Joanna: Did you know that more than eight million students in America don't attend school regularly? These numbers have skyrocketed to 36 million with the impact of COVID-19. Innovative, novel and evidence-based solutions for addressing the issue of attendance are almost nonexistent, despite the fact that this leads to learning loss, school dropout, and social inequality. AllHere is fostering student success and attendance using mobile messaging powered by artificial intelligence. We develop AI-Powered Virtual Advisors (AVA) that support students and families on the path to and through school and provide 24/7 impactful support that is proven to help K12 students get—and stay—on a path to graduation.

Francesco: The inequality that exists, in regards to access to educational resources, is often driven by income, and the COVID-19 epidemic has only made this issue worse. In fact, during the rise of remote learning during the pandemic, 56% of parents reported being unable to help their children with math, with clear disparities between households that can afford to hire a tutor versus those who can't. It's more important now than ever for students to have the tools they need to support learning— both inside and outside of the classroom—regardless of their economic status.

Archana: To realize our vision of creating an integrated equitable impact ecosystem in the New York Metropolitan Area, we will continue to create opportunities for stakeholders to intentionally collaborate through formal and informal partnership agreements. We are cementing our identity within the existing ecosystem by creating a culture of cooperation and partnership. This is reflected in the breadth and scope of our Advisory Board members expertises and networks. It is reflected in the speakers, experts and facilitators we have featured in our programs to-date. Our members represent the breadth of the impact ecosystem from innovators to investors, academics to practitioners, nonprofits to for profits. Through these intentional partnerships, we will not recreate but rather recognize and reorganize existing resources making them visible and accessible more widely and equitably. We believe this will benefit the whole ecosystem.  We are committed to the deliberate and consistent approach needed if we are to be a credible ecosystem builder within the Metropolitan Area.