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NEW YORK, NY--Sept.23, 2011-- NBC News,
Citi and NewSchools Venture Fund are launching an exciting "Innovation
Challenge" to help the nation better understand the idea of education
innovation and how it can improve education opportunities for students across
the country.
The “Innovation Challenge” is a multi-day competition that will take place as
part of the 2011 NBC News Education Nation Summit. The Challenge pits three
teams of young innovators from across the U.S. against each other in a series
of trials, culminating in a pitch competition at the 2011 Summit. Education
Nation Summit participants will get to see it all in action as NBC News
cameras follow the teams in the days leading up to the final competition. NBC
News Correspondents Peter Alexander and Jenna Wolfe help guide the teams
through their challenges.
The teams will compete to win the $100,000 Citi Innovation in Education Prize
to help make their innovation a reality, as well as ongoing technical
assistance over the next year from Citi and NewSchools Venture Fund, in order
to help grow their business. The judging team includes Citi Vice Chairman for
Institutional Clients Carlos Gutierrez, NewSchools Venture Fund President
& CEO Ted Mitchell, Khan Academy founder Salman Khan, American Federation
of Teachers Innovation Fund Director Ann Bradley, and a teacher.
Additional Innovation Spotlights at the 2011 Education Nation Summit will
feature Allen & Co. Managing Director Nancy Peretsman, Aspen Institute
President & CEO Walter Isaacson, and World Peace Game Foundation founder
John Hunter. In addition, innovators including Citi CEO Vikram Pandit,
OgilvyAction North America CEO Sheila Hartnett and top OgilvyAction creative
executives, the American Museum of Natural History, DimensionU CEO Ntiedo Etuk
and ConnectEDU CEO Craig Powell will mentor the Innovation Challenge teams.
“The goal of the 'Innovation Challenge' is to help spotlight some of the
greatest ideas and innovations out there today that can impact education and
improve the nation's shared economic future,” said Michael Chen, President of
the Strategic Initiatives Group & Education Nation at NBC News. “We're
excited to incorporate these incredibly smart and passionate entrepreneurs
into our Summit and showcase it to our audience.”
"Citi is proud to support the Innovation Challenge and help these
pioneers improve our nation's schools," said Citi CEO Vikram Pandit.
"In our 200-year history, we have had the privilege of working with some
incredible American innovators - entrepreneurs who built enterprises that
fundamentally altered the landscape across industries. With this competition,
we have the opportunity to help a new generation of American entrepreneurs
for the worthy goal of improving education in this country."
“Entrepreneurs with great ideas are helping teachers and schools solve the
problems of public education,” said NewSchools CEO Ted Mitchell. “The
Challenge offers America to see, close-up, what innovation looks like. It’s
the first time anything like this has happened, and it’s exciting.”
To watch the "Innovation Challenge" stream live, visit EducationNation.com/livewebcast
for scheduling information.
"Education Nation" seeks to create a thoughtful,
well-informed dialogue with policymakers, thought-leaders, educators, parents
and the public, in pursuit of the shared goal of providing every American
with an opportunity to achieve the best education in the world. These
discussions cover the challenges, potential solutions and innovations
spanning the education landscape. By providing quality information to the
public, NBC News hopes to educate Americans so they can make decisions about
how best to improve our education system both in the near and long terms, and
to shine a spotlight on one of the most urgent national issues of our time,
so that America can once again become the Education Nation of the world.
For more information about “Education Nation,” visit EducationNation.com, check us out
on Facebook: facebook.com/EducationNation
or follow us on Twitter @EducationNation.
About Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200
million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and
jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and
institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including
consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities
brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.
Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com
| Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi
| Blog: http://new.citi.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi
About NewSchools Venture Fund
NewSchools Venture Fund (www.newschools.org)
is a national nonprofit venture philanthropy firm that aims to transform
public education for underserved children by supporting education
entrepreneurs. The NewSchools portfolio
includes some of the most innovative and high-impact organizations working to
improve education for low income children today.
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