Introducing the Yass Prize Year in Review

Success happens after many pivots and changes.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Remember, you are doing the work of civilization.

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