Learning what works to optimize impact With the support of INVO, Nichole Pinkard and Cities Learn are helping communities deliver more intentional youth programming
Cities Learn is now in talks with investors, discussing the necessary funding and leadership structure to advance the company and stimulate its unique brand of community impact.”
Possessing an undeniable entrepreneurial spirit, Nichole Pinkard isn’t typical among education researchers.
But building learning systems to scale has been a longstanding personal mission for Pinkard, something she traces back to her days as a Northwestern University doctoral student in the 1990s.
The Alice Hamilton Professor of Learning Sciences at Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy, Pinkard founded the Digital Youth Network (DYN), a groundbreaking program teaching digital media skills to youth, as well as L3, a social platform connecting youth to learning opportunities in and beyond the schoolhouse doors. She also co-founded YOUmedia, a digital literacy program in which high school students and mentors create new media from traditional media.
But Cities Learn represents Pinkard’s grandest, most ambitious venture to date.
Cities Learn democratizes access to afterschool activities by offering a unified data system to track youth participation, achievement, and activity outside the classroom. Cities such as Chicago and Dallas have used the platform’s targeted analytics tools to develop data-driven, equity-focused youth programming with greater intention and purpose.
And with the assistance of INVO, Pinkard continues working to extend the reach of Cities Learn.
As an inaugural recipient of INVO’s N.XT EdTech award in 2021, Cities Learn received gap funding from INVO as well as individualized resources and mentorship tied to the upstart venture’s specific goals and needs. INVO has also supplied Pinkard guidance on solidifying business operations as well as strategic connections capable of generating sustainable success.
Cities Learn is now in talks with investors, discussing the necessary funding and leadership structure to advance the company and stimulate its unique brand of community impact.
“We get cities all the time asking us to engage with them, but we need to build our team and our infrastructure to take Cities Learn to a larger audience. That’s where INVO has been an invaluable partner to us: giving us structure and support so that we can build a business that has financial and community impact.”
--Nichole Pinkard PhD ’98
Alice Hamilton Professor of Learning Sciences, Sschool of Education and Social Policy