Our Grantees
270 Strategies helps campaigns, companies, and causes build winning campaigns and put their ideas into action by helping organizations engage everyday people in their work. 270 finds people who care about the same things clients do — whether they have common values or common goals — and connect with them in a meaningful way. In 270 Strategies’ first five years, they have partnered with nearly 300 clients across a variety of sectors, worked with established organizations to make them more efficient, and helped innovators and thought leaders build campaigns and companies from the ground up.
Advocates for Justice and Education seeks to empower families, youth, and the community to be effective advocates to ensure that children and youth, particularly those who have special needs, receive access to appropriate education and health services.
American University’s School of Education (SOE) is committed to creating and ensuring excellent learning experiences and schools for every child. SOE is redesigning its teacher preparation program with a focus on improving the number of well-prepared, diverse teachers graduating from the program that are able to serve DC students.
A non-profit organization consisting of a research and development institute and a public charter preschool with campuses across Washington, DC, AppleTree Institute aims to close the achievement gap before students enter kindergarten by providing the most underserved three and four year olds with the social, emotional, and cognitive skills they need to thrive in school. AppleTree educates 2000 children at seven preschool sites across Washington, DC.
Bard High School Early Colleges was founded on the belief that high school age students are ready for the challenges of a college education.
The Black Swan Academy empowers Black youth in underserved communities through civic leadership and engagement, giving them a comprehensive set of tools needed to succeed in life and become active social catalysts in their communities.
Building Pathways’ mission is to assist charter school leaders in finding adequate and affordable school facility solutions that allows charter school management (operators) to focus on providing a successful academic environment for student achievement. In working with charter schools, Building Pathways is responsible for site selection, facility design and construction, and securing project financing. Our program brings together financing, site development and management of public charter school facilities, and expertise in management of public resources.
Capital Experience Lab (CapX) is a proposed public charter school with a project-based learning model that will serve 700 students in grades sixth through twelfth beginning in fall 2022. The mission of CapX is to empower students in Washington, D.C. to harness the resources of their world-class city in the service of their dreams.
Capital Village is an Expeditionary Learning (EL) Education micro-school proposing to serve 150 students in grades five through eight. The mission of Capital Village is to prepare all students, regardless of background or circumstance, to reach their full potential in college, career, and life in order to become agents of change in their communities.
CWC aims to create a national network of high-achieving, community-based public schools that reflect the abundant socioeconomic, racial, and cultural diversity of their surroundings. CWC schools exemplify an intellectually challenging, experiential learning environment that develops each student’s abilities, confidence, and sense of responsibility for themselves and their community. In this spirit, they work conscientiously to build strong communities both within and outside of the classroom. CWC is the first national school network with a commitment to economic and racial diversity.
CityBridge Education serves as an incubator of the people, ideas, and conversations needed for equity-driven innovation in DC’s public schools. Specifically, they identify and develop a robust cohort of leaders, entrepreneurs, and school designers, deploying particular efforts to recruiting leaders of color.
Launched in 2004 by school founders and leaders, the DC Association of Chartered Public Schools aims to improve opportunities and outcomes for students by supporting the development, growth, and sustainability of quality chartered public schools in Washington, DC. The Association serves all DC public charter schools, which account for 46% of the total public school enrollment in the city.
Founded in 2004, DC Bilingual Public Charter School now serves more than 400 students in grades PreK3 – 5. DC Bilingual implements an innovative dual immersion Spanish and English learning program for all students, regardless of home language. Through rigorous academic curriculum; comprehensive arts, technology, and athletics offerings; and celebration of diverse cultures, DC Bilingual’s students learn the skills and values they need to become global leaders.
The DC Charter School Alliance is the District of Columbia’s premier advocacy organization dedicated to supporting and representing the robust charter school sector in our nation’s capital.
DC International Public Charter School is an accredited International Baccalaureate World School that offers advanced Spanish, Chinese, and French language instruction in a technology-rich learning environment.
