# The Yass Prize

The Yass Prize is a Foundation based in New Orleans, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Foundation
- **Headquarters:** New Orleans, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** New Orleans, LA, United States
- **Founded:** 2021
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** yassprize.org
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/stop-for-education

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The Yass Prize was created in 2021 by Janine and Jeff Yass, the latter a co-founder of Susquehanna International Group. The initiative channels wealth generated in options trading into a search for the most transformational education providers in the United States. The foundation operates from New Orleans, with a secondary hub in Minnetonka, and runs an open-application competition rather than a closed grantmaking process. The Prize awards a $1 million grand prize and distributes upwards of $20 million each cycle to dozens of finalists and semifinalists, constituting one of the largest private annual award purses for K-12 innovation. Recipients span public charter networks, microschools, homeschooling collaboratives, and private scholarship organizations. Winners have included Arizona Autism Charter Schools and Valiant Cross Academy, both recognized for outcomes with historically marginalized student populations. The program actively targets models that remained open during pandemic closures, often backing operators in Florida, Texas, and Arizona where regulatory frameworks permit flexible schooling structures. The Yass Foundation for Education oversees the Prize and is structured as a 501(c)(3) separate from the family's political and investment vehicles. The Yass family also supports school-choice advocacy organizations, though the Prize itself maintains a programmatic firewall that evaluates applicants solely on student outcomes and parental demand. The Prize is administered in partnership with Forbes, which provides media amplification for the winners. In 2023, the competition expanded its award categories to strengthen the alumni network among past winners (per the foundation, 2023). Unlike traditional education philanthropy that funds research or district partnerships, the Yass Prize operates as a scaled talent-identification engine. It sources applicants nationally, selects through a multi-stage review, and then builds a durable community of operators who share data and tactics. This tournament model — high visibility, large cash prizes, and an ongoing alumni network — is structurally closer to an XPRIZE or MacArthur Fellowship program than to a conventional family foundation grant cycle.

## Sectors

- Education

## People

- Janine Yass — Founder
- Jeff Yass — Co-Founder

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at The Yass Prize?

The Yass Prize is a philanthropic awards program, not a traditional investment vehicle. Janine and Jeff Yass set the strategic direction. A separate selection committee and external reviewers evaluate applicants. The foundation does not take equity or board seats in recipient organizations — it provides unrestricted cash awards.

### What is The Yass Prize's relationship to other Yass family foundations?

The Yass Foundation for Education administers the Prize and is legally separate from the family's political advocacy and other grantmaking entities. The family supports multiple school-choice organizations, but the Prize itself emphasizes a programmatic firewall: selection is based on educational outcomes, not political alignment.

### What types of education providers does The Yass Prize fund?

Recipients include public charter schools, private schools, microschools, homeschooling collaboratives, and scholarship-granting organizations. The Prize has backed models that continued in-person instruction during the pandemic and prioritizes providers serving low-income, minority, and special-needs student populations across multiple states.

### Does The Yass Prize take equity or require repayment?

No. All Yass Prize awards are outright grants. The foundation does not acquire any ownership interest, governance rights, or repayment obligations from recipients. The structure is purely philanthropic — a prize purse, not a venture investment.

### How is The Yass Prize administered?

The Prize is run by the Yass Foundation for Education, with Forbes serving as a media partner to amplify winners. The foundation manages the application review process, selection committee coordination, annual award ceremony, and an alumni network for past winners, which convenes periodically for collaboration and shared learning.

## Related profiles

- [Kowa American Corporation](https://altss.com/profile/kowa-american-corporation)

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Source record modified: 2026-08-11T02:43:31.692Z

Last verified: not supplied by this public snapshot.

## Sources and provenance

- Organization website as recorded: https://yassprize.org/
Source links do not imply that every field was verified on the page modification date. See [Altss methodology](https://altss.com/methodology).

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/the-yass-prize

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology