Who We Are

Mission & Vision

Transcend is made up of a diverse team of educators, innovators, and changemakers with experience as school and system leaders, working towards a vision where all young people learn in ways that enable them to thrive in and transform the world. The organization is unified in the mission to support school communities to create and spread extraordinary, equitable learning environments. 

For many, school represents a place that was built for one kind of person: the child that sits still all day listening to a teacher at the front of the room. The truth is that the school design most communities have inherited is over a century old, built for a different time, to face different challenges. 

The future demands something different. Activating this transformational change requires shifts, or Leaps for Equitable, 21st-Century Learning, that enable learners to realize their infinite potential. 

Transcend pursues its mission in three ways:

  • Directly supporting schools and systems in their design work
  • Democratizing design support through resources, tools, and professional learning that enable communities everywhere to do this work
  • Catalyzing systemic change by engaging funders, system leaders, and policy influencers to understand and advance innovation

Transcend is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates nationally.