hold our ideas "loosely", because there is a good chance we are wrong.

Jack Preus
National Director,
Open Sky Education

The concepts of taking chances and not being afraid to fail all resonated with me and goes against the grain of what I have always practiced and accepted as what education is all about from a traditional lens.

Dr. Troy Monroe
Executive Director,
Jumoke Academy

Entrepreneurs are the engine of the innovation economy.

The work this remarkable group has accomplished is not only inspirational but can be transformative for millions more students.

Michael Moe
Founder and CEO,
Global Silicon Valley

Remember, you are doing the work of civilization.

You are planting the seeds of a better world, despite any bad news, you’re doing great things.

Steve Forbes
Editor-in-Chief,
Forbes Media

The relationships kids develop at the Boys & Girls Clubs with their peers and the staff have a positive impact on their lives.

Kids develop a sense of belonging, usefulness and competence. They get to find their strengths and their passions. Every child should have that opportunity.

Michelle Malin
Vice-President, Development,
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego

Thinking "big" is often about identifying and solving real problems today, but striving to contribute to the growing body of knowledge, and laying the foundation for future leaders to have big breakthroughs.

Jack Preus
National Director,
Open Sky Education

It's about engaging families.

It's helping families step into their power — making sure that the voices of families are really front and center in guiding solutions.

Lakisha Young
Co-Founder and CEO,
The Oakland REACH

These sessions have become an oasis of calm and zen in my day, where I can turn off Slack and my emails...and just focus on learning from experts and basking in the energy of this community.

Amar Kumar
Founder & CEO,
Kaipod Learning

Conforming is something we are trained to do pretty early on.

We grow up trying so hard to fit in. Learning to be uniquely ourselves as we innovate is a part of this process.

Iman Alleyne
Founder,
Kind Academy

You are in a moment in history that we have never seen before.

Any of us with a disruptive idea have a shot at trying to prove something.

Randall Lane
Chief Content Officer,
Forbes Media

I am still processing the magnitude of this experience and so grateful for meeting each and everyone of you.

I look forward to continuing our transformative work in our communities and together.

Taylor Shead
Board Member,
Dallas Education Foundation

Our Yass Prize partnership with Forbes and CER has been one of the best things we’ve done in education over the past 25 years.

Janine Yass
Founder,
The Yass Prize

We see the Pulitzer prizes, we see the MacArthur Genius Grants, we see the Pritzker prize for architecture.

But for the one field that drives everything, education, there is no definitive prize. The Yass Prize has filled that vacuum -- it's more than just the money. It's about spurring ideas, it's about spurring innovation. We are very very proud to be a part of it.

Randall Lane
Editor,
Forbes

A takeaway about The Yass Prize - what other accelerator actually helps prepare participants for the pitch?

This is awesome and the skills are so transferable to the fundraising grind.

Brian Curcio
Co-Founder,
Rapunzl

The myth that parents of color do not care about the educational well-being of their children is just that, a myth.

Many of our Black parents want what's best for their children and believe they are not being heard and dismissed.

Janelle Wood
Founder & CEO,
Black Mothers Forum Inc.

Silicon Valley is a mindset. It is like the Education Revolution that we are seeing. The mindset of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Can we have an educational Silicon Valley?

Iman Alleyne
Founder,
Kind Academy

We realized long ago that there’s a lot of money in the system, and it’s just not directed to the children.

Janine Yass
Founder,
The Yass Prize

We often jump to the what, without thinking with the community about the why.

Michael B. Horn
Author,
From Reopen to Reinvent

No training and protocol can prepare you for entrepreneurship. Rather, we must experience it and do the hard work.

Encouraging in some ways and difficult in others.

Jack Preus
National Director,
Open Sky Education

The special sauce of our schools is tutoring.

We support our students and their ability to reach their full human potential through the use of tutoring.

Michael Duffy
President,
Great Oaks Foundation

The pandemic didn’t stop our families, scholars and educators from learning, growing and thriving.

Patricia Brantley
CEO,
Friendship Public Charter School

There are so many heroes who responded to the Covid crisis in the education sector.

You were focused on kids and families. You did what you had to do and we are so grateful for that. We created this award to honor your work and we knew if we built it you would come.

Janine Yass
Founder,
The Yass Prize

What is good for families is good for the school because families want great schools.

Ceci Schickel
Senior Director of Organizing and Advocacy,
Mastery Charter School

The challenge in education is the stakes are so high.

It's one thing to have a product fail but failure to educate children has enormous consequences. One way to address this challenge is to think about innovation in a "fail fast" model where you learn very quickly what's working and what's not so you can iterate and improve quickly.

Brian Smith
Founder and CEO,
Catalyst Academy Charter School

What has been created here at the accelerator is truly incredible.

We may never know how pivotal this really is for education in America right here, right now. This group of people will work together to force real change permissionlessly.

Rob Blevins
Executive Director,
Discovery Center of Springfield

The Yass Prize shines an important light on the heroes of education who fought valiantly to serve students and were often overlooked or dismissed.

