Education Changemakers Summit
About the Education Changemakers Summit
What future do we want for our children? How do we design education systems that are equitable, enabling all students to achieve their dreams? And how do we work together to get there? Lasting change demands bold, long-term solutions, so we center on those who know education best — students, families, and educators — while building a broad coalition for impact. The Education Changemakers Summit is an annual gathering to unite people across the education ecosystem for shared learning, deeper connection, and coordinated action toward education systems change.
Participants can expect to:
- Celebrate what’s working
- Learn from each other
- Build common ground for education systems change
- Set collective priorities across the ecosystem
- Including schools, afterschool programs, advocacy and grassroots organizing groups, media and data organizations, businesses, policymakers, and philanthropy
- Strengthen and expand their network
- Leave reinvigorated and with an expanded sense of community
Why this approach
In November 2024, the first Education Changemakers Summit brought together The Skillman Foundation’s grant and philanthropic partners across the K-12 education policy ecosystem to connect, reflect, and unite around a shared purpose. We heard from partners :
A call for deeper connections
Partners expressed a strong desire for more opportunities to connect across roles, organizations, and sectors. They emphasized the importance of creating spaces where ideas can collide, partnerships can form, and shared solutions can emerge.
A desire for shared language and understanding
We heard that activating the vision for education systems change requires a shared language—including common understandings of equity, excellence, and collective action. Partners underscored the need for tools and frameworks to bring clarity and alignment to their work, enabling them to tell a cohesive story about collective impact across the ecosystem.
Recognizing learning as a strategic imperative
Systems change is adaptive by nature and requires continuous learning. Partners highlighted the importance of dedicated time and space to reflect, assess progress, and share lessons across sectors—not just as a value-add but as a strategic necessity.
Fostering shared accountability for impact
Beyond surface-level collaboration, partners called for mechanisms that foster mutual accountability including structures that ensure shared goals translate into tangible outcomes for students, reinforcing trust and commitment across the ecosystem.
The Education Changemaker Summit is a response to that call. What started as a moment is now an annual movement to build upon these learnings and put them into action. We meet in Detroit and know the ripples we create connect to and extend across Michigan and beyond.
What past attendees have to say
Upcoming Education Changemakers Summit
The 2026 Education Changemakers Summit will take place in Detroit on Thursday, November 12, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Participation is by invitation. If you work with an organization that is committed to strengthening public education in Detroit, or across Michigan for all students, please complete this interest form.