NewSchools and Waiting for Superman

This past summer, I moved to San Francisco to begin my fellowship at NewSchools Venture Fund, a venture philanthropy firm that invests in social entrepreneurs working to improve public education. In addition to supporting early stage organizations as they grow into sustainable solutions, NewSchools’ mission includes acting as a hub for education innovators – from school leaders to policymakers – to share best practices in order to more effectively drive systems change. As a non-profit that applies capitalist principles to solve problems yet seeks only social returns, NewSchools constantly confronts the challenge of attempting to gauge a new idea's functional value within the context of stark cultural, political and financial realities.

This fall, NewSchools partnered with Participant Media and Paramount Pictures on a variety of initiatives related to the release of the documentary Waiting for “Superman”. In addition to organizing and hosting screenings of the movie around the Bay Area and joining the film’s pledge progress meter, NewSchools is currently producing a short video to be included with the film's spring DVD release. As part of this project, I have traveled to New York City and Los Angeles as our team has conducted interviews with a diverse group of education experts – including Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp and Newark Mayor Cory Booker – as well as students, teachers and parents at innovative organizations such as School of One and KIPP LA Prep.