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Keeping Our Promise:
How Can Funders Support Promise Neighborhoods to Increase Educational Opportunity in Distressed Communities?
Description:
The U.S. Department of Education's Promise Neighborhoods Program aims to
significantly improve the educational and developmental outcomes of all
children living in the most distressed communities across the country. The
Department's vision is that children growing up in Promise Neighborhoods will
have access to effective schools and strong systems of family and community
support that will prepare them to attain an excellent education and
successfully transition to college and career. Close to 400 nonprofit organizations
and institutions of higher education have applied for the Department's planning
grants to lay the groundwork for this important national agenda. Funders active
in the field of education can play a critical role in advancing these
communities of opportunity by contributing their knowledge, on-the-ground
expertise, and financial resources, leveraging their own place-based community
investments with federal matching funds.
In this interactive teleconference, representatives from the U.S.
Department of Education and from two of the nation's most prominent foundations
will update education grantmakers on guidelines, goals, and a variety of peer
activities currently underway to fulfill the promise of investing in
children—from cradle-to-career—through this large-scale social innovation.
Presenters:
- Jim Shelton, the Department's Assistant
Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement will be joined by Larkin
Tackett, Deputy Director of Promise Neighborhoods, to discuss the
guidelines and goals of the Promise Neighborhoods Program, how the
Department is working across a wide range of agencies to advance program
objectives, and how foundations can play a supportive and transformational
role in this effort.
- Donna Lawrence, Director, Children &
Youth, The Atlantic Philanthropies, will talk about how her foundation is
supporting "Elev8" sites to help disadvantaged middle school
students in five Chicago
schools achieve educational and life goals.
- Jeannie Oakes, Director of Education and
Scholarship, the Ford Foundation, will discuss Ford's work to transform
urban schools in Los Angeles and other
cities in the U.S.
Donna and Jeannie will also talk about the Promise Neighborhoods
Institute which Atlantic, Ford, and a
number of other foundations are supporting to provide tools, information, and
strategies to assist any community interested in participating in the
Department's Promise Neighborhoods program.
This teleconference is presented as part of the Foundation Center's
Foundations for Education Excellence initiative, made possible through
generous support by the C.S. Mott Foundation. We also thank the Council on
Foundations, the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, Grantmakers for
Education, and the Philanthropy Roundtable for their assistance with this
effort.
TO REGISTER:
Registration is free, but pre-registration is required by
Tuesday, August 3rd. To register, please visit: http://foundationcenter.org/rsvp/education/.
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