KIPP Summit

Last week, our team had the amazing opportunity to attend KIPP’s 2014 Summit and 20 year celebration, “On Beyond 20!” Like us, KIPP started in Houston, and we are lucky to have KIPP Co-Founder Mike Feinberg as one of our mentors and strongest supporters. He invited us to come experience the summit, and we couldn’t have been more honored!

So what did we take away from spending a few days surrounded by inspirational KIPPsters and their supporters (other than this awesome picture of our co-founders Andy and Ricky with M. Night Shyamalan)?

For PledgeCents CEO Andy, the most memorable part of the summit was Billy Beane and Grant Hill’s session on having a winning attitude. They spoke about the importance of everyone on a team being on board with the same system, much like all the KIPP teachers are with the “work hard be nice” concept. Apart from being in the presence of athletic greatness (Andy is a sports nut), Andy enjoyed this session because he felt he is going to be able to take what he learned there and apply it to the team we are building here at PledgeCents.

Ricky, our CFO, was taken aback by the way in which every KIPP teacher or KIPPster he encountered was a living, breathing embodiment of the principles the founders, Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin, built their first school on 20 years ago. He believes that the world would be a better place if every organization was able to instill its core values into its students, employees, or peers like KIPP has. He is ready to accept that challenge for PledgeCents, and he wants you to do the same!

Other highlights of the week for the PledgeCents team included:

• Meeting with TONS of KIPP teachers and signing up 5 new KIPP schools for PledgeCents
• A session on storytelling with M. Night Shyamalan (that’s where we got the picture)
• Hearing the KIPP New York City Symphony play in front of over 13,000 people at the Toyota Center
• Seeing 10 teachers surprised by being awarded the KIPP Excellence Award
• Hearing a concert by Mary J. Blige

...and most importantly

• Learning how two young men’s passion and grit took KIPP from one school with 45 students to a national movement that has touched countless lives.

We left the summit feeling inspired to continue doing everything in our power to support the amazing work teachers are doing in the classroom!