Established in 2016, the DC Policy Center is a non-partisan think tank committed to advancing policies for a strong and vibrant economy in the District of Columbia. In 2017, they launched their Education Initiative focused on researching policies that put every child in the District on the path to succeed in the 21st century economy.
DC Prep’s network of public charter schools serves over 2,000 students in preschool through 8th grade across six campuses in Edgewood (Ward 5), Benning (Ward 7), and Anacostia (Ward 8). Its mission is to bridge the educational divide in Washington, DC by increasing the number of students from underserved communities with the academic preparation and personal character to succeed in competitive high schools and colleges.
Education Forward DC has supported DC Public Schools through investments in the DC Public Education Fund, the only accountable private funding source for DC Public Schools. The DC Public Education Fund has raised over $120 million in high-impact, private investments to support DCPS’ transformation from a historically under-performing school district to one that is nationally recognized for its student achievement growth.
DC Scholars Community Schools work with communities in Washington, DC to transform schools so that every child has the knowledge and character to pursue the path to college and opportunities beyond. The vision of DC Scholars is for each of their schools to become a true community school that offers supports and opportunities for students, their families, and their communities.
This mission of Democracy Prep Public Schools is to educate responsible citizen-scholars for success in the college of their choice and a life of active citizenship.
Digital Pioneers Academy is a college preparatory middle school (6th-8th grade) for students from Wards 7 and 8 in Washington, DC, opening in 2018. DPA’s mission is to develop the next generation of innovators. DPA’s main objective is to prepare students to meet or exceed the highest academic standards, while cultivating the strength of character necessary to both graduate from four-year colleges and thrive in 21st century careers.
The Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School prepares culturally diverse elementary school students in the District of Columbia to be leaders, scholars and responsible citizens who are committed to social justice. Stokes teaches children to think, speak, read, write and learn in two languages: English and French or English and Spanish. With a dual focus on academic excellence and community service, the Stokes School accomplishes its mission by creating an environment of achievement, respect and non-violence. Stokes will eventually enroll 750 students across its Brookland and East End campuses.
EdFuel is a mission-driven non-profit that provides leadership and talent development tailored to the education sector. EdFuel helps great education organizations, including districts, charter management organizations, and education-focused non-profits, increase their capacity and effectiveness by maximizing their best asset: their employees.
Education Board Partners (formerly Charter Board Partners) is a the only national nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to strengthening nonprofit boards in education.
Education Leaders of Color (EdLoC) is a membership organization dedicated to elevating the leadership, voices, and influence of people of color in education and to leading more inclusive efforts to improve education.
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Education Reform Now is a national 501c3 organization that cultivates and supports leaders who champion America’s public schoolchildren. Education Reform Now aims to make progressive leaders the champions of high quality public education.
EmpowerK12’s mission is to empower education leaders, including principals, support organizations, and policymakers, with the right information, relevant skills, and proper systems needed to continuously improve educational institutions and drive equitable outcomes.
The Equity Lab seeks to disrupt racial and ethnic inequity by engaging organizations in issues of race, equity, diversity, and inclusion (REDI). The Equity Lab helps individuals to develop a deep understanding of their own identity and the historical and cultural contexts in which we all operate, empowering them to become agents of progress in their personal and professional spheres. The Equity Lab serves as an objective third party to its clients, providing honest guidance, ongoing partnership, and a safe, compassionate space to do what is serious, difficult, and deeply necessary work.
The Expectations Project empowers people of faith to shine a light on education inequality through prayer, compassionate service, and faithful advocacy.
The Federal City Council is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership-based organization dedicated to the advancement of civic life in the nation’s capital. This investment will support development of comprehensive public school facilities strategy, which will include public and private sector policy and practice change to increase local education agency (LEA) access to facilities, to improve facility affordability and efficiency, and to create opportunities for new types of facility partnerships that allow for school growth and meet community needs.
FOCUS supports the diverse set of public charter schools in DC by advocating for and strengthening autonomy, equity, and quality. FOCUS advocates for polices to support charter schools, elevates data on school quality, and provides school services to strengthen school performance.
