Julie Friedberg, Founder & CEO​​​
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"Will you stop asking questions?"a high school math teacher used to say to Julie when she would ask why certain formulas were important. She was not trying to be difficult. She, like so many young people, wanted to understand why things mattered. Luckily, Julie didn't let this teacher squash her curiosity. She kept asking questions, such as how can we make education work for everyone and the world, the question behind ReimagineNation™.
Early on in her career, Julie founded and directed Summerbridge Germantown (now Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia), to increase educational opportunities for public middle school students from historically underrepresented communities. Through an experiential students-teaching-students model, taught by talented college and high school-age aspiring teachers who know how to make learning fun, relevant and "cool," students learn academic content through hands-on learning and projects in the community. Eighty-six percent of students entered college preparatory programs and seventy-eight percent of college- and high school-age teachers entered the field of education. These results affirmed Julie's belief in the transformative power of experiential work-based learning and the importance of empowering young people to achieve more than they ever thought possible. This is the belief driving ReimagineNation™.
Julie has more than 20 years' experience in education and workplace transformation, learning and development, program design, partnership cultivation, resource development and non-profit management. She has served as executive director of school leadership development at New Leaders, school designer at NYC Outward Bound, director of program design at the KIPP Foundation, vice president of learning and development at Catalyst. She is also an ICF-certified executive coach to leaders across industries. Tapping into peoples' potential, advancing equity, and bridging gaps to improve the world fuel her.​
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Julie earned an Ed.M. in Education Administration, Planning and Social Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.A. in History from Brown University.
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Julie is excited to partner with students, educators, workplaces and changemakers to continue to grow ReimagineNation™ and change the way we approach learning and work.
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