Latest

Community Cultivators

Just as Early Learning Nation showcases the ways families, researchers and grassroots nonprofits and organizations are building an early learning nation—one community at a time—our Community Cultivators series highlights how innovators across all sectors build and sustain global communities from the ground up. We hope the series inspires your own early childhood work.

Ken Burns: Committing to Complexity

Nothing against TikTok, but the documentarian still believes in sustained attention

Mark Swartz·March 13, 2020·4 min read

If you add it all up, Ken Burns and PBS have broadcast over 200 hours of documentary films. It might...

Rye Barcott and the Five Percent Rule

Mark Swartz·February 4, 2020·5 min read

In 1999, University of North Carolina sophomore Rye Barcott was sitting in Swahili class when a recent alumnus, just back...

Kyle Zimmer Builds Community of Educators on Frontlines of Economic and Educational Justice

Mark Swartz·October 29, 2019·9 min read

In the late 1980s, as Washington, D.C., endured the crack era, Kyle Zimmer felt compelled to do something to help...

Weavers: Geniuses at Connecting & Building Community

David Brooks’s Search for Everyday Heroes

Mark Swartz·October 15, 2019·5 min read

From where David Brooks stands, the State of the Union is a long, long way from sound. The author and...

Students Rebuild Inspires Creativity, Builds Global Community for Philanthropy

Meet Leonetta Elaiho—Chief Empowerment Officer

Mark Swartz·September 17, 2019·5 min read

From the time she was a young person herself—specifically, a 15-year-old camp counselor in Seattle—Leonetta Elaiho has seen the many...

Tiffany Shlain’s Vision for Building Community

Embrace Beauty, Be Present, Always Carry a Notebook

Mark Swartz·August 27, 2019·5 min read

This is the fourth entry in Early Learning Nation’s Community Cultivators series, and you would think, by now, we’d have...

Bird by Bird: Mya-Rose Craig’s Campaign for the Planet

Mark Swartz·August 7, 2019·4 min read

Mya-Rose Craig, 17-years old, has followed her passion for birds and the environment to create and galvanize a community of activists of all ages. In the process, as a young Muslim woman, she’s been trolled on social media. Not an insurmountable problem, though, as Mya-Rose is keeping her eye on a larger issue: saving the planet.

Shared Values, Different Stories

Logan Smalley’s Vision for Building Community

Mark Swartz·July 22, 2019·5 min read

Like a lot of kids, Logan Smalley liked to take his toys apart and then try (the operative word is...

Make. Learning. Relevant.

Dean Kamen’s Vision for Building Community

Mark Swartz·July 1, 2019·5 min read

Imagine a world where baseball is a subject taught in school. Just one thing is missing from this imaginary curriculum: the students never actually get to play the game. In September, they open their textbooks and read about the origins and rules of baseball. After winter break they take tests on pitching and hitting records set by the greatest players. By the spring, classes delve into the nuances of base stealing and bunting. So what if they never swing a bat themselves or catch a line drive, right? It’s not like any of them are going to become professional ballplayers, right? To Dean Kamen, this scenario is no more absurd than the way math and science have been taught traditionally.

No More Content

Go Back To Homepage