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"Education Nation" is NBC News' initiative to engage citizens in a solutions-focused conversation about the state of education in the United States. The initiative was launched in the fall of 2010 and continues to be a key feature of the news division through local events and on-air programming across the network's shows and platforms throughout the year. [1]
Fall 2013 saw Education Nation reach its fourth year. This year continued NBC News' sustained focus on highlighting education news and content across platforms. The initiative culminated in the Education Nation summit, which was held October 6th through 8th at the New York Public Library. The 2013 summit theme, "What It Takes," examined the state of education in the United States, with a specific focus on preparing students for future education and employment opportunities. [2]
The Education Nation summit consisted of a series of workshops, panels, and town hall meetings exploring such themes as the Common Core State Standards Initiative, personalized learning, and keeping up with global competition. Notable speakers and presenters included Governor Steve Beshear of Kentucky, Governor Mike Pence of Indiana, Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil Rex Tillerson, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education Dennis Walcott, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. This year's summit also featured an Innovation Challenge for education technology startups, sponsored by the Robin Hood Foundation, which was won by San Francisco-based CodeHS. [3] [4]
Heading into its third year, the “Education Nation” initiative employed all platforms of NBC News --including MSNBC, programs like “NBC Nightly News,” “Today,” “Rock Center,” and “Meet the Press,” digital properties such as msnbc.com and EducationNation.com, and live events across the country -- in a continued effort to shine a spotlight on the challenges, potential solutions, and innovations spanning today's education landscape. In 2012, “Education Nation” deepened public engagement in a solutions-focused discussion on improving student achievement and preparedness for the workforce, giving special attention to innovation and technology.
The centerpiece of “Education Nation” 2012 was the national summit in New York City from September 23rd - 25th. The event was held in a new venue. In addition to the summit, the network also continued “Education Nation On-The-Road” in the spring of 2012. Making stops in Denver, Atlanta, and Miami in April and May, the NBC News team hosted a series of panels and events involving NBC News anchors and correspondents, local leaders, officials, educators, parents, and students.
In 2011, “Education Nation” launched its first on-the-road tour, hosting a series of panels and events focused on local education issues in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.
In September, NBC News hosted its second-annual “Education Nation” Summit on Rockefeller Plaza from Sunday, September 25th through Tuesday, September 27th, 2011. In addition to the events, NBC News also constructed the "Education Nation Experience"—a state-of-the-art public exhibit where visitors could engage with videos and interactive tools to explore the skills, knowledge and training required to succeed in the 21st century. [5]
Sunday's events included a national Teacher Town Hall with hundreds of teachers from across the country and thousands more online at EducationNation.com, [6] and the world premiere of American Teacher —a documentary film narrated by Matt Damon.
Monday and Tuesday featured back-to-back panel discussions hosted by NBC News talent like Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams, and Ann Curry with contributions from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Warren Buffett, Melinda Gates, [7] and numerous civic leaders including ten governors from across the U.S. [8] and former President Bill Clinton. [9]
The United Nations Foundation is a charitable organization headquartered in Washington, DC, that supports the United Nations and its activities. It was established in 1998 with a $1 billion gift to the United Nations by philanthropist Ted Turner, who believed the UN was crucial for addressing the world's problems. Originally primarily a grantmaker, the UN Foundation has evolved into a strategic partner to the UN, mobilizing support to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and help the UN address issues such as climate change, global health, gender equality, human rights, data and technology, peace, and humanitarian responses. The UN Foundation's main work occurs through building public-private partnerships, communities, initiatives, campaigns, and alliances to broaden support for the UN and solve global problems. The UN Foundation has helped build awareness and advocate for action on, among others, antimicrobial resistance, regional action on climate change, local implementation of the SDGs, as well as global campaigns such as Nothing But Nets against malaria, the Measles & Rubella Initiative, the Clean Cooking Alliance, Girl Up, Shot@Life, and the Digital Impact Alliance, among others. In March 2020, the UN Foundation was also a key founder of the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund on behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO), helping to raise over $200 million USD within the first six weeks to support the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported as of 2020 to be the second largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $69 billion in assets. On his 43rd birthday, Bill Gates gave the foundation $1 billion. The primary stated goals of the foundation are to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty across the world, and to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology in the U.S. Key individuals of the foundation include Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, Warren Buffett, chief executive officer Mark Suzman, and Michael Larson.
Meet the Press is a weekly American television Sunday morning talk show broadcast on NBC. It is the longest-running program on American television, though its format has changed since the debut episode on November 6, 1947. Meet the Press specializes in interviews with leaders in Washington, D.C., across the country, and around the world on issues of politics, economics, foreign policy, and other public affairs, along with panel discussions that provide opinions and analysis. In January 2021, production moved to NBC's bureau on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
America's Promise Alliance is the nation's largest cross-sector alliance of nonprofit, community organizations, businesses, and government organizations dedicated to improving the lives of young people.
Techfest is the annual science and technology festival of Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, consisting of social initiatives and outreach programs throughout the year.
