LinkyThinks x Play It Green: Member in Focus
Today, we take a look at the amazing Play It Green member, LinkyThinks.
Founded by three brothers, the LinkyThinks mission is to rethink traditional approaches to literacy education, inspiring teachers, supporting parents and empowering children to leave school with the skills needed to navigate the adult world.
They do this by developing highly-creative and multi-sensory physical & digital learning resources, helping teachers to have more creative autonomy in the classroom and children of all ages to get the best from their schooling.
These have been used throughout the English-speaking world since 2019 to critical acclaim from parents, teachers and schools alike.
As well as having a climate positive workforce to drive down the business footprint, LinkyThinks plant with sales of their products. Not only does this repair nature on land, coast and sea, it sequesters approximately 100kg of CO2 with every associated sale.
Play It Green was lucky enough to catch up with LinkyThinks Co-Founder and CEO, Dan Rosenberg. We talked about the history and values of LinkyThinks, why they teamed up with Play It Green and what the future holds for this amazing educational company.
Want to be inspired? Then please, read on.
Please, tell us a little about the History and Values of LinkyThinks
My two brothers and I have been motivated by the importance of meaningful, impactful education since an early age. Our mother was and is a headteacher of a top UK primary school, meaning that a premium was placed on learning for life, for as long as we can remember. Each of us left school with a completely different set of skills, taking different career trajectories. But ultimately, it was our shared set of values that brought us together to launch LinkyThinks as a team in 2021.
Our middle brother Alexander created the LinkyThinks concept around 2013. This was after completing degrees in Fine Art as well as Neuroscience Language & Communication (an atypical combination!). To make ends meet, he became a tutor. He very quickly realised that the teaching styles and learning resources that were made available to him did not align with his recently conducted research on how the human brain learns. So he started making his own resources, and began teaching by ‘linking different ways of thinking’. Both his methods and resources became so popular he could not keep up with demand.
In 2019 I joined as an NED (with my background in biomedical sciences & manufacturing) to set up a sustainable manufacturing & fulfilment process for the resources.
By 2021, with the COVID-19 pandemic beginning to wane. LinkyThinks had snowballed in popularity, with his resources and tutoring being in demand from all over the English-speaking world. It was at that point I joined LinkyThinks full-time, and our youngest brother Oliver joined shortly after.
It’s been a wild 2+ years since, with the company and our resources winning a number of industry awards. Becoming a Climate Positive Workforce and expanding our offering from physical to digital – we can’t wait to see how things progress from here!
What’s happening now that’s exciting?
We have just launched a brand new digital learning platform. LinkyThinks Downloadables® are highly creative tools that teach, not just test, breaking down the process of learning literacy. It makes literacy skills-building more digestible, memorable & visually-appealing.
We’ve designed them to teach literacy as an overlapping set of life skills, not just English-language exam-passing skills.
Since launch in January 2024, we’ve seen them being used in countries all over the world. From Colombia to China, New Zealand to Kenya – the feedback we’ve received has been astounding so far.
Why did you decide to collaborate with Play It Green?
When we launched the new iteration of LinkyThinks as a team in 2021, it was at the top of our priority list to be as purpose-driven as possible. Whether that was with why we do what we do, or how we do what we do.
In simple terms, we manufacture products that therefore have an impact on the world. We wanted to make sure that at the beginning of our journey, the impact we had was a beneficial one. Thankfully we came into contact with Play it Green, and we have now realised that purpose of only having a positive impact. Whether it’s on the pupils who use our resources or the earth from which we take our raw materials.
What does the future hold for LinkyThinks?
The plan is to continue growing LinkyThinks as a purpose-driven for-profit entity, becoming a household name in the world of education.
Quotes
Dan Rosenberg, CEO, LinkyThinks
“I’m extremely glad we began working with Play it Green. Now we have realised our purpose of only having a positive impact, whether on the pupils who use our resources, educators who use our teaching methods or the earth from which we take our raw materials.”
Richard Dickson, Co-Founder, Play It Green
“Education is a critical part of the culture change required to create a sustainable and equitable future! That’s why I am so proud to be collaborating with LinkyThinks. It helps that all three founders not only created a beautiful product, but they are lovely, value driven people. I am excited to follow their growth and positive impact on so many peoples’ lives.”
Play It Green: Empowering Your Sustainability Journey
Ready to take your commitment to sustainability to the next level? Play It Green stands as your partner in creating positive environmental change. From educational resources on sustainable practices and signposting to sustainable services to initiatives like tree planting and social giving, Play It Green offers a holistic approach to environmental stewardship.
Join us in the journey toward sustainability—embrace eco-conscious practices and be a force for positive change in our world. All whilst staying relevant, meeting legislation and aligning with the values of today’s consumers and employees.
