Innovating Education: The Role of Private Schools

Recorded live at the 2025 ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego, this session featured Arvind Nagarajan, Founder and CEO of Astra; Adam Peshek, Senior Director & Fellow, Education at Stand Together Trust; and Denise Gallucci, President of Red Apple Education. The conversation was moderated by Adam Newman, Founder & Managing Director at Tyton Partners.

The session explored how private schools are emerging as powerful innovation hubs, fueled by the rapid growth of Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). Panelists examined how choice-driven funding is empowering families and enabling private institutions to experiment with cutting-edge teaching models, personalized learning platforms, and novel curricular approaches. With states like Florida and Utah paving the way through policy, private education is serving as a testbed for practices that could drive system-wide transformation. The conversation also addressed key challenges around scale, quality assurance, and equity, considering how innovations in private education might shape the broader future of learning.