About the XQ yearbook
The XQ Yearbook is all about the power of student voice and choice. That’s why we are inviting you to join what we hope will be the largest digital yearbook ever. This is an opportunity for you to use your voice in support of the issues that matter most to you and your generation. Building off the inaugural Graduate Together yearbook where we honored over 18,000 graduating seniors in the wake of COVID-19, the XQ Yearbook is dreaming even bigger—bringing all high school students into the fold to raise money for some of the most pressing issues of our time.
This nationwide initiative was created by XQ Institute and the Inside Out Project. We know that young people can do big things, especially when you all do them together. Tell us which issues matter most to you and your peers—environment, education, mental health, equity & justice, or voting rights. For every valid submission and cause-based vote, XQ will donate a proportionate amount to a cause-based nonprofit in that issue area. Let’s do this.
Inside Out
After winning the TED Prize on March 2, 2011, the French-artist JR launched the Inside Out Project, in his first TED Talk. Using his own artistic practice as inspiration, this participatory platform helps individuals and communities to make a statement by displaying large-scale black and white portraits in public spaces. Through their “Actions,” communities around the world have sparked collaborations and conversations.
Over the past decade, more than 400,000 people spanning across 138 countries have participated in the Inside Out Project. The project has reached all of the continents, with over 2,000 actions created. Actions have revolved around a range of topics: diversity, community, feminism, racism, climate change, education, children’s rights, and art are just a few of them. Posters are displayed in outdoor spaces that are visible to the public. These Group Action installations are documented, and shared online.
Together we can turn the world Inside Out!
XQ Institute
XQ Institute is the nation’s leading organization dedicated to rethinking the high school experience so that every student graduates ready to succeed in life.
We work in communities throughout the country, with individual schools and entire school systems, to help them dream big about what high school could be, turn their innovative ideas into action, and create more rigorous and equitable schools. We share what’s working with other schools and districts, so they can tailor new models to the needs of their own students and communities. We know that seeing is believing, so we meet people where they are to share the importance and possibility of change through listening, learning, and storytelling. And our open-source tools, based on research and design thinking, empower people to take up the challenge of transforming their high schools with a unifying goal: unlocking the American promise of a high-quality education for everyone.
XQ was co-founded by board chair Laurene Powell Jobs, founder and president of Emerson Collective, and Russlynn Ali, XQ’s CEO and former U.S. assistant secretary of education for civil rights. XQ’s board of directors also includes Geoffrey Canada, Marc Eckō, Jimmy Iovine, Michael Klein, and Yo-Yo Ma.