Learning What Works to Optimize Youth Programming
Nichole Pinkard and Cities are Helping Communities Deliver
Nichole Pinkard, PhD ‘98, Alice Hamilton Professor of Learning Sciences, School of Education and Social Policy
Possessing an undeniable entrepreneurial spirit, Nichole Pinkard is an education researcher looking to maximize impact.
Building learning systems to scale has been a longstanding personal mission for Pinkard, something she traces back to her days as a Northwestern doctoral student.
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 after-school 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.
With the assistance of INVO, Pinkard is 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.
“We get cities all the time asking us to engage with them,” said Dr. Pinkard, “but we need to build our team and our infrastructure to take Cities Learn to a larger audience. That’s where INVO[‘s N.XT Fund] has been an invaluable [resource] to us: giving us structure and support so that we can build a business that has financial and community impact.”