NEXTPittsburgh recently featured profiles of four local people helping bring big ideas to life in the city, and Sprout’s own Cathy Lewis Long is one of them.

Youth engagement, The Sprout Fund’s Cathy Lewis Long agrees, is what it’s all about.

“Pittsburgh builds off a spirit of innovation,” she says. “We think about pathways. We have a willingness to work together, to test new things, to work outside the box, to deliver dividends.”

On her plate now — the game changer — is the Pittsburgh Kids+Creativity Network.

Calling on regional leaders, youth workers, engineers, artists, et. al., they’re asking what sets of tools will people need for the future? “What will drive the body of knowledge,” Long asks, “what innovative spaces and knowledge sharing?”

The goal, she says, is learning not education. The latter, Long says, is school, and institutional. The former, is personal and holistic. “Learning doesn’t end at 3:00,” she says. “Learning does not end with a degree. Learning is lifelong.”

And it’s all-encompassing, academic, peer, and social. “We’re working to support connective learning,” she says, “to harness resources in the community, to create relationships without school-connected activities.

“The next step,” Long continues, “is credentialing this informal learning.”

One way is with digital badges, indications that capture competency, skills, and knowledge. “If employers need a particular set of skills, we can create that pathway. That will mean more access and equity than traditional education. Which is especially good for kids who spend a lot of time out of school. Especially for such 21st-century skills as digital literacy.

“The great part of this,” Long adds, “is that it meets kids where they are. It sparks their imagination and provides learning experiences they need to succeed.

“Pittsburgh can become a national — an international — leader in this,” she adds. “Re-Imagining classrooms — the intersection of tech, science, and art. It’s a game changer.”

Check out the rest of the article, including interviews with Julie Pezzino of Grow Pittsburgh, Audrey Russo of the Pittsburgh Tech Council, and Ilana Diamond of Alpha Lab Gear on NEXTPittsburgh’s website, here.