Playworks CEO and Founder Jill Vialet has worked for more than 30 years in the nonprofit sector. In 1996, Vialet launched Playworks in Berkeley, CA. With a staff of 650, this year Playworks will ensure 900,000 students in 1,800 schools experience safe and healthy play through on-site coaches, professional training, and consultative partnerships with schools and youth-serving organizations. Jill's first book, Recess Rules, turned the real-life experiences of Playworks into a novel for young readers.
A Harvard graduate and rugby player, Jill has received many awards, including the Ashoka Fellowship in 2004. In 2011, Vialet was named by Forbes magazine as one of the top 30 leading social entrepreneurs and recognized by the Women’s Sports Foundation as one of 40 Women Leaders in honor of the anniversary of Title IX. During the 2015-16 school year, Jill was an Education Fellow at Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (better known as the d.school) where she launched a new nonprofit organization called Substantial, re-designing the way school districts recruit, train, and support substitute teachers.
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST:
Playworks
Substantial Classrooms
Ashoka Fellowship
Stanford Design School (d.school)
Vialet's article on d.school website
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