School of Thought was born in Philadelphia, the birthplace of a lot of great ideas. This includes the socially conscious eyewear brand, Warby Parker, whose 100 word origin story framework was inspiration for ours:

Jane and Sarah met a decade ago, while Sarah was the Head of Research at the Philadelphia Youth Network and Jane was a Research Scientist on PYN’s board. They bonded over their love of bringing together thinkers to do impactful things. In their work, they saw organizations, schools and businesses working alone.  Jane wondered, “Why aren’t they crossing silos to work together?”  Sarah replied, “Maybe they don’t know how.” Jane suggested, “We should start an organization that breaks down silos - and makes it meaningful.”  Sarah said, “We should focus on human-centric values.” 

And so, School of Thought was born.

Here is the motivation: In a world that can be filled with uncertainty, conflicting headlines, and varying perspectives as to what is “right,” School of Thought seeks to bridge evidence and experience and co-create solutions. We work at the intersection of research, relationships and reimagining.

What is very clear is that if we want to accelerate change, we need to do it together.

Here is the challenge: Schools and sectors are fragmented and this negatively impacts empathy, opportunity and change. Silos mean our evolution can only happen internally. Organic conversations are inherently inequitable.

To change the way we operate in schools and sectors, we need an ecosystem supportive of evidence-based practice and curated through professional judgement.

Here is what we do: At School of Thought, we are co-creating a culture of and database with evidence and innovation that can contribute to our collective work. We are inspired by all of the educators, researchers, thought leaders, innovators and friends who are a part of this movement. We bring tools and resources to our cultivated cross school, cross sector learning cohorts and engage in projects with multiple possible outcomes. We celebrate each other’s progress, learn, and build community along the way.