2022 Quarterfinalists

Awardees

Our exceptional awardees hail from 33 states and the District of Columbia as well as groups serving the entire nation. They include schools with one location and some with multiple, and represent 8 different kinds of education providers. Together they serve tens of thousands of students in transformational and outstanding ways.

A majority of the 2022 Yass Prize Quarterfinalists serve important and often overlooked populations and embrace the importance of education that is both sustainable and permissionless. They include some standout public and private educators specifically focused on competency-based education and personalized learning as well as leaders in the ed tech space who provide remarkable tools that can be integrated into any of the other full service models being celebrated for their STOP-enabled education.

Trends this year include apprenticeships, career prep for students, hybrid and blended learning models launched, tested and proven during COVID, numerous parent-led efforts restoring hope and optimism to BIPOC families and an explosion of groups serving neurodivergent learners. While they are diverse in nature and location, these educational entrepreneurs are high impact innovators inspiring students, families and the communities around them. They will make a catalyzing Yass Prize community and we welcome them.

Join us in celebrating their accomplishments and wishing them the best of luck in the continuing Yass Prize competition!

The Yass Prize is centered around ensuring that this [program] provides you a stepping stone...

We don’t want you to rinse, wash, repeat. We want you to build and sustain.

Jeanne Allen

Founder & CEO, Center for Education Reform ,

Director, Yass Foundation for Education

The foundation of any society is a good education.

Jeff Yass

Founder,

The Yass Prize

One of the missions of the Yass Prize and the Yass Prize movement is really surfacing best practices in innovation—

in innovators who are doing this type of transformational work, so that others can learn from it and replicate it, so that you can actually grow yourselves.

Jeff Imrich

Co-Founder,

Rock by Rock

The Yass Prize process has created an awareness of the education freedom movement within churches and communities.

It's given us an opportunity to start critical discussions with our congregations, parents, community leaders and members, about the laws that govern education in Pennsylvania.

Pastor Joshua Robertson

Founder & Executive Director,

Black Pastors United for Education

The Yass Award is about celebrating and rewarding those who make students the priority.”

Kevin Stitt

Governor,

Oklahoma

When we follow the money, it’s ludicrous how this country is getting away with funding education.

The funding is not following children. We're trying to make better options for kids, for poor kids, middle class kids. Wealthy people have this choice, they opt out of their systems easily, why shouldn't all children have that choice?

Janine Yass

Founder,

The Yass Prize

Being a part of the [Yass] family confirmed that what I'm doing is right,

focusing on what we know is important for kids really works, and having a network of people now that also agree was super huge.

Kenisha Scaggs

Founder,

SOAR Academy

Everyone knows that without great education, our nation suffers.

Great education is a vital link for students to become successful citizens.

Janine Yass

Founder,

The Yass Prize

If you're committed to wanting to be one of the change makers of the future in education, I believe that this is a place for you.

Not only because of the capital, but because of the knowledge that comes by communing with the diverse group of people as opposed to everybody that thinks the exact same way that you might think.

Taylor Shead

Founder and CEO,

STEMuli Studios

There is absolutely zero downside to being a part of this network by submitting your application and what you will encounter is unlike any other grant.

It's actually mind blowing. I really see myself as an education entrepreneur, but this expanded me.

Diana Diaz-Harrison

Founder,

Arizona Autism Charter Schools

Yass brought us together, creating opportunities to create an educational universe within which we can look at education differently…

we have to find academic experiences that represent neuro-divergent learners, kids who want to learn about gaming, who want to do stuff online, who dropped out of school.

Dr. Steve Perry

Head of Schools,

Capital Preparatory Schools

We used the Yass Prize to launch a program called Skypod catalyst, which is essentially an accelerator to help other people start microschools.

We believe very much that microschools should be bottoms up, they come from the community. They're founded by educators who know their community really well. And they want to design a learning environment for the kids in that community.

Amar Kumar

Founder and CEO,

KaiPod Learning, 2022 Yass Prize Seminfinalist

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