Lessons, Leaders and Momentum
And a Poem!...all about the Power of Innovation Summit
Grab a drink or an eggnog — you’ll want to read every word!
It’s the season of Advent, when “we are called to vigilance, hope, and readiness for the coming of the Lord… to invite reflection on the material blessings of our life.” We return to familiar stories and traditions, both sacred and secular, not out of habit but as a way of preparing ourselves for what is to come.
It struck me this week how fitting it was that our most important work of the year unfolded during this season. Because Advent is not only about waiting; it is about readiness. Renewal. Recommitment. And the Power of Innovation Summit became exactly that — a collective act of preparation for the future of our children and our country.
And in that Advent spirit — and with a little fun — I begin with a short poem…
’Twas The Summit Before Christmas…
’Twas the Summit before Christmas, and all through the dwelling,
Attendees were riveted, the presenters compelling.
The air was alive with anticipation and care,
Knowing that soon, the Yass Prize would be there.
But first came the program, to engage and enthrall—
On workforce and content, education rules and all.
There were Nick and Diana D., Kirsten Baesler and Treasury Sec. B,
As well as Portia, Keith, and Pat from D.C.
The Mikes from the coasts, the ladies from Ed Tech—
It’s hard to imagine a more brilliant deck.
So many more to mention before cocktails flowed;
All will be reported out soon, although…
The awards themselves were filled with surprise,
And not an eye in the house stayed dry after the prize.
Not one and not two, but four plus eighteen,
For Mimosa and Em, Jeff and Tiffany.
Mercedes with her military microschools to boot—
They and the others now launch a bold new pursuit.
To expand to thousands more children in need,
With Jeff and Janine’s largesse, they’ll succeed.
It brought smiles and joy to hundreds last week;
We’re just getting started, and Christmas is peak.
So read on and learn a little bit more
Of the work—and the people—you cannot ignore.
A Holiday Feast
It was like a feast… but instead of food we were full with energy and info and themes that I need to call out to you before the full CER report gets issued in the New Year.
From workforce shifts and AI to student wellness, civics, and the rapidly shifting dynamics of school choice funding, the Summit revealed what must take priority in the year ahead. Equally powerful were the frontline stories that underscored why families need access to schools that truly work for their children.
The responsibility of America’s 250th anniversary — to prepare students not just for careers, but for citizenship — came through clearly. Everyone in the room recommitted to what they can and should do to deliver great teaching, content, and knowledge to students through their schools, companies, and organizations.
There was also clear urgency around aligning education with the workforce realities our country now faces — and the many ways — through policy and practice — that new approaches can finally bridge the education–work gap.
And threaded through it all were reminders of the diverse needs of every child: neurodivergent and neurotypical, artistic and analytical, the confident and the overlooked, the struggling and the misunderstood. Committing to making children healthy again needs to be a key priority.
But nothing captured the spirit of the Summit more deeply than the spotlight that followed.
The Woman Transforming The Pine Ridge Reservation
We were all captivated by her five-minute spotlight, the story of why and how Mary Jo Fairhead, founder of 2024 finalist Onward Learning from South Dakota, does what she does to serve students whose life risks are higher than any other group of students across the country. You will have to watch it when the video is out, but her mother, who also happens to be a state legislator wrote this later, and it says more about both the person as well as the preparation and confidence the Yass Prize experience has instilled:
“Mary Jo walked into a room full of nationally recognized leaders, innovators, philanthropists, and advocates… and somehow, within minutes, she had them completely still — frozen in the kind of silence that only truth creates. By the time she finished, the entire room sat in tears.
“As a mother, I stood there in awe. As a legislator, I was shaken. If one young woman from the poorest area in the country can walk into a summit and bring leaders to tears, then how have we allowed our education system to fall so devastatingly short?
“I’ve never liked the phrase ‘School Choice.’ After listening last night, I finally understood: it’s not School Choice — it’s Parents’ Choice.
“Because no one knows a child better than their parent. Not a bureaucracy. Not an agency. Not a committee of experts who’ve never set foot in our communities. Parents should have the authority to shape their child’s education and the power to demand results. “And if there’s one message every parent needs to hear, it’s this: Never give up. Your child must always come first.”
It captured everything this movement stands for — and everything it must continue to deliver.
“It’s not lost on me that I get to fight for kids like the one I used to be, and I know I don’t have to do it alone. I am a better person because of the connections I have made here, and this movement is proof of that connection.”
- Cris Gulacy-Worell, Founding Team & Vice President, Oakmont Education (2022 Yass Prize FInalist)
Later That Night
It was a veritable who’s who of leaders giving challenging ideas - from ensuring that the full faith and credit of the federal government is behind education freedom, to provoking a legal assault on state laws that deny student fair and full funding, to how AI can coexist with direct, human-led, content rich instruction. You’ll see it all soon!
“Our goal is to transform the US education system into an engine of economic dynamism. But to achieve that goal, we need the perspective, ideas and support of the innovators in this room. The future belongs to the heterodox thinkers who challenge old models and commit to building something new. It belongs to people like you.”
Honorable Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury Secretary
The Opening I Didn’t Get To Deliver
Fortunately, I can improvise. I had to; my notes never fully made it to the confidence monitor!
I had hoped to open the evening by naming the moment we’re living in: a time when Washington, D.C. — for all its contradictions — still represents the promise of American freedom, and when the work being done by the people in that room has begun to accelerate in extraordinary ways.
