How it works

How do we fund such a groundbreaking system?

We provide students with a degree they can actually use and the skills employers need to get them started in a great career!

By reducing the tuition for a degree to a mere $10,000, Knod uses private funding to create broad access to prospective students.

These students are connected directly to the employers that need them through Knod’s one-of-a-kind system.

Knod Foundation Advisors

James Lee Sorenson
Entrepreneur, Investor and Advisor

A world-renowned entrepreneur, business leader and societal innovator, James Lee Sorenson provided the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah with a $13 million gift in 2013 to create the James Lee Sorenson Global Impact Investing Center (SGI Center), which will cultivate impact investing expertise in students.

Jim enjoys combining innovative and worthwhile ideas with talented management teams to produce growing new enterprises. This successful combination has produced thousands of new jobs and vibrant companies.

Jarrett Wait
Entrepreneur and Advisor

Mr. Wait's track record over his 30 year career encompasses a range of professional and executive experience spanning capital markets and asset management businesses, diverse institutional client bases, and major geographic regions. He is currently the managing principal of JF Wait Advisors, a consulting firm based in New York City.

Jarret is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Economic Club of New York, a member of the board of trustees of the United States Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation, Advisory Board member to the Center on Law and Security NYU School of Law, member of Cornell University College of Arts & Sciences Advisory Council, President of the Alumni Board for Mu Chapter, Sigma Pi Cornell University and member of the board of trustees of Workforce Opportunity Services.

Susan Badger
Principal Badger Consulting Group

After serving as a senior executive for two of the largest educational publishing businesses in the world, Susan founded a consulting practice focused on building strategies for growth, innovation and transformation in the K20 education space, with a particular focus on educational technology startups and disruptive offerings. She is also on the advisory board for several ed tech startups.

Prior to launching this business, Susan was the CEO of the Teacher Education and Development Group at Pearson, providing evidence-based resources to support educator effectiveness, teacher quality and student results. Before Pearson, Susan served for many years as the CEO for Thomson Higher Education, where she helped build, partner and acquire innovative programs and strategies to help transform the business from a print-based publisher to a provider of personalized learning solutions.

Knod Foundation Partners

James Lee Sorenson Global Impact Investing Center (SGII Center)

The mission and purposes of the James Lee Sorenson Global Impact Investing Center (SGII Center) are to accelerate and advance the understanding and application of principles of free enterprise to create scalable and sustainable, global societal change.

The SGII Center will also serve as a growth platform to facilitate and accelerate the innovative activities of the University Impact Fund (UIF). UIF was founded in 2010 in partnership with the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah, The Melvin J. Ballard Center for Economic Self Reliance at Brigham Young University, Mr. Sorenson and global impact investor Geoff Woolley to create an immersive experience for students in the impact investing space. UIF assists leading impact investors, social entrepreneurs, investment firms, innovative non-profit organizations, and foundations to identify and support scalable social enterprises whose businesses directly benefit social and environmental problems.

Koins for Kenya

Koins for Kenya builds a bridge across the world to offer educational opportunities where there are none.

Rural Africans long for a chance to overcome the abject poverty that has held them hostage for generations. Since 2003 KFK has provided ways for caring Americans to actively engage with rural Kenyans to provide countless educational opportunities. No handouts. No imposed solutions. Education becomes the greatest weapon against hopelessness, the greatest genesis for change and growth. The goal of Koins for Kenya is to develop programs which are self sustaining, lasting long after our departure for other villages.

You too can make an impact!

Learn more about the ways you can take part.

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