For Immediate Release:
February 19, 2008
Contact: Nick Lorenzen 781-348-4239
The Nellie Mae Education Foundation Announces Bold, New Strategic Direction
New England’s premiere education philanthropy to investigate and promote dramatically higher and varied outcomes for the majority of New England’s Learners
Quincy, MA – Acknowledging that national and regional needs are changing faster than the quality of public education, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation has announced an exciting and ambitious realignment of its strategic grantmaking priorities.
The Foundation, the largest philanthropy in New England exclusively dedicated to education, will now provide grants and other support to education programs in the region to dramatically improve underserved students' academic achievement and to investigate and promote high-quality, varied approaches for students to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary in the 21st century.
“New competencies are now needed in order for people to be competitive workers and engaged citizens,” said Nicholas C. Donohue, President and CEO of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. “We must find ways to provide the majority of students with a broader array of skills and knowledge than those currently provided by our education systems. And we must offer variety in terms of the pathways available to these necessary outcomes.”
The Foundation will now provide approximately $15 million per year in grants, mostly through five strategic initiatives:
- Early Learning – Focuses on support and promotion of regional infrastructure and leadership and support for the development of legislation that can expand Early Learning opportunities.
- Time for Learning – Focuses on investigating how time impacts learning, the development of innovative, “non-traditional” usage of time, and the implications of education policy on the use of time in learning.
- Pathways to Higher Learning – Concentrates on innovative programs that increase student engagement as well as systems that may investigate where, when, how, and with whom students learn.
- Adult Learning – Examines how to best expand the variety and quality of educational opportunities for adult learners.
- Systems Building – Focuses on the re-evaluation of current education systems in order to identify innovations, policies, and other opportunities that may lead to a dramatic increase in the number of students possessing the skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century.
Additionally, in order to build knowledge and help inform decision-making, the Foundation has developed a bold, new research agenda. Some research projects will be programmatic; while others will help the Foundation test, clarify and set its vision and strategic choices. Research will focus, in part, on areas of education that inform the Foundation’s work and which may encompass issues and questions related to topics such as underserved learners, current reform efforts, and the role of education in a global economy.
The Foundation hopes that its new strategic direction will help lead to a re-examining of long-held assumptions about the way students are educated (what they are taught, when, where, how and by whom).
Based on what is learned during the initial phase of the Foundation's new strategic direction (a period which may be measured in years), decisions may be made that lead to a yet-still different and substantive long-term grantmaking strategy.
“This is an exciting time for the Foundation, for our potential partners, for education practitioners, and ultimately we hope, for students across New England,” added Donohue. “The Foundation believes that achieving extraordinary outcomes for the majority of New England’s learners – especially those currently underserved – is not only necessary for our society, but that it reflects a basic civil right. Moreover, we believe that it is entirely possible.”
The Nellie Mae Education Foundation is the largest philanthropy in New England that focuses exclusively on promoting access, quality, and effectiveness of education. The Foundation provides grants and other support to education programs and intermediary organizations in the region to dramatically improve underserved students' academic achievement and to investigate and promote high quality, varied approaches for students to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary in the 21st century. The Foundation also funds research that examines critical education policy issues and public understanding about education in order to better inform efforts to improve education. Since it was established in 1998, the Foundation has distributed nearly $83 million in grants. Currently, it primarily provides funding through five strategic initiatives: Early Learning, Pathways to Higher Education, Time for Learning, Adult Learning, and Systems Building. For more information, visit www.nmefdn.org
