The Yass Prize 2023 Launch

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

Remember, you are doing the work of civilization.

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

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

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

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.

Success happens after many pivots and changes.

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