The $1 Million Yass Prize: The Pulitzer of Education Innovation, Open to Education Providers of Every Type and Scale
COLUMBUS, May 21, 2026: Applications for the nation’s largest education innovation award, the $1 million Yass Prize, close June 1, 2026 at 12:00 P.M. ET. Ohio education providers of every type, sector, and scale are encouraged to apply before the window closes at yassprize.org.
Ohio has already produced some of the Yass Prize’s most recognized innovators. Bridgeway Academy in Columbus earned recognition as a 2024 Semifinalist, and Oakmont Education — a network of charter schools re-engaging dropout recovery students through career and technical education across Ohio — was awarded as a 2022 Finalist. Dreams Academy International in Akron was named a 2025 Semifinalist, joined by the EDWINS Restaurant workforce training institute and a charter school through Fugees Family as prior awardees. Against a backdrop of expanding education choice options for Ohio families, Yass Prize organizers want to ensure the state’s education innovators have every chance to apply before the June 1 window closes.
“Being a part of this experience has amplified the access we can give to our students in a way that nothing has, and the access is just critical,” said Cristina Gulacy-Worrel, Vice President of Oakmont Education.
The Yass Prize recognizes the most transformational, sustainable, and outstanding education models in America, awarding over $60 million to date to more than 225 school founders and education leaders across 45 states — funding and supporting them to accelerate their impact and expand opportunity in the communities they serve.
The effort is sector agnostic. Past winners and finalists span the full spectrum: from innovative public models to private networks, charter schools, microschools and career and technical programs. What unites them is a relentless sense of urgency to make education work for every kind of student.
“Year after year, the organizations that have moved quickly to the top are the ones who almost didn’t apply. If you’re doing extraordinary work for kids, this prize was built for you,” said Caroline Allen, Founding Director of the Yass Prize.
Selected finalists will attend the Yass Prize Accelerator in Miami — an intensive boot camp where participants are paired with expert advisors, sharpen their business plans, and pitch for the $1 million grand prize. The winner will be announced at the Power of Innovation Summit on October 6, 2026 in Philadelphia.
According to past winners, the process is rigorous but not daunting. Elias Pappas, CEO of Odyssey Charter School in Delaware and 2023 Yass Prize Finalist, shared from his experience: “If you have the 3 to 4 hours, why wouldn’t you apply to change the lives of all the children you serve?”
Yass Prize co-founder Janine Yass, who launched the prize alongside her husband Jeff, said of the award: “Every year, we are thrilled to find these education changemakers, and we are grateful to be able to reward their extraordinary creativity, tenacity, and achievements, and to help them build for the future.”
Applications close June 1, 2026 at 12:00 P.M. ET. Apply at YassPrize.org.