On May 23 2018, Beyond Sport and the San Francisco 49ers Foundation will hold the second installment of the Beyond Innovation Summit in Santa Clara, California. Expanding on the successes of last year's event and the subsequent launch of the Sport & STEM Alliance, Beyond Innovation will bring together global experts, inspirational innovators and committed decision-makers to discuss state-of-art approaches to leveraging sport to improve, empower and create new approaches to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education. Upwards of 200 delegates will explore the unique opportunity sports presents to help prevent the predicted shortfall of 85 million skilled jobs in the global economy by 2020.

Beyond Innovation's interactive workshops will focus on: education's role in activism and citizenship; the positive and negative impact of technology on society; and the potential of virtual reality and experiential learning. Aiming to produce actions beyond the gathering itself, the event will seek to create tangible solutions, actions, and commitments from cross-sector industries. The day before the summit, 60 Bay Area high school students from the 49ers STEM Leadership Institute Program will participate in a 49ers Foundation Hackathon, in collaboration with the Chelsea FC Foundation. Later that evening, the winning student team will present their concept to 70 C-Suite leaders attending the evening's ESPN Leadership Dinner.

"The Foundation's 49ers EDU program embodies the spirit of innovation, and we are honored to highlight our impressive STEM Leadership Institute students and our award-winning STEAM education efforts to the world through the Beyond Innovation platform during the Hackathon," said Justin Prettyman, Executive Director, San Francisco 49ers Foundation. "Our collective efforts with Beyond Sport have generated great feedback over the past year and we're excited to continue our work with thought-leaders in the Sport and STEM Alliance to generate youth interest in these subjects."

"Beyond Sport has been proud to be a convenor in sports and social change for 10 years," said Nick Keller, Founder and President, Beyond Sport. "With 80% of all professions expected to require STEM skills in the next decade, pioneering new networks and approaches to increase and improve STEM education is vital. Our partnership with the 49ers Foundation on Beyond Innovation is already yielding positive results through the Sport and STEM Alliance formed last year, and we look forward to innovating strategies through sport to solve the pressing global need."

During the event, guests will hear from leading thinkers and collaborators, including: Kathleen Tullie – Reebok International/BOKS; Tobie Hatfield - Nike; Britton Banowsky – College Football Playoff Foundation; Danielle Costa – Marvel Studios; Tami Hay – Peace Education, Peres Center for Peace; Ira Frankel – EVERFI and Robin Bourne-Taylor – Right To Dream.

In partnership with Chevron, NYU will share the results of their innovative research project that helps to educate and inform members of the Sport & STEM Alliance. Alliance membership includes founding members, Beyond Sport, 49ers Foundation, Chevron and Verizon, and 23-member organizations and growing.

Representatives from ESPN, Nike, Google, Girls Who Code, Samsung, Special Olympics, US Sailing, Reebok International, Women Win, College Football Playoff Foundation, Citizen Schools, Association of Women in Science, MLSE Launch Pad, Peres Center for Peace and many more are scheduled to attend the invitation-only event.

Beyond Innovation also recognizes STEM Leadership Partner, Verizon, STEM Champions, Challenge 22, Everfi, BOKS and AUTODESK, Higher Education Partner, NYU, International Media Sponsor, ESPN, and Official Digital Media Partner, SportTechie.