The bravEd Center Business Membership
If every business person in America who cares about the future of American public education joined the Center...
...we could get a lot done. The investment of your time and dollars are minimal. Attend the monthly Lunch and Learns, perhaps join us at an in-person event if you can, and engage with fellow business people interested in solving the same problems as you in the Community.
John Tanner's open letter says it all: we have an unprecedented opportunity to fix a decades-old problem and we should.
Thanks for being here.
An Open Letter to Corporate America
From John Tanner, Founder of bravEd
March 2, 2024 (updated June 5, 2025)
For over a century, the business community has helped define what we expect from public education. Those expectations have evolved—from factory workers to knowledge workers to AI-literate problem solvers—but the need remains the same:
We must be able to tell whether schools are delivering on their mission—so your organization can deliver on yours.
Too often, that clarity is missing. When it is, public education loses support, trust erodes, and our future workforce is put at risk.
That’s why I started bravEd.
For decades, people assumed it was too complex to account for what really matters in a child’s education. We’ve shown that’s wrong. The key? Asking parents, students, and communities what they expect from schools:
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Keep kids safe
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Teach fairness, kindness, and resilience
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Foster curiosity and creativity
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Build social and emotional strength
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Yes—teach academics too
These aren’t soft goals. They’re the very skills your future employees need—and the same ones McKinsey identified in its 2021 report on workforce readiness.
The alignment is there. But our accountability systems are wildly out of sync with it. That’s not just a gap—it’s a threat to our future.
We don’t need new policy to fix this. We just need leadership.
The bravEd Center exists to bring educators, business leaders, and communities together to account for what matters—now, not someday.
If you believe, like we do, that a stronger education system builds a stronger economy, we invite you to join the Center as a Business Member. Your influence can help shift the conversation—and the future.
Let’s get this right.
John Tanner
Founder, bravEd
