MIT Jameel World Education Lab welcomes three member organizations dedicated to helping aspiring innovators to start smart
Three non-profit organizations with a proven record of local and regional support for emerging entrepreneurs and deep connection to MIT expertise, students, and alumni are joining MIT’s Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL) network. As part of MIT Open Learning, J-WEL is MIT’s collaboration hub for educational innovators to explore new ideas and insights drawn from across the campus and across the world. Member organizations benefit from J-WEL’s curation of ideas, customized workshops, global linkage to like-minded educators, access to MIT resources, and customized collaboration, enabling them to better serve learners in their setting.
The three organizations form J-WEL’s pilot innovation cohort. In working with them, J-WEL extends the potential for MIT to contribute to and learn from programs that support entrepreneurship learning and development in settings with growing demand for innovation linked to technology. By drawing on J-WEL’s experience in working with faculty and researchers from across MIT, its extensive relationships with higher education organizations across the world, and a suite Open Learning programs that include corporate learning and emerging talent, J-WEL extends its reach to include those supporting student entrepreneurs and aspiring innovators seeking to learn about technology and entrepreneurial thinking at any life stage.
J-WEL’s innovation collaborative leverages the new members’ track record in fueling innovation in their regions and their extensive experience in working directly with aspiring entrepreneurs and corporate innovation processes. Each is launching a program under the heading of StartSmart in recognition of ideas and expertise they have built in their regions and through prior collaborations with the MIT ecosystem.
All three members are committed to expanding entrepreneurial innovation support in settings that provide abundant opportunities for evidence-based, academically grounded, and field-tested approaches to spur effective and impactful innovation that reaches customers and citizens who most need it, while shoring up entrepreneurial thinking and capabilities for those who participate.
“J-WEL’s innovation collaborative provides the MIT ecosystem with a new route for us all to learn as we support and study academically grounded innovation programs in varied settings: Poland and Central and Eastern Europe; Saudi Arabia; and Greece and Southern Europe. StartSmart members are ready to inspire and equip a wide range of entrepreneurially minded learners who will put what they learn to use within their communities and regions. The careers they build, the solutions they develop, and the new businesses they create will benefit many,” says Dr. Anjali Sastry, Faculty Director of J-WEL and associate dean for Open Learning. “SmartStart programs’ support of emerging entrepreneurs aligns with J-WEL's mission to drive education and innovation addressing the world's pressing challenges. We look forward to forging new connections between the innovation collaborative and universities and other educational institutions, including schools and workforce learning programs, in their regions and across the world.”
About J-WEL
MIT’s Jameel World Education Lab brings MIT ideas and resources to educational innovators, builds connections with dozens of member organizations across the world, and collaborates in co-designed projects with educational institutions to develop, assess, and disseminate practical and effective solutions that increase the reach, quality, and innovation potential of education.
J-WEL’s growing focus on innovation support speaks to the need for new and effective methods to spur impactful learning, development, and progress grounded in the ability to innovate in technology, process, and business models, particularly when that innovation benefits from ideas, insights, and guidance emerging from academia while addressing local needs and opportunities.