ABOUT
About
What is the Yass Prize?
The Yass Prize for Sustainable, Transformational, Outstanding and Permissionless education, now in its fourth year, is a rapidly growing effort to find, reward, celebrate and expand best-in-class education organizations from every sector, in every state, and to create unprecedented partnerships that accelerate impact with the speed and urgency our students deserve. The Yass Prize and STOP Awards Initiative is accelerating education opportunity for students and freedom for parents and teachers all over the country.
Announcing the 2024 Yass Prize Winner and Finalists!
What Does it Mean to STOP for Education?
The most effective education environments stem from state policies that give educators wide latitude to develop and support student needs. These four core principles have the power to guide policy change and drive positive outcomes for every child.
S
Sustainable
T
Transformational
O
Outstanding
P
Permissionless
Education that is free to exist and thrive without depending on regulatory bodies is permissionless. It means the ability to make decisions about what you do, and how you do it – whether you’re a founder, teacher, parent, or student – without asking for permission. Providers that are true to the concept of permissionless education boldly execute on what they know to be right, rather than waiting for a green light from a person or entity.
Permissionless education environments stem from state policies that give their educators wide latitude to develop and support student needs, which in turn make them sustainable.
That’s why we STOP for education!
Our Story
In August 2021, the $1 million STOP Award to Transform Education was created to honor and advance the work of education providers that continued to perform for underserved families during Covid, and ensure they not only could continue but expand to serve more students and be a beacon for thousands more educators and innovators dedicated to education opportunity for all young people.
In just four short months, hundreds of inspirational education providers were uncovered. These outliers were doing everything from starting new schools in museums and churches to developing new models for learning with artificial intelligence. Twenty of the best providers were identified, and a robust evaluation and pitch process was held. In December 2021, in addition to the Grand Prize winner Discovery Center of Springfield, MO, the four finalists received contributions of $250,000 and the remaining semifinalists were surprised with $100,000 grants for their extraordinary work. They were and are the impetus for this new STOP Foundation 4 Education, which is owing to a couple whose inspiration, generosity and vision is unparalleled.
Building A Movement
Once the first round of finalists are chosen, they participate in a fast-paced and jam-packed Accelerator which drives them into unique conversations with industry experts from the fields of journalism, finance, politics, and beyond, who in turn end up utlizing the expertise of the Yass Prize cohort members. Throughout, the participants at every stage of the competition are fueling new pathways that enable more students to have access to what they deliver, and advocating for change to make it happen for others. “Enlightening doesn’t even come close” to describing the experience, said one of the participants. We couldn’t agree more.
Janine Yass
Jeff Yass
Meet Our Founders
Our Partners
We’re proud to be powered by the Center for Education Reform (CER) whose mission is to expand educational opportunities that lead to improved outcomes for all Americans.
With support from Forbes Media, the Yass Prize and its awardees benefit from an iconic American media institution and its influence and impact.
Meet The Team
Careers
Join our incredible team at The Yass Prize as we transform education across America!