Friendship Public Charter School is one of the District of Columbia’s largest and highest-performing public charter school networks, with 16 schools serving over 4,500 students in prekindergarten through 12th grade.
Girls Global Academy is an all-girls public charter high school. The school is pursuing International Baccalaureate (IB) authorization providing young women a global education that ignites empowerment and develops confidence to influence change. During their time at GGA, girls will take courses to prepare for success in college and career; will be a part of a culture that values all students fulfilling the four promises of sisterhood, scholarship, service and safety; and become leaders through topics that matter to them.
Global Citizens’ mission is to inspire and prepare the next generation of global citizens by supporting students in grades PK3 -5 to reach their full academic and leadership potential in a nurturing environment. The school offers language immersion in both Mandarin and Spanish and students will use language to liberate and advocate for themselves and those most marginalized. Global Citizens opens in Fall 2021.
Higher Achievement is closing the opportunity gap during the critical middle school years. By leveraging the power of communities, Higher Achievement’s proven model provides a rigorous year-round learning environment, caring role models, and a culture of high expectations, resulting in college-bound scholars with the character, confidence, and skills to succeed.
I Dream Public Charter School redefines success and achievement by equipping students in PK3 – 5th grade to self-direct their own learning of content standards through their interests, passions, and dreams. The learner-centered, strengths-based approach to teaching and learning is a collaboration between the children, staff, families, and communities the school serves.
Ingenuity Prep offers an educational program that prepares students for mastery of rigorous core content and a broader set of 21st century civic leadership competencies. With a career ladder that provides for strong mentoring of early career teachers, Ingenuity Prep offers an innovative approach to teacher development. Additionally, through utilizing digital content and multiple teachers in each classroom, the school is able to ensure that a high level of differentiated, small-group instruction meets students’ individual learning needs. With approximately 290 students in PreK3 through 2nd grade, Ingenuity Prep serves a student population with among the highest percentage of students designated as “at-risk” of any public charter school in the city.
The mission of InSite solutions is to improve the social, emotional, and academic success of youth living in underserved communities, through: 1) Increasing access to high quality, wrap-around mental health services through integrated, school-based programs; 2) Building capacity within all levels of educational systems to effectively understand, prevent, and respond to mental health challenges from a trauma-sensitive perspective; 3) Utilizing data-driven approaches to systematically create, advocate for, and disseminate scalable, evidence-based solutions.
For more than 55 years, Ivymount has created nationally recognized programs and partnerships for people with autism and special needs as well as their families. The goal in all of their programs is to help children, students, and young adults achieve their highest level of development and independence. In addition to creating their own education and outreach programs, Ivymount forms partnerships with other organizations and researchers – often functioning as a training site – to ensure that this innovative and intensive approach is widely disseminated and influences the larger field of special education and support services.
KIPP is the nation’s largest network of free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public charter schools, with 200 schools across the country educating 80,000 students. The KIPP DC network currently serves over 5,700 students at 16 schools on six campuses in Washington, DC.
The mission of LEARN Charter School Network is to provide children with the academic foundation and ambition to earn a college degree. In a process funded by Education Forward DC, LEARN was selected in 2017 by a group of Ward 8 parents and parents from active military families as the preferred operator to open a public charter school serving 50% active military families and 50% DC resident families on the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB) in Ward 8.
The mission of Lee Montessori Public Charter School is to foster a lifetime love of learning and cultivate independence among DC schoolchildren, using the student-centered Montessori method, an evidence-based approach to closing the opportunity gap. Lee Montessori’s vision is to create racially and socioeconomically diverse schools for public preschool- and elementary-aged children that foster the physical, social, emotional, and academic growth of students.
Levelfield Partners provides affordable access to first-class facilities for quality charter school operators.
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is a not-for-profit, acute-care teaching and research hospital licensed for 609 beds located in Northwest Washington, D.C. Founded in the Jesuit principle of cura personalis—caring for the whole person—MedStar Georgetown is committed to offering a variety of innovative diagnostic and treatment options within a trusting and compassionate environment. MedStar Georgetown’s centers of excellence include neurosciences, transplant, cancer and gastroenterology. Along with Magnet® nurses, internationally recognized physicians, advanced research and cutting-edge technologies, MedStar Georgetown’s healthcare professionals have a reputation for medical excellence and leadership.
Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School is an Expeditionary Learning school offering project-based learning in a dual language (Spanish and English) immersion setting. Mundo Verde is also Washington’s first “green” public charter school. Mundo Verde aims to foster high levels of academic achievement among a diverse group of students by preparing them to be successful and compassionate global stewards of their communities.
The goal of the National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools (NCSECS) is to advocate for students with diverse learning needs to ensure that if they are interested in attending charter schools, they are able to access and thrive in schools designed to enable all students to succeed.
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) is the State Education Agency for the District of Columbia, led by Superintendent Hanseul Kang. One of OSSE’s responsibilities is designing, building and maintaining a state report card for each public school in the city. Over the last year, OSSE has engaged with over 4000 parents and community members in the design of the new report cards, and they will be released in December 2018.
The mission of Paul Public Charter School is to educate our students and to develop in them the capacity to be responsible citizens, independent thinkers, and leaders. Paul PCS, located in Northwest Washington, DC, serves students in middle and high school and is the home of the “M.E.R.I.T. Scholars” (motivated, educated, responsible, independent thinkers). Beginning in the middle grades, MERIT Scholars experience a rigorous academic curriculum, coupled with arts and athletic opportunities to develop a firm foundation to eventually enter our college preparatory program at Paul International High School.
PAVE is a DC-based nonprofit that connects, informs, and empowers parent leaders to give families in DC a voice and choice in the vision for education in our city. Founded in April 2016 with an all-parent governing board, PAVE is dedicated to building an education system in DC that is created with families, not for them. We aim to shift the dynamic so that parents are partners and leaders with schools and policymakers to create safe, nurturing, and great schools in every ward and community.
A new nonprofit started by partners of Bellwether Education, Promise54 provides talent services with a bedrock of diversity, equity, and inclusion in order to bolster schools’ performance and organizational effectiveness. Promise54 will enable organizations to deliver on the promise of educational opportunity for all students, symbolized by the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision.
Relay is a national, accredited, nonprofit institution of higher education serving 2,000 teachers and 400 school leaders across the United States. Relay’s mission is to teach teachers and school leaders to develop in all students the academic skills and strength of character needed to succeed in college and life. Relay aims to become the place where a new generation of continuously-improving, results-focused individuals can fulfill their destiny in the world’s greatest profession.
The mission of School Leader Lab is to support schools and their networks in sustaining and growing high-quality schools through one of their most important assets – leaders. School Leader Lab partners with schools to strengthen their instructional leadership bench – by developing exceptional teams and by building organizational capacity for leader development.
SchoolTalk is a DC-based nonprofit whose mission is to create spaces that promote self-determination and a voice for youth with disabilities and their peers. SchoolTalk supports the DC education community in collaboratively addressing complex challenges and creating practical solutions for assisting youth of all abilities achieve success.
The Social Justice School’s mission is to catalyze an integrated and diverse community of learners to be scholar-activists who are designers of a more just world. The academic model is rooted in social justice, social-emotional, and character development, makes learning meaningful and active through expeditionary learning, and empowers students to apply their learning through design thinking projects. Social Justice serves students in grades 5 – 8.
The Sojourner Truth School is DC’s first public Montessori middle and high school and its mission is to empower students to transform the world. Students explore their personal interests through unique passion projects and business enterprises such as our farm. Truth is committed to celebrating the uniqueness of every individual and engaging in anti-racist and anti-bias work at all levels.
The mission of Statesmen College Preparatory Academy for Boys is to create a boy-friendly pedagogy-informed academic environment within which young men are equipped with the academic skills, social competencies, and character development necessary to navigate life challenges, attend and complete the college of their choice, and return to become the premier agents of social change within and for the communities they serve. Statesmen College Preparatory Academy for Boys aims to develop a school environment that reimagines, redesigns, and recreates the student experience for Black and Latino boys specifically.
