Quarterfinalists Announced in Competition for $1 Million Yass Prize

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

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 john@edreform.com. 

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“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.