Ben Kornell has spent his career scaling ‘what works’ for learners, educators, and education systems. Ben began his career as a classroom teacher in San Jose, CA. He loved his middle school students, but realized that the school’s drill-and-kill approach was limiting students and their potential. What was required?: new teaching and learning models that leverage progressive pedagogy, engaging content, and competency-based assessment. With that in mind, Ben has spent the past two decades scaling innovative models around Project-Based Learning (Envision Education), Personalized Learning (Altschool), Montessori (Higher Ground), and Problem-Solving (AoPS). He has lived at the intersection of education, technology, and business working with entrepreneurs and innovators. Ben currently supports those efforts as Managing Partner of the Common Sense Growth Fund and Cofounder of Edtech Insiders. In the meantime, Ben started his own family, and inspired by Nico (14) and Sebastian (9) ran for San Carlos School Board in 2021, serving as an elected school board member for the past four years.
