Photo courtesy of Ednovate

By Aylon Samouha
Transcend Co-Founder and CEO

As we prepare for the launch of Transcend’s book next month and approach our 10th anniversary next year, we’re looking ahead with more clarity and determination than ever before. Today, I’m excited to share the evolution of our organizational strategy, which aims to support design journeys in over 1,000 new schools so that 675,000 more students are learning in ways that prepare them to thrive in and transform the world.

What are design journeys, and why are we so focused on them? While we’ve seen promising breakthroughs that make extraordinary, equitable learning a reality in individual schools or systems, few have been implemented at scale: top-down approaches have limits because local context is crucial, but bottom-up approaches take too long and ask too much of overworked educators and leaders. We need a middle ground. Our “third-way” solution—the heart of Transcend’s mission—is community-based design journeys, where students, families, teachers, and leaders come together to leverage proven strategies in their own contexts.

To date, we’ve partnered with over 400 schools and districts across the country to transform learning for over 800,000 students. More than 70% of the schools we partner with demonstrably improve student experiences associated with outcomes within three years. We’ve done this through community-based design journeys, and we’re determined to make them more accessible to schools everywhere.

In a fantastic development as we work to make this ambitious strategy a reality, we’re honored to announce that The Audacious Project, a collaborative funding initiative committed to catalyzing social impact on a grand scale housed at TED, has selected Transcend as part of its 2024 cohort. The bold ideas selected range from repurposing generic drugs en masse to reach the 300 million people globally who lack viable treatments to a new initiative evaluating AI systems for dangerous capabilities before release. We are the sole education organization in this year’s cohort, showcasing the power and potential of elevating students’ voices and designing with a broader coalition of caregivers, educators, school leaders, and community members.

I am so grateful to share that Transcend received $12 million of the total $725 million in funding catalyzed by The Audacious Project to support critical global work across a variety of sectors. This injection of resources is an investment in Transcend and more importantly, in every student, educator, and community we partner with.

This moment is not just a win for Transcend; it’s part of an exciting time for K-12 at large. With new books sparking provocative conversations about the future of education (including the ones pictured below and our own upcoming book) and Congress introducing a bill to support and spread innovative models, the momentum is palpable. Communities and leaders across the country are leaning in and working together to combat chronic absenteeism, accelerate learning, and nurture students’ and adults’ mental and emotional well-being.

We’re clearer than ever on our role in this collective movement: making community-based design journeys accessible to many more schools and students. The 1,000+ schools we support in the next five years will help us build the infrastructure, knowledge, and momentum needed to reach thousands more in the following decade so that we can transform our education system nationwide.

At its core, our work is about listening to young people and centering their wishes and well-being. The Maasai people greet each other in a way that embodies why. Instead of asking “How are you,” they ask “And how are the children?” Our children—and how, where, what, and why they learn—are the manifestation of our country’s well-being and promise. We work toward the day when all of us can reply, “The children are thriving and they are transforming the world.”