Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle

Great news from Seattle on Thursday. Had a meeting with Josh Jarrett at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and it sparked off hundreds of thoughts about the future of K12 and Post Secondary learning in the United States.

By the way, Josh has a cool view from his window. You can look down to the water that surrounds Seattle. I spotted one of those pontoon boats circling the bay. Josh says they take off from there all day long. I wonder how much it would cost to rent one to Vancouver tonight....

But back to education...

Lots of the conversation is still continuing on the back channels, but what seems pretty clear from that initial communication is that there needs to be a broader discussion at the Education Industry Investment Forum, and in the industry, in general, about private and public partnerships and the role that foundations and endowments can play in investing in education, either through corporations and corporate sponsorship, lending, teacher improvement, or even in gearing technology to aid in the development of a stronger learning regimen nationwide.

Too much to write in one blog post, but we are looking forward to having more conversations with the team at Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.