Introducing the The Moonshot Innovation Space
Moonshot has been working in the Metro Denver education ecosystem for over six years now. In that time, we have supported 100 BIPOC & historically marginalized leaders to launch over 40 innovative learning environments. We’ve learned a lot about and from our communities. We are proud of what we’ve done so far, but we also knew that to create the change we wanted to see in the world, we needed to reflect on our work and consider what we could evolve. We are thrilled to share the next version of our flagship fellowship program: the Moonshot Innovation Space.
Where We’ve Been
The landscape has changed since our first cohort in 2017 and the education disparities that drove our work. There are new considerations like mounting challenges around charter authorization, pandemic impacts on leader mental health and sustainability, philanthropic divestment from education and DEI, and weakening talent pipelines for education leaders, including recruitment and retention.
During the 2022-2023 academic year, we paused our programming for the first time. We used that opportunity to research, analyze, reflect, consider, discuss, ideate, brainstorm, and build. We’ve done this work in tandem with the very leaders we’re serving with four alumni joining the Moonshot Fellowship Redesign Squad. The result? A re-imagination of the Moonshot Fellowship into what we’re now calling the Moonshot Innovation Space.
Where We’re Going
The Denver ecosystem needs more than just new schools and programs, and our leaders are interested in shifting this landscape in ways beyond just launching these ventures. We’ve learned over time that they are also interested in catalyzing change in existing systems and ensuring policies work to support equitable outcomes for youth and communities. As such, we have evolved our programs to more formally and comprehensively support multiple pathways, with a renewed focus on not only launching, but also sustaining both our leaders and the solutions they’ve designed.
Moonshot is committed to serving Colorado’s youth, and improving their lives by investing in diverse leadership in education, health, policy, the arts, and more. While we previously focused specifically on schools and after-school/summer programs, we are now broadening our recruitment efforts to include Fellows who work in other systems that impact youth, like city and state government, grassroots organizing, immigration, transportation, food access, and housing.
What’s Next
For years, Moonshot has been creating a deep, sustainable community of equity-driven leaders equipped with an understanding of community needs, an ability to engage youth and families authentically, and the skills to design and iterate sustainable solutions that disrupt systemic inequities. The newly redesigned program is steeped in theoretical, practical, and conceptual social justice frameworks; grounded in culturally responsive research from leading BIPOC and queer scholars and practitioners, and informed by six years worth of rich qualitative and quantitative data from previous fellowship cohorts.
Additionally, we are no longer looking just for founders to be Moonshot Fellows. We recognize that people are doing amazing work both by creating new solutions and working within existing solutions. We have always believed that to develop liberatory futures for our youth and communities, we need to advance multiple solutions, which may look like learning environments like programs or schools, or perhaps products or services like apps, or new initiatives at the organizational, local, or state level. Furthermore, our program will be longer for all leaders, going from three-months with options to continue to nine-months for all Moonshot Fellows.
We envision the next cycle of Moonshot’s Fellows will meet one of four profiles:
Launchers: Individuals seeking to design innovative solutions by building and launching new and bold organizations (typically schools or nonprofits) that meet a demonstrated need sourced by a historically marginalized community (for example, 1. read about Tatenda Blessing Muchiriri’s mobile Montessori vision, 2. or Destiny Hardney and the Dream, Create, Inspire Tour).
Catalyzers: Individuals seeking to design and implement solutions within an existing organization that meet a demonstrated need sourced by a historically marginalized community (for example, 1. an assistant principal who wants to design and implement an initiative to retain BIPOC and historically marginalized teachers, 2. a math teacher who wants to design and implement a program within their school to support the integration and sense of belonging of migrants and recent arrival students)
Organizers: Individuals seeking to design and implement solutions through community organizing and advocacy efforts, that meet a demonstrated need sourced by a historically marginalized community (two examples: 1) engaging with youth and families in meeting with representatives and attending city council meetings to co-design policy addressing youth homelessness, 2) develop a youth civic engagement campaign to communicate issues that matter the most to youth under age 18 to inform voter priorities)
Inventors: Individuals seeking to design and implement resources that impact youth that meet a demonstrated need sourced by a historically marginalized community (for example: 1. designing a financial literacy curriculum for middle schools to adopt, 2. developing a transportation app for youth to get safely to/from school and extracurricular activities)
Today marks the beginning of our next program cycle. From March 11 to April 14, we’ll be accepting applications for Moonshot Cohort 7. If you or someone you know may be interested in our work, please learn more and apply at moonshotedventures.org/apply
Last, but not least, in light of the evolution of our work, we’ve also decided to refresh our brand. We’re still Moonshot, but we’ll be focusing less on the “edVentures” (education ventures) part. We love our updated look, and hope you do, too.
How We’re Feeling
We are proud, excited, and (of course!) a bit nervous about the next chapter of our work. We have worked incredibly hard to re-envision a version of our work that serves the needs of the individuals, families, and communities of Metro Denver. And most of all, we’re hopeful.
We want to thank some people who have participated in this process with us. Thank you to the Moonshot Redesign Squad, alumni Aleiya Evison (Cohort 6), Alejandro Fuentes Mena (Cohort 2), Donna Chrisjohn (Cohort 5), and Miles Erickson (Cohort 6), for sharing their insights and believing in the future of this work. Thank you to our former teammate and Program Manager, Sasha Green, for her years of hard work on the Moonshot Fellowship. Thank you to Deepa Iyer, the Building Movement Project, and Solidarity Is, for developing the Movement Leadership Stool Framework which deeply inspired our redesign. Thank you to Amanda Tien, our long-time creative and communications consultant, for partnering with us on this journey.
Thank you to the Moonshot team for their expansive thinking and willingness to embrace ambiguity in pursuit of growth -- Justin Teneyck, Program Director; Amanda Gonzales, Managing Director of Schools & Programs; Alex Chavez, Finance & Operations Director; and especially Daranee Teng, Managing Director of Strategy & Impact, who has led this process and created brilliance out of messy, complex design work.
And, last but most assuredly not least, we would like to thank all Moonshot Fellows who have trusted us with their vision, time, and energy, including sharing years of insights on surveys, and who have continued to be dedicated to making the world a better place.
With excitement,
Kat Ling, CEO