WASHINGTON, June 27, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The Board of Trustees of The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region announced today $725,000 in first-ever grants made through The Foundation's new Collaborative for Education Organizing initiative (CEO). The grants will support 5 Washington, DC-based nonprofit organizations and their efforts to ensure that diverse voices inform and play a central role in education reform and policymaking in the DC Public Schools. Taken as a whole, these are the largest grants dedicated to supporting parent/youth education organizing in the District of Columbia.
CEO is a pool of dollars contributed by several local and national foundations, including The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region. To date, funding partners include The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Fannie Mae, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Hill-Snowdon Foundation, The Horning Family Fund, The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, The Woodbury Fund, and The World Bank. It is part of the local campaign to double the number of college-ready graduation rates in the District of Columbia.
"These important grants could not be made at a better time," says Community Foundation President Terri Lee Freeman. "For far too long, and after a seemingly endless string of failed education policies, we have witnessed the unacceptable erosion of DC's public schools. In addition, the system has operated with virtually no accountability, which also is unacceptable. We must involve the customers, and these grants will enable some of the city's most effective nonprofit organizations to mobilize our community's educators, parents, young people, faith-based institutions, civic leaders, and funders to ensure that we get it right this time. We owe all of the city's young people access to a high-quality, world-class, competitive education."
The grants selection process was rigorous, with less than 30% of the 16 applications funded. The goal is to make long-term investments in nonprofits that are organizing communities to demand high-quality public education. As a result, grant funds will support advocacy for language access, organizing and convening youth groups, critical research, and