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Quarterfinalists announced in competition for $1 million Yass prize

  • October 3, 2022

Sixty-four diverse education entrepreneurs are inspiring students, families and communities around them

DETROIT, MI – The 64 quarterfinalists for the 2022 $1 million Yass Prize for Sustainable, Transformational, Outstanding and Permissionless education were announced today at the Forbes Under 30 Summit in Detroit, Michigan. The awardees, located in 33 states and the District of Columbia, represent eight different kinds of education providers. Together, they will reach nearly 100,000 students with the rewards from this prize.

“It is our honor to be able to foster the exceptional work underway in this country for students who need our help the most,” said Yass Prize Founder Janine Yass. “Our goal this year was to find the best innovators in education in the country. Their ideas and enthusiasm are pushing the status quo for children who deserve access to awe-inspiring education,” she continued.

Janine Yass and her husband, Jeff, are the visionaries behind the initiative, which was initially created to find and advance the work of education providers that continued to serve children despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic. The effort is powered by the Center for Education Reform (CER) in Washington, DC.

The award highlights education providers that strive to offer education that is Sustainable, Transformational, Outstanding and Permissionless (STOP). In conjunction with the $1 million Yass Prize, which will be announced on December 14 at Forbes on Fifth, the STOP Awards Initiative will distribute over $10 million to honor the remaining education innovators, providers and entrepreneurs through the course of the competition.

“We look forward to getting to know the great new 64 Yass Prize quarterfinalists who truly deserve recognition for their efforts to transform education in this country,” said CER’s Jeanne Allen, Director of the Yass Foundation for Education. “If we could just clone them and the thousands more who applied, we could more than make up the deficiencies brought on by years of mediocrity and COVID learning that have wrought havoc on our kids. This is a start.”

The multi-phased Yass Prize and STOP Awards Initiative provides an opportunity for each quarterfinalist to advance and earn higher prizes. The 64 finalists are all guaranteed to receive a STOP Award of $100,000 for their efforts. They now move into the next phase to determine the 32 semifinalists who have the ability to receive a $200,000 STOP Award and will take part in a four week hybrid accelerator program. The applicants will be paired with an impressive array of technology leaders, change agents and investors to identify ways to take their ideas to the next level. This high impact philanthropy model will not only reward innovators in the education space, but amplify their work through numerous experiences and an extensive mentorship network. All providers who applied for the Yass Prize will be invited to participate in a growing learning community, a movement for STOP education designed to foster the growth and collaboration of the nation’s best education innovators.

“Education entrepreneurs are a critical piece of the country’s continued economic strength and growth.  The work that all of these quarterfinalists are accomplishing to educate the future generations is truly transformative,” said Michael Moe, founder of Global Silicon Valley, an early advisor to this initiative and CER Director.

At the end of the accelerator process, seven finalists will be named from which the $1 million prize winner will be chosen. The remaining six finalists will each receive a $250,000 STOP Award.

The Yass Prize for Sustainable, Transformational, Outstanding and Permissionless Education is powered by the Center for Education Reform in partnership with Forbes. For more information, please visit YassPrize.org. For media inquiries, please contact John at 202-203-9688 or pr@yassprize.org.

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The Yass Foundation advances the four core STOP principles: Sustainable, Transformational, Outstanding, and Permissionless education. Each year, the Foundation will reward dozens of organizations, building a growing network of innovative providers that
demonstrate these qualities in their commitment to new ideas, technologies, and approaches to learning that bring education into
the 21st century. The Foundation is powered by the Center for Education Reform (CER) in partnership with Forbes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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,

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

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

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,

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

Success happens after many pivots and changes.

Michael Moe
Founder and CEO,
Global Silicon Valley

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

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

Michael B. Horn
Author,
From Reopen to Reinvent

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

Patricia Brantley
CEO,
Friendship Public Charter School

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

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

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