NewSchools Venture Fund

NewSchools Venture Fund

OVERVIEW:  New Schools Venture Fund approaches education from the perspective of venture capital, investing in promising and effective solutions to pressing problems. Its funding initiatives address innovative schools, educational technology and diverse leadership.

IP TAKE: New Schools Venture Fund calls itself a funder that “advances the field like no one else.” It applies the principals of venture capital to its investments in education, selecting the most promising proposals from nonprofits, for-profit organizations and individuals for funding. Overall, it is an accessible organization, open to groups reaching out with general inquiries, and a clear application process.

PROFILE:  Based in Oakland, California, the New Schools Venture Fund (NSVF) was founded in 1998 by entrepreneur Kim Smith and venture capitalists John Doerr and Brook Byers. It seeks to “invest in the ideas and energy of education leaders and entrepreneurs who are advancing innovative solutions that expand the definition of what works.” The organization models its investment in education on practices that are common to the world of venture capital; projects and ideas are subject to rigorous research, and the most promising receive funding. NSVF’s investment areas are Learning Solutions, Diverse Leaders, Racial Equity, and EDge. It also funds innovative schools.

Grants for K-12 Education

NSVF’s innovative schools initiative aims to redesign existing schools and launch new public and public charter schools to meet the needs of today’s students. In the area of leadership, NSVF’s aim is for “black and Latino leaders to represent at least 40 percent of education leadership.” Toward this end, the organization invests in consulting and advocacy groups “that attract, develop and place Black and Latino senior education leaders.” NSVF’s racial equity funding works to “combat racial inequities in education and open doors for students and leaders of color seeking to have a positive impact in the sector.” The Learning Solutions seeks to support innovative learning models “that are rooted in equity and can power new levels of student success.” The current priority areas here are literacy solutions and whole-school models. The EDge fund centers students with learning differences and works to help students and schools recover from the coronavirus pandemic. It also supports development of emerging technologies in education, such as AI, college and career readiness, mental health support, and redesigning the role of teachers, including “ideas that extend the reach and impact of great teachers, identify new roles that adults can play to support student learning and make the profession more sustainable.”

Past NSVF grantees include Listenwise, a for profit company that uses podcasts to teach listening and comprehension skills, and the Black Teacher Project, a nonprofit that recruits, develops and mentors teachers for schools in the U.S. Many charters schools and charter school networks have also received funding.

Important Grant Details

Grants range from about $200,000 to over $1 million. NSVF provides a searchable database of projects that it has supported on its website, as well as recent financial reports.

NSVF accepts applications for funding for its various programs and initiatives through separate application pages on the fund’s website. It typically accepts applications early in the year; however, the deadline for its Innovative Public Schools funding opportunity is in November.

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