Getting 16.4 million people better post-secondary education? Lumina Foundation has a plan for that.

Lumina Foundation wants to help 16.4 million people get a quality credential by 2025, and they're looking for entrepreneurs with the vision to help realize that goal.

  • Lumina Foundation's goal is to help people across the U.S. get a quality post-secondary education.
  • To do that, it's providing grants, helping to shape policy, and it's investing in innovative entrepreneurs through the Lumina Impact Ventures program.
  • Lumina is looking to partner with entrepreneurs who are dedicated to helping students gain a fulfilling post-secondary education and for whom Lumina Foundation can be a strong value-add partner.
  • In 2019, Lumina Foundation and Big Think teamed up to create the Lumina Prize, a search to find the most innovative and scalable ideas in post-secondary education. You can see the winners of the Lumina Prize here – congratulations to PeerForward and Greater Commons!
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You can crowdsource innovation. Here’s how Lumina does it.

What are the best ideas out there to innovate our rapidly changing education system? The Lumina Foundation has partnered with Big Think to find them.

  • The conventional model of innovation involves piloting a product, scaling it, and then mainstreaming it.
  • However, the Lumina Foundation believes that this model won't work quite so well for education: Instead, rapidly prototyping and iterating different ideas is the likely the best way to create a more equitable education system for our rapidly changing society.
  • That's why the Lumina Foundation is partnering with entrepreneurs with innovative ideas to improve our education system through Lumina Impact Ventures, and why Big Think is helping them find the best ideas about the future of learning and work.
  • You can see the winners of the Lumina Prize here - congratulations to PeerForward and Greater Commons!
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The problem with problem solving? It isn’t ridiculous enough.

Ask very silly questions to spur very serious innovation.

  • To get really innovative solutions to complex problems, you need to abandon logic, says Dan Seewald.
  • Asking provocative and ridiculous 'what if?' questions pushes us down lateral paths of thinking versus the vertical or logical path. The latter approach is practical but it doesn't break new ground.
  • Breaking with tradition through lateral thinking allows us to solve really serious problems, from climate change to political turmoil. Or, as Dan Seewald explains, it could just help you solve all your laundry headaches.
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10 best books for entrepreneurs and inventors

Foundational business books for success.

Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy, by Tim Harford

  • Explore the 50 inventions that made the modern world.
  • There is rich advice in the literature of start-up development.
  • Learn about the interconnectedness of innovation and business development.
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What’s the Lumina Prize? You could have the winning idea!

We're unearthing the next big idea in post-high school education. Is it yours?

  • Lumina Foundation is partnering with Big Think to unearth the next large-scale, rapid innovation in post-high school education. Let's lift Americans up the economic ladder and redefine education and training for the new economy.
  • Lumina Foundation is an independent, private foundation committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. Its goal is to prepare people for informed citizenship and for success in a global economy.
  • If you have an idea that could empower learning beyond high school, enter the Lumina Prize. You could win flights and accommodation for two nights in New York City, media training from Big Think's producers and social venture advisors, and the opportunity to film a Big Think video that will be seen by a network of potential investors and an audience of 5.5 million people.
  • Enter the Lumina Prize below.
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