Policies have shifted. Public support has surged. The national conversation has changed. And parents, innovators, educators, and entrepreneurs are now firmly in what I described as “the driver’s seat of the education Uber.” They are charting the route, defining the destination, and refusing to accept yesterday’s boundaries as tomorrow’s limits.
It’s a result of the many national and state leaders (many of whom were there, Cabinet officials, the state leaders, the philanthropists, the reform pioneers, and the business leaders present) — people reshaping systems, communities, and entire states. But I also wanted to make clear that the heart of the night belonged to our 23 Yass Prize contenders.
They had spent weeks in an intense Accelerator — learning, refining, challenging assumptions, and supporting one another. Many told us they already felt like winners before the night began. Their story pitches are captivating, captured here in just a couple of minutes.
When you watch, I want you to think: This is what innovation looks like. This is what freedom looks like. This is what the future must look like.
The Original
We were especially blessed that Dr. Howard Fuller, the OG, was with us. He is the man who kicked off generations of new opportunities for students. He made Milwaukee famous — and unlike the beer, it was a first of its kind. The battle for the Milwaukee choice program after his post as schools superintendent, was waged alongside a small but mighty kitchen-table group that included a major strategist, a lawyer, a governor, and a state lawmaker who believed in her community and in the power of low-income parents to direct the education of their own children.
“I finally made it to a Yass Prize gathering and was blown away. The spirit, energy, and sheer urgency behind this work are unlike anything I’ve seen in a long time.”
- Nina Rees, Former U.S. Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education | longtime national ed-reform leader
True to form, Howard credited that very woman, the late Rep. Polly Williams with the success when he accepted the surprise Chairman’s Award, named for our mutual friend and CER’s longtime leader and Friendship Public Charter Schools founder, Donald Hense. Talk about icons and examples for today’s battles! When you understand the struggle and fights men like Howard and Donald endured to deliver great education for kids, you understand that no setback today compares to the battles they waged.
Howard reminds everyone that the battles of today were first fought by those who refused to accept the status quo decades ago. His voice — steady, uncompromising, grounded in justice — is part of the DNA of this movement. His book, No Struggle, No Progress, could not be more fitting. Howard has lived that truth. And the new generation of innovators gathered last week are the inheritors of that struggle. Seeing him recognized was more than symbolic — it was a reminder that movements endure when they honor their roots.
Funders Who Fuel The Future
From the roots to the branches, Janine and Jeff Yass are fueling the education freedom movement forward with extraordinary conviction. As I shared that evening, No two people in this space have done more to unleash bold education innovation in this country than Janine and Jeff Yass. Their belief in the power of people over systems has changed the lives of countless students.
They believe this remains the best thing they have ever done with their philanthropy. But it’s equally about changing the policy as it is about distributing money. I worked for years to convince funders and philanthropists to ‘break china’ when needed — to engage directly, to understand the landscape they were supporting personally - not through layers of staff and process but seeing what has happened, what can happen, and how changes in law and policy can affect both.
Janine and Jeff dig in - they get to know the movement that bears the name. That’s real leadership.
“Not just thought-provoking, but action-provoking. Standing once again among some of the nation’s most innovative education leaders reminded me how this movement doesn’t just inspire thought — it inspires action.”
- Keith Brooks, National Fellowship of Black and Latino Males in Education (2023 Yass Prize Finalist)
And the best way to understand the Yass’ impact is simply to look at the people they champion. This year’s Yass Prize honorees demonstrate why this movement is accelerating—and why their work deserves both recognition and replication.
2025 Yass Prize Honorees
Learn all about the grand prize winner and four finalists for the Yass Prize, whose work most exemplify the STOP principles:
$1 Million Prize — Chesterton Schools Network
A national network of classical, parent-led high schools that empowers communities to create rigorous, joyful environments where students are known, challenged, and formed in mind, character, and spirit.
The Finalists ($250,000 STOP Awards):
For Sustainable Education: Pepin Academies
Pepin pairs academics with real-time therapeutic supports for students with learning disabilities, making the education box bigger, not confining exceptional students to traditional silos.
For Transformational Education: The School House
A multi-methodology school uniting five evidence-based approaches in one vertically aligned curriculum, where mixed-age learners build real skills—from entrepreneurship to civic engagement.
For Outstanding Education: WonderHere
A child-centered microschool network bringing wonder back to learning through blending project-based, play-driven, and personalized learning to restore curiosity and authentic work to children’s daily experience.
For Permissionless Education: Path of Life Learning
Path of Life brings stability and belonging to highly mobile, military-connected children through campuses designed around continuity and personalized support.
And 18 additional contenders were named semifinalists, receiving $100,000 STOP Awards, rounding out one of the most diverse, dynamic, and forward-looking cohorts to date—organizations proving what is possible when people, not systems, are trusted to lead.
Renewed, Refreshed And Ready To Roll
That sentiment strikes fear in the chorus of anti-innovation, anti-entrepreneur, anti-freedom advocates who cling to an old system and energize a group who is still talking about renewing the fight for great education—no matter the obstacles. They’ll break bread with anyone who has earnest interest in pursuing solutions, and the media would do well to watch and follow, rather than wait for the next crisis to cover the evolution of a new, un-STOP-able movement of great education leaders.
Great education leaders do not wait for systems to change. They are building their own systems and models — challenging assumptions and expanding opportunity across multiple pathways, with multiple approaches.
May this Advent bring clarity, hope, and joyful expectation to you, your families and the children we serve.
With gratitude and Forza,
Jeanne
