The Power of Partnerships and Collaboration
Launching our first virtual Educator and Entrepreneur Exchange
If there is one lesson we’ve learned over the past 14 years of the ASU+GSV Summit, it’s that all the important work being done to create access to the future requires deep cross-sector partnership. GSV is committed to supporting our global K-12 educator community as they launch and sustain innovation around the world. Nearly 600 education global leaders joined us at last April’s Summit to engage in conversation, sessions, experiences, school visits, and conversations with others that contribute to unique, cross-sector conversations and design-thinking activities that push thinking and solutions around innovation, readying our students for the future, emerging technologies, and redesigning education. The magic of the Summit is in the mix — groups of people coming together (who normally would not cross paths) to move the needle on education innovation. The feedback from the Summit was energizing and inspiring, with encouragement for GSV to bring together educators and entrepreneurs with more intention. As one Superintendent stated:
“The GSV community is set up and well connected to the innovative initiatives. I am honored to be a part of this community as I know how powerful this work is for our students.”
Education leaders expressed their desire to stay connected, informed, and engaged, and we look forward to doing our part as investors and connectors to ensure that we are intentionally finding ways to stretch the catalytic energy beyond the Summit into a growing and vibrant community year-round.
Our commitment to educators is rooted in partnerships. As Deborah Quazzo, managing partner of GSV Ventures and co-founder of ASU+GSV Summit shares, “The power of the ASU+GSV Summit is in its community, changing the world for good cannot be done in a silo. Bringing leaders, educators, entrepreneurs, and policymakers together is paramount to creating innovative solutions and sustainable change for the education system.” Nothing can be done without partnerships — they allow for diverse perspectives, new ideas, and clarity on the needs of a community. This is especially true in EdTech and innovation. Entrepreneurs and educators need each other to ensure that the products being developed meet needs and to expose education leaders to a range of possibilities to solve their most pressing needs. As an example of both partnership and innovation, we launched a partnership with Cambiar Catalyst this past fall. Our shared commitment to disrupt inequity and cultivate innovation across the “Pre-K to Gray” learning landscape allows this unique partnership to collaborate across entrepreneurs and systems leaders. This partnership provides opportunities for all of us to build the bridge between K-12 Systems Leaders and Educational Entrepreneurs so that the broader ecosystem produces dynamic solutions educators need most.
We hosted a virtual Educator and Entrepreneur Exchange with Cambiar Catalyst in December, with the goal being proximity. Cambiar Catalyst education systems leaders and our cohort of entrepreneurs within the GSV community engaged in real-time dialogue and shared ideas and feedback. We knew the power of the event was its ability to create a bridge where ideas could be exchanged across systems to cultivate innovation and partnership. The event design maximized the time educators and entrepreneurs spent together. Entrepreneurs were asked to develop a specific design challenge for the system leaders to get insights and feedback. Our entrepreneurs found the event extremely helpful, with one sharing, “This was really helpful for us, and the feedback from the leaders will factor greatly into some of the key decisions we are facing over the next several months. This is a great forum, and I look forward to continuing the work”. The simple but powerful statement from one of the education system leaders, “I absolutely loved this! I want more!” is leading us to want to expand this powerful partnership to education leaders and entrepreneurs across the country. The next opportunity will be at the 14th annual ASU+GSV Summit, April 17–19, 2023. As GSV partner and Chief People and Impact Officer Tiffany Taylor states, “Collaboration is the foundation of change within any system”. We look forward to an exciting future of additional partnership and collaboration!