It’s our commitment that their example is seen, learned about and replicated all over the nation.

Jeanne Allen
Founder and CEO,
Center for Education Reform

The real source of wealth in society is the human mind, not material things, because with the human mind, great wealth can be created.

Steve Forbes
Editor-in-Chief,
Forbes Media

The chance to be part of this group is a big gust of wind in the sails of New Way Global.

Being in this group has filled me with renewed hope and determination to push forward on big dreams for great education for the least served in our community and beyond.

Allan Sherer
Director,
New Way Global

If you get to the accelerator after the application process, go in knowing you already won.

The fact that you are now with a group of your peers you really get to see how world class the education profession is.

Christopher Simmonds
Principal,
CARE Elementary School

Unfortunately, the bureaucracy that’s behind the school system is more interested in perpetuating jobs and keeping the system in place, rather than giving children the freedom they deserve.

Janine Yass
Founder,
The Yass Prize

We may not agree on much of anything, but one thing that is a uniting force that we all agree on is that education opens doors, it’s the great equalizer.

Alyssa Farah Griffin
Co-Host on The View and CNN Political Commentator,

We really need to work on the why. Not just with our teams, but with all those we work with and around.

Especially the families in the communities we serve.

Jack Preus
National Director,
Open Sky Education

I hope you all think about the fact that the impact you are having, you will never even know how widespread it is.

That’s the beauty of education, you impact lives in such a deep way.

Alyssa Farah Griffin
Co-Host on The View and CNN Political Commentator,

Success happens after many pivots and changes.

Michael Moe
Founder and CEO,
Global Silicon Valley

Entrepreneurs are people who teach us about needs we don’t know we need.

This is the fundamental basis of what we are doing.

Carl Schramm
University Professor,
Syracuse University

I'm deeply humbled and grateful to be part of this group.

The last month has been a tremendous experience and I'm so inspired and motivated by the amazing work this group is doing. Collectively, we’re working towards a real-world goal and it’s leaving me empowered and motivated to apply what we learn.

Jeffrey Imrich
Co-Founder,
Rock by Rock

The fact that education has become partisan is upsetting, and I just hope that this award will encourage more states to view this as a bipartisan issue.

Janine Yass
Founder,
The Yass Prize

Too often, we look for success by analyzing an education system, rather than analyzing the success of the actual learners within the system.

That’s why we need more project-based and problem-based learning models.

Brian Curcio
Co-founder,
Rapunzl

This group of innovators has the opportunity to show the world what is possible for kids, what doesn't yet exist for so many children who deserve the opportunity to be entrepreneurs and to shine as out of the box thinkers.

This group of innovators has the opportunity to show the world what is possible for kids, what doesn't yet exist for so many children who deserve the opportunity to be entrepreneurs and to shine as out of the box thinkers.

Heather Bougeois
Principal,
Louisiana Key Academy

We must remind our parents that they are the ones who pay for their child's education through their tax dollars and therefore have as much right to be at the table planning their child's educational roadmap as anyone else.

Janelle Wood
Founder & CEO,
Black Mothers Forum Inc.

It's important to give yourself space from the work to allow room for deep reflection for continuous improvement.

When you are so deeply in the work, you can get into a routine/habit, [and] not create the space [to] allow creativity to flow.

JoAnn Mitchell
Founder & CEO,
Mission Achievement and Success Charter School

The Yass Prize is more than a competition to me. Yes, we want to win. However, we are winning in so many aspects. Knowledge is power!

I am so grateful to be a part of such an extraordinary group.

Portia Green
Principal ,
Prichard Preparatory School

Humbled to be considered in such great company.

We hope to create a shift in the education scene that really focuses on how to orient schools to the lived outcomes of our kids in the communities that they live in. Here's to abundance & great things for all of our kids.

Stefin Pasternak
Co-Founder,
Living School

Too often, we see massive amounts of funding going towards failing models or failing schools, simply because administrators are unable to recognize a sunk cost fallacy.

Brian Curcio
Co-Founder,
Rapunzl

We are so inspired by the Yass Prize participants, semi-finalists, and the courage, innovation and leadership of educators from across the country who have amplified the application of their brilliance to make the lives of their students better as they faced the daunting challenges of the pandemic.

Mike Hoque
CEO,
Hoque Global

When you are trying to advance and think beyond the status quo, this can be a lonely place, because our systems are structured to do the same thing.

It is important to surround yourself with like-minded individuals who foster innovation.

Phyllis Lockett
CEO,
LEAP Innovations

It is now our job to unlock others' potential…

so that we can continue to transform education and give the future generation the true knowledge they will need to continue the work we have all started.

Dr. Gordon Hall
Principal,
Jumoke Academy

The concept of being innovative with a touch of entrepreneurial thinking seems to be a recipe for the next level work for me as a leader and for our district's continued growth and viability.

Dr. Troy Monroe
Executive Director,
Jumoke Academy

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