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2013 NewSchools Venture Fund Portfolio Award Winners

While more than 900 supporters of entrepreneurial change in public education gather today at the annual NewSchools Summit in Burlingame, CA, we are proud to announce the recipients of our annual awards. These awards are designed to recognize and celebrate the remarkable achievements of this important class of social innovators, who are making a difference in the lives of students in underserved communities across the country and changing the national conversation about what’s possible in public education. Read more

Off the Beaten Path: An Insiders Guide to Summit 2013

This year will be my second year attending the NewSchools Summit. Last year, I found myself awestruck by the sheer number of people who came to share ideas, discuss what’s next in education reform, and to make new connections that will advance their work. By the end of the day, I thought my head was going to explode from trying to process it all. I didn’t even realize that I had really only witnessed or taken part in approximately 30% of what Summit has to offer. So this year, I am making a commitment to take my Summit experience to the next level, by taking part in some of the lesser known gems of Summit. Read more

Seed Fund Investing Values

When Wayee and I launched this Seed Fund in late 2011, we started with this set of investment principles to guide our evaluation process though realizing that every company is unique and early stage investing is not a precise science. I’d like to share these principles in an effort to make the investing process more open and transparent. Read more

Elevating the Educator Voice: Reflections on SXSWedu 2013

Now that I have recovered from the flurry of activity that took place at this year’s SXSWedu conference, I have started to reflect on what I hope to see at next year’s conference as well as what I personally would have done differently. I enjoyed hearing the latest on personalization, data analytics, game-based learning, and the Maker movement and was impressed with the passionate entrepreneurs who went through great lengths to pitch to me. However, I left the conference wishing I had built more connections with educators and school leaders. Read more

Virtual School Tours: Providing Parents with Greater Access to Compare School Quality

By David Pickens, Executive Director, DC School Reform Now This time of year in Washington, DC, is public school application season. Parents interested in applying to traditional out-of-boundary or charter public schools are busy learning about which schools would be a good fit for their child.A couple years ago, we at DC School Reform Now (DCSRN) launched the High Quality Schools Campaign (HQSC) to support parents in this very endeavor. HQSC helps parents […] Read more