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Stanford, Colombia Educators Win Tencent Co-Founder's First Yidan Prizes

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Forbes China

A fund to promote global education set up by Tencent co-founder Chen Yidan handed out its first two awards in Hong Kong last night.

Carol Dweck, a psychology professor at Stanford University, received the Yidan Prize for Education Research. Her work on the power of the “growth mindset,” based upon the belief that intelligence isn’t fixed and can be developed over time, has influenced education psychology, the Yidan Foundation said in a statement.

Vicky Colbert, founder and director of Fundación Escuela Nueva in Colombia, was awarded the Yidan Prize for Education Development. Her project Escuela Nueva (“New School” in Spanish) has transformed education at rural schools in Colombia and has been adopted by 14 countries, reaching over five million children, the foundation said.

Chen, who is also known as Charles Chen, ranked No. 1 on the 2017 Forbes China Philanthropy List published earlier this year for his contribution of $348 million to education last year.  (See list here and a profile of Chen here.)

The two Yidan Prize Awards were presented at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. Each winner received a gold medal from Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and HK$30 million each (about $3.9 million) including a cash prize of HK$15 million ($1.9 million) and a project fund of HK$15 million ($1.9 million).  The event was attended by H.E. Dr Ahmed Al-Eissa, the Minister of Education in Saudi Arabia; Cherie Blair, founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, and Jaime Saavedra, senior director for education at the World Bank Group, among other prominent guests.

Founded in 2016, the Yidan Prize aims to create a better world through education. The prize is managed by Yidan Prize Foundation and governed by an independent trust with an endowment of HK$2.5 billion ($320 million).

--Follow me on Twitter @rflannerychina