About 1.5 billion primary and secondary learners have had their education disrupted by Covid-19. In response to the extraordinary disruption in 2020, the Jacobs Foundation Conference 2021 rises to the challenge in the form of a Solveathon. The virtual conference event takes place on 21-23 April.
In the Solveathon, teams of educators, academics, investors, technologists, funders and practitioners will work together to co-create effective, cross-sectoral and scalable solutions to the challenge of learning in a post-COVID-19 world.
Innovative education solutions will be developed in response to four challenges run by our challenge partners:
- MIT Solve – Equitable Classrooms
- GSF – Scalable Innovations for Blended Learning
- Schools 2030 – Showcasing 1000 Solutions for Quality Learning
- GSL – Improving Learning Outcomes through Data
Solutions will be judged by a group of distinguished scholars and experts in fields from education, entrepreneurship and program design to economics, sustainable development and policy.
- Rukmini Banerji: CEO, Pratham
- Wendy Kopp: CEO, Teach for All Global
- Tom Vandenbosch: Global Director Programmes, VVOB
- Noam Angrist: Fellow, Oxford / Consultant, World Bank / Co-founder and Executive Director, Youth Impact
- Joanne Caddy: Senior Analyst / Team Leader Pisa for Schools, OECD
- Joyce Malombe: Interim Program Director, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund
- Emiliana Vegas: Senior Fellow and Co-Director, Center for Universal Education at The Brookings Institution
- Molly Jamieson: Engagement Director, EdTechHub / Senior Program Director, Results for Development
- Bill Egbe: Former Board Chair, The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, Jacobs Foundation Board Member
- Amy Jo Dowd: Head of Evidence, LEGO Foundation
- Michael H. Levine: Senior Vice President, Nickelodeon / Founder and Executive Director, The Joan Ganz Cooney Center
- Daniel Wagner: Professor of Education, University of Pennsylvania / Chair in Learning and Literacy, UNESCO / Director, International Literacy Institute / Director, International Educational Development Program
The conference supports our core goal of enabling learning systems globally to provide children between the ages of 2-12 with equitable opportunities so that they can reach their full learning potential and thrive.