Milken Family Foundation Archives

Milken Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition and the Innovators Changing the Landscape of Education

May 16, 2014 Wally Boston

Over the past two days, I attended the 2014 Milken Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition and Conference at the University of Pennsylvania. The Milken Family Foundation awards an overall first prize of $25,000 and a second prize of $15,000 for distinguished innovations to the way we improve education and learning outcomes throughout society. In its fifth year, the conference has steadily grown in the number and quality of business plans presented.

Celebrating Innovation in Education at the 2013 Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition

May 15, 2013 Wally Boston

Pictured are (from left): Dr. Wallace E. Boston (President, American Public University System), Jill Frankfort (Persistence Plus), Dean Andy Porter (Penn GSE), and Gregory Milken (Milken Family Foundation).

Last week, the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education and the Milken Family Foundation hosted the fourth annual Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition. The competition website explains that “there is an urgent need to find ways to reach and educate every person” while also noting that “The United States is the largest exporter of education in the world, and education is our country’s fifth largest export.”

NEST 2011 – Networking Ed Entrepreneurs for Social Transformation

June 13, 2011 Wally Boston

I attended the NEST 2011 Conference at the University of Pennsylvania last week. Sponsored by Penn’s Graduate School of Education (GSE) (of which I am a graduate), the conference attempts to match education entrepreneurs with investors, educators, and a policy maker or two. The two day event included a business plan competition sponsored by Penn GSE and the Milken Family Foundation as well as the Startl Prize for Open Educational Resources in partnership with the Hewlett Foundation.