MOST RECENT
Last week, Grantmakers for Education released the results of its first national survey of ed funders since the pandemic. We caught up with co-Interim Executive Director Ulcca Joshi Hansen to discuss the results.
Over the past few years, Steve and Connie Ballmer have continued ramping up their commitments in Los Angeles. We took a deep dive into how a vast tech fortune is being put to use to scale up local economic mobility.
Think of Us has a bold mission: to transform the foster care system from the ground up. The organization’s approach, which elevates those with lived experience, landed a major haul from The Audacious Project and others.
A handful of philanthropies are supporting grassroots efforts to push back against well-funded attacks on public education. They’re hoping more funders will take a stand.
Increasingly widespread voucher policies divert public school funding to pay for private and home schooling, which experts say poses a dangerous threat to public education. Who’s funding them? And who’s keeping their distance?
The tech giant has hit rocky terrain of late, but the company’s philanthropy continues to move millions. Its Catalyst Fund is supporting Black-led nonprofits promoting leadership and job skills for young people of color.
The foundation of Peter Buck and his wife Carmen, both deceased, recently inherited a 50% stake in Subway, which could be worth billions. Here’s what we know about the family’s philanthropy and interests.
Pandemic-related learning loss threatens to widen the achievement gap. Arnold Ventures and other funders are backing an ambitious research project to determine if and how high-intensity tutoring can help.
Funded by Mark and Kimbra Walter, Chicago Beyond draws upon the work of veteran principal Liz Dozier. The group is investing millions in community-led initiatives, while challenging top-down dynamics in K-12 philanthropy.
Real estate investor John Schreiber and his wife Kathleen are long-time Chicago philanthropists. A recent $25 million gift underscores a more recent priority for the couple: early childhood, including conditions before birth.
Billionaire couple Melanie and Richard Lundquist are throwing their support behind the News Literacy Project to arm students and the public against mis- and disinformation.
Andrew and Peggy Cherng, the college sweethearts who started Panda Express, have directed millions toward education and healthcare for low-income children and youth through the company’s foundation, Panda Cares.
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez announced this week they will give most of the Amazon founder’s fortune away. Staggering dollar amounts aside, we can likely expect a fairly conventional philanthropic project.
Another update from America’s most exciting mega-donor shows an ever-evolving set of focus areas, which now include charter schools and lots of global giving. One question we still have: How does it all fit together?
The Siegel Family Endowment’s inquiry-driven approach to education philanthropy reflects its founder’s scientific roots. Here’s how the foundation makes its decisions and what it funds.
We’ve seen a flurry of new gifts from MacKenzie Scott lately, including some big K-12 donations. Two recent education grantees say the recognition and affirmation are almost as valuable as the dollars.
As book bans in schools become a key front in the culture wars, organizations like PEN America are betting that Americans’ faith in free speech will prove stronger. Do funders have their backs?
Stephen and Susan Mandel send 99.9% of their foundation giving to a donor-advised fund. But a trail of online acknowledgements paint a portrait of what they support — including many education and environment grantees.
In an invisible crisis, an alarming number of students disengage from and ultimately drop out of school. Dalio Education is working to identify these students in Connecticut and help them get back on track before it’s too late.
Salesforce’s latest round of education funding zeroes in on mental health and resilient schools. It’s praiseworthy support, but begs the question: why is so much private backing for public schools even necessary?
Drawing on a survey of over 200 grantseekers in education, guest contributor Michelle Molitor discusses prevailing structural inequities in grantmaking and what funders can do to shift that status quo.
After four years at Grantmakers for Education, Executive Director Celine Coggins is moving on. We talked to Coggins about changes she has seen in education philanthropy, changes she’d like to see, and her plans for the future.
Recent analysis by the Schott Foundation and Candid found that education philanthropy continues to “drastically underfund” K-12 racial justice work, even as a backlash against anti-racist education engulfs schools.
There are certain issues where philanthropy has tried to make a dent and failed. Others are seemingly so intractable that funders have mostly shied away. Here are some key areas where the sector has struggled to move the needle.
The pandemic disrupted learning and widened preexisting achievement gaps. In this guest post, John Overdeck of the Overdeck Family Foundation explains how funding next-generation learning assessments can help.
The Walton Family Foundation is a giant in the ed funding world, and its priorities are worth keeping an eye on. Here’s the story behind its expanding support for job and career pathways.
Barbara Dalio spearheaded an ambitious public-private partnership for education equity in Connecticut. Not long after, it all went up in smoke. The saga highlights some fraught questions about big donors’ role in K-12 funding.
Community schools, which support academic and nonacademic needs of students and their families, have taken the spotlight. Philanthropy has played an important role in the development and spread of this education model.
Started by Microsoft executives Jeff and Tricia Raikes, this foundation takes some unique approaches to ed funding and is zeroing in on the thorny issue of making school funding more equitable.
Formerly an initiative of Berea College focused on Appalachian Kentucky, Partners for Rural Impact is now a standalone nonprofit, pulling together federal grants and private funding to improve education in rural areas.