The future of education starts here.

Young people are ready. Schools are not.

Young people are hungry to contribute meaningfully to the world, and we believe school should be the platform for them to do this. These authentic opportunities to solve real-world problems engage and empower students now, prepare them for tomorrow, and fuel innovation in our community for generations to come.

Our Partners.

Latest Updates

Blog
CEC MECA Challenge: Students tackle civil discourse.
CEC MECA Challenge: Students tackle civil discourse.
A thermos, a cup and Crocs: How design thinking (probably)helped Stanley grow tenfold.
A thermos, a cup and Crocs: How design thinking (probably)helped Stanley grow tenfold.

How did Stanley increase their revenue 10 fold and what can educators learn from it?

Student Profile: Benzawit Mengstu
Student Profile: Benzawit Mengstu

Bezawit has always wanted to do something to impact her community in KC and her home country of Ethiopia, but never knew where to start… until she found Startland. For her SCI, she focused on immigration because as an immigrant herself, she wanted to help people feel welcome and thrive in a new place. Bezawit said that her 8-week SCI experience was empowering, supportive, and a big confidence builder: “You’re never too young to be able to make an impact and create change. I feel like over the years I’ve been limiting myself a lot because of my age or background. But since the internship, I feel like I have the groundwork if I ever want to work for a non-profit and just feel like I have a purpose in this world.”

Student Profile: Djenabou Diallo
Student Profile: Djenabou Diallo

Being a part of the Social Change Internship is already helping to shape the future that Djenabou wants for herself and her community. Read more about what she is doing right now to prepare herself for a life of changing the world.

Schools and districts we’ve worked with

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Student Programming

Students are at the core of everything we do in education. Our programs give youth the opportunity to learn about and implement the design thinking process in their schooling and daily lives. Working beyond the traditional engineering framework, our process brings students through real-world learning scenarios and grounds students in human-centric behavior—ensuring students tap into their audiences empathically to create effective solutions and societal change.

Educator Programming

Educators are key in helping us achieve our mission for student success, and central to our theory of change and the way this movement scales. We believe that teachers are the gatekeepers in student experience. Our programs focus on experiential training in design thinking and tactical coaching, equipping and empowering educators as they design and implement authentic learning experiences for youth, as well as spearheading these initiatives in their contexts. 

 Featured Educator Resources

  • “Startland’s Social Change Internship is more useful than learning Calculus. This Internship is going to expand the horizons of the mind and build up an entrepreneurial mindset.”

    — Anushk Pokharna, Startland Social Change Intern

  • “Startland has helped me grow in ways I never thought I would consider! I have made friends with students all over KC and Startland’s events have helped me feel less isolated staying at home during quarantine. I have gotten more comfortable with pitching and presenting thanks to being involved in many of Startland’s Events.”

    — Leila Pedreros, Startland Social Change Intern

  • “My favorite part of the experience with Startland was being able to work with other people on a real world problem that is affecting humans.”

    — Back to School Innovation Challenge Participant, KC Metro Student

  • “I will use my experiences that I have gained through my time with Startland to continue seeking out opportunities where I can use my skills and entrepreneurship knowledge to make a positive impact on my community and highlight others’ creativity and talents.”

    — Olivia Mancina, Startland Social Change Intern

  • “I think the pitching was really important. That was nothing like I'd ever experienced, and it'll be important later on.”

    — Participant, KC Metro Student

  • “The accelerator gave me the tools and the support to make the process of implementing this type of project for the first time less scary. I felt like I was prepared to guide my students through this process and I only felt that way because of this accelerator and the people who were part of it.”

    – Adam Vaughn, Educator at Summit Technology Academy

“One of the things that you hear in education is that our kids aren't problem solvers. I think [Startland] is the backbone for helping us really developing those critical thinkers.”

— Don Bickham, Educator,
Hogan Preparatory Academy

Contact

We are looking forward to partnering with you! Feel free to contact us with any questions.

team@startlandedu.org

1475 Walnut St.
Kansas City, MO 64106