ServiceNation was a campaign of Be The Change, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization based in Boston, Massachusetts. Its mission is to rekindle an ethic of civic responsibility in America through universal national service. ServiceNation's goal was to expand opportunities for Americans to spend a year in non-military national service such as AmeriCorps. National service programs like Americorps pay a living stipend and reward volunteers who have completed service with a monetary education award.
Planet Forward, a project of The George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs, is an online public forum where experts, engaged citizens and students weigh in on energy, climate and sustainability. The most inventive and creative ideas are featured online.
Sunny Varkey is a Dubai-based NRI who is education entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the founder and executive chairman of the global advisory and educational management firm GEMS Education, which is the largest operator of private kindergarten-to-grade-12 schools in the world, with a network of over 80 schools in over a dozen countries.
The Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME), is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2002. Located in Half Moon Bay, California, its mission is to make learning and knowledge sharing participatory, equitable, and open.
Concordia is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It is best known for its Annual Summit in New York City, which is a global affairs forums that promotes partnering between governments, businesses, and nonprofits to address the world's most pressing needs.
Bloomberg Philanthropies is a philanthropic organization that encompasses all of the charitable giving of founder Michael R. Bloomberg. Headquartered in New York City, Bloomberg Philanthropies focuses its resources on five areas: the environment, public health, the arts, government innovation and education. According to the Foundation Center, Bloomberg Philanthropies was the 10th largest foundation in the United States in 2015, the last year for which data was available. Bloomberg has pledged to donate the majority of his wealth, currently estimated at more than $54 billion. Patti Harris is the CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Bombay, also known as E-Cell, IIT Bombay, is the primary entrepreneurship promoting body of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, managed and run completely by the students of the institute. It organizes initiatives like the annual business plan competition Eureka! and the flagship event, The Entrepreneurship Summit (E-Summit) in January each year, which receives a footfall of over 30,000 people who include students, investors, corporates, mentors, celebrities and the most important; Entrepreneurs.
CodeHS is an interactive online learning platform offering computer science and programming instruction for schools and individual learners. CodeHS is focused on spreading access to and knowledge of computer science by offering online instructional materials supported by remote tutors. In the introductory learning module, students on the site practice computer science concepts and programming skills by giving commands to a dog named Karel. In the most popular course offered, which is similar to the original Karel programming language developed by Richard E. Pattis, Karel the dog must complete various tasks by moving around a grid world, and putting down and picking up tennis balls using only simple commands. Later learning modules teach more advanced concepts using languages like JavaScript, Java, and HTML.
The Varkey Foundation, initially the Varkey GEMS Foundation, is a global charitable foundation focused on improving the standards of education for underprivileged children. It was formed in 2010 by Indian businessman Sunny Varkey, the founder and chairman of GEMS Education, the world's largest operator of private kindergarten-to-grade-12 schools. The foundation's main focuses are improving global teacher capacity by training tens of thousands of teachers and principals in developing countries; providing access to education via a variety of programmes and projects; and advocating for change in, and conducting research that can help develop, education policies worldwide.
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is a nonprofit organization that focuses on accelerating innovation in education through the smart use of technology in education. ISTE provides a variety of services to support professional learning for educators and education leaders, including ISTELive—an ed tech event, the ISTE Standards for learning, teaching and leading with technology, and ISTE Certification. ISTE also provides a suite of professional learning resources, including webinars, online courses, consulting services, books, and peer-reviewed journals and publications.
Rebeca Z. Gyumi is a Founder & Executive Director at Msichana Initiative, a Tanzanian NGO which aims to empower girls through education, and address key challenges which limit girl’s right to education. She has worked for over 8 years with Femina, a youth focused organisation, as a TV personality and youth advocate.
The Franklin Project was a policy program of the Aspen Institute from October 2012 to December 2015, that focused on advancing national service in the United States. Walter Isaacson called the project the "biggest idea" to come out of the Aspen Ideas Festival during his tenure as CEO of the Aspen Institute. In January 2016, the project merged with ServiceNation and the Service Year Exchange project of the National Conference on Citizenship to form Service Year Alliance.
MIT Solve is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Solve is a marketplace for social impact innovation. Through open innovation Challenges, Solve finds tech-based social entrepreneurs all around the world. Solve then brings together MIT’s innovation ecosystem and a community of Members to fund and support these entrepreneurs to help them drive lasting, transformational impact. Currently, Solve supports 228 Solver and Fellow teams. Solve has catalyzed over $50 million in commitments for Solver teams and social entrepreneurs.
InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition is a High School Science Television contest show that started in Nigeria. It debuted in 2017 as SPAK.
Global Goals Week is a shared commitment between a coalition of over 160 partners across all industries, which mobilizes annually in September to bring together communities, demand urgency, and supercharge solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It was founded in 2016 by the United Nations Foundation, Project Everyone, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It is timed to coincide with the UN General Assembly "High-Level Week" in New York. The week includes events, summits, conferences, forums, workshops, pledges, and other activations in New York, around the world, and online. It usually runs alongside Climate Week NYC, the annual conference of Goalkeepers, Bloomberg Global Business Forum and many other high-level events.