STEM City was a year-long project to develop a concept for improving Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education in DC and to better connect underemployed DC public graduates to DC-area jobs in the field.
Founded in 1989 with a goal of eliminating educational inequity, Teach For America (TFA) enlists, develops, and mobilizes future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational equity and excellence. TFA recruits and selects top college graduates, who serve as teachers in public or public charter K-12 schools in select underserved communities. Since its founding, TFA has enlisted over 53,000 teachers and has grown to serve 53 communities. TFA has 150 corps members and nearly 2,800 alumni within the Washington, DC region.
Through the leadership of authentic men and women, boldly committed to creating an inclusive and equitable world for all, Teach to Lead (T2L) envisions a world relieved of its most pervasive and systemic troubles. Toward this end, T2L offers highly rigorous and personalized one-to-one or small group coaching programs designed to address a leader’s entire being as they nurture new habits and skills that enable them to increase their effectiveness while embracing the core leadership values of love, integrity, grit, humility, trust and service.
ThirdWay Solutions supports policy, government, non-profit, corporate, and philanthropic leaders in pursuit of equity and justice to find innovative solutions to their most vexing challenges. ThirdWay Solutions helps clients change how they approach planning, people, practices and policies.
Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) is the nation’s largest organization exclusively representing the Black College Community. TMCF supports and represents a network of 47 publicly-supported Historically Supported Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and additional Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs). Through scholarships, capacity building and research initiatives, innovative programs, and strategic partnerships, TMCF provides vital resources to the K-12 and higher education space.
TNTP’s mission is to end the injustice of educational inequality by providing excellent teachers to the students who need them most and by advancing policies and practices that ensure effective teaching in every classroom. TNTP works at every level of the public education system to create engaging classrooms, focused schools, and strategic school systems. Since 1997, TNTP has partnered with more than 200 public school districts, charter school networks, and state departments of education. Today, TNTP is active in more than 30 cities. Visit the Website
Transcend is a national nonprofit that conducts research and development on innovative school models that result in transformative learning communities for students. Their work is meant to expand the supply of innovative, replicable school models, and grow communities’ demand and readiness for innovation.
Since its founding in 1944, UNCF has helped to more than double the number of minorities attending college. The six-year graduation rate for UNCF African American scholarship recipients is 70%. This is 11% higher than the national average and 31% higher than the national average for all African Americans.
UpliftED School Services supports, advocates for, and celebrates exceptional educators serving the most historically-underserved student and family populations.
Urban Teachers aims to solve the critical challenge of teacher quality in urban areas by equipping new teachers with the tools they need to make an immediate difference in student learning. Since its founding in 2009, Urban Teachers has grown from training 39 new teachers to serve 11 schools to training over 500 teachers to serve 93 schools.
Wakefield Research provides cutting-edge market research using qualitative and quantitative methods to a wide range of well-known brands and companies. Education Forward DC supported Wakefield Research in conducting a large-scale survey of parent demand for public education in Washington, DC, including poll and focus groups.
The Ward 8 Parent Operator Selection Team (POST) is a panel of parents who are issuing a request for proposals (RFP) for a school to operate adjacent to the military base in Ward 8. This new school will serve both military families and families from the surrounding community.
Washington Latin Public Charter School is a college preparatory school for grades 9-12 and offers a classical education in which community, character, and citizenship are valued.
Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School was founded in 2008 as Washington DC’s first Mandarin Chinese language immersion school. Today, Yu Ying serves 571 students in grades PK3 through 5 in Ward 5. The school’s mission is to inspire and prepare young people to create a better world by challenging them to reach their full potential in a nurturing Chinese/English educational environment.
As a multidisciplinary, multi-cultural team of mental health professionals, the WISE Center, formerly InSite Solutions, operates at the intersection of research and best practices to develop innovative, culturally appropriate approaches that meet the unique needs of the District of Columbia’s students, families, and schools. The program links rigorous academics with mental wellness to promote improvements in both academic and mental health outcomes in our community.