CommunityShare Featured at HundrED Innovation Summit

Tucson-based CommunityShare has been selected by global education nonprofit HundrED, as one of the 100 most inspiring K-12 education innovations across the world. CommunityShare was chosen for its pioneering status and ability to create a scalable impact.

CommunityShare connects teachers and students to the real-world expertise of people and organizations throughout the community. The initiative uses an online platform to match teachers and classrooms with community partners – artists, scientists, businesses, entrepreneurs, academics, parents, retirees, nonprofits – who serve as project collaborators, mentors, and guest speakers. CommunityShare founder Josh Schachter describes the platform as a “human library of local wisdom for our schools and teachers to tap into.” The ultimate goal is to build a learning ecosystem that empowers teachers, engages students, and connects the larger community directly in the work of strengthening our schools.

Schachter presented at HundrED’s Innovation Summit, which took place November 7-9, 2018 in Helsinki, Finland. He facilitated a Master Workshop on “Transforming Communities into Equitable Learning Ecosystems” at Helsinki Education Week and presented CommunityShare at the Innovation Summit to over 500 education innovators around the globe.

“We’re truly honored to have been selected as one of HundrED’s 100 global innovations this year. It is amazing to have the opportunity to learn from other innovators and share CommunityShare’s work beyond Arizona and the US using HundrED’s network. We connected with many inspiring organizations, and there is now interest in expanding CommunityShare to Australia, Belgium, France, and New Zealand,” shared Schachter.

Out of this year’s collection, Frederika Warren, Researcher at HundrED, predicts that US-based CommunityShare “has the potential to have a big impact” as it’s “simple and has a great concept.”

Saku Tuominen, CEO of HundrED, said: “Spreading innovations such as CommunityShare across borders can be a gamechanger for education, worldwide. We will continue to encourage as many stakeholders as possible including schools, educators, administrators, students and organizations to get involved so that we can work towards a positive future.”

Click here to learn about grantee partner CommunityShare.

Click here for information on the Information Summit.