Critiques of big philanthropy often cast wealthy donors as hostile to government. Today’s leading benefactors, we’re told, vastly prefer privatized solutions to social problems. As usual, though, the story is more complicated.
Read MoreKevin Hart is another wealthy Hollywood star who’s beginning to focus more on philanthropy. His backstory and recent gifts offer hints of how his giving is likely to evolve over time.
Read MoreIn an era when so many K-12 funders aim to transform public school systems, the Chicago Foundation for Education works to help teachers do their jobs better, typically with very small grants. What’s the impact?
Read MoreIn another sign that education funders are looking beyond narrow school-level reforms, StriveTogether—with backing from the Ballmer Group—is deploying $20 million to back efforts to shift public policy and systems.
Read MoreNearly a half-billion dollars in grants will go out the door as part of the Gates Foundation’s new initiative to support school networks. We look at what kinds of groups are winning support as the money starts to flow.
Read MoreThe grantmaking arm of the Arizona Public Service Company continues to fund STEM education, with an eye on diversity and a changing jobs landscape. A senior team member offers an inside look at APS’s grantmaking.
Read MoreImproving America’s schools has been something of a Holy Grail for funders—as well as a graveyard for ambitious philanthropic schemes. Lately, this funding field has been changing at warp speed.
Read MoreA new set of gifts from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative supporting teachers signals a larger commitment to this area and comes at a time when the profession faces major challenges.
Read MoreBack in October, Bill Gates announced that his foundation would be putting $1.7 billion behind a new K-12 strategy over the next five years. Here's the latest on where that's heading.
Read MoreFor years now, there's been rising controversy about super-wealthy donors intruding too far into public spaces or imposing too many demands on institutions. Apparently, Stephen Schwarzman hasn’t been paying attention.
Read MoreAs the Ballmer Group pumps millions into nonprofits working to lift children out of poverty, it also has its eye on using new technology to drive faster progress in this tough area.
DonorsChoose.org is now facilitating more than $100 million a year in gifts to help classroom teachers. One of the group’s top boosters, Craig Newmark, tell us why its model is so appealing.
Read MoreBacked by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings with $200 million, the new ed group City Fund aims to spread the portfolio model of school management. Which means what, exactly?
Read MoreA media outlet that covers the intersection between education and technology reveals important things about the ideas that excite two major funders.
Read MoreA growing number of funders want to ensure that children can read by third grade. We explore how a major donor in New York came to this cause and got behind a nonprofit helping teachers do better at teaching reading.
Read MoreThe Barr Foundation recently committed to a new batch of grantees who are “doing high school differently.” Here’s how the funder’s education redesign strategy has been playing out in New England.
Read MoreFive foundations recently came together to start the Fund for Equity and Excellence to support Los Angeles public schools. Will this effort attract new partners and funding to the nation’s second-largest school district?
Read MorePublic education funds are entities that act as conduits between private donors and public school districts. They’ve thrived in Washington, D.C., and New York. But can this model also succeed elsewhere?
Read MoreSchool counselors can help shape students’ lives in big ways, like getting them to the right college and hooking them up with local employers. But we don’t see a lot of grants focused here. Here’s an exception from Indiana.
Read MoreThe CS Mott Foundation put up $35 million to start a new charter school in Flint, Michigan. What’s the story with this big gift from a funder that doesn’t consider itself a supporter of the charter movement?
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