4POINT0 SCHOOLS

Our goal is to find and train an entirely new generation of education entrepreneurs to solve the acute problems facing today's learners and design a future-ready system of schools that can replace our outdated, centuries-old industrial model.

* Train aspiring education entrepreneurs through our two signature programs, the ESSENTIALS, and TINY Fellowships. Both programs provide prospective entrepreneurs with a three-day "boot camp" in our New Orleans lab, coaching from experienced alumni, training in start-up strategies, a connected cohort of same-stage peers, and the financial capital to do small-scale developmental trials; they differ in dose of training, scope of testing and amount of capital provided. To maximize accessibility, 4.0's programs are designed as a flexible entry point to entrepreneurship; the fellowships are self-paced, can be completed on a part-time schedule and are offered at no cost to participants.

* When great ideas warrant moving forward beyond the fellowship, we connect our alumni to downstream incubators, accelerators, and investors - like New Schools for New Orleans, Camelback Ventures, Y Combinator, MindTrust, and others.

Since 2010, 4.0 has been a catalyst for education innovation in New Orleans; building links between school reform and the entrepreneurial momentum that has rebuilt our city post-Katrina. Our nationally recognized fellowship programs train educators to use traditional entrepreneur strategies like design thinking and lean startup to develop new school models, learning programs, and tools that will redefine education for our next generation of learners.

Over the last eight years, over 1,000 people have tested ideas using strategies they learned with 4.0; the 136 founders who graduated our capstone programs have built sustainable schools, learning programs, and educational products that now serve over 650,000 students and families in towns and cities across the US.

We're ready to grow, but ours is not a traditional scaling strategy. To succeed as a 4.0 community there must be a climate of entrepreneurship and a hunger for education reform. Our work now is in identifying these communities, finding gutsy people to serve as catalysts and providing the resources, tools and connections they need to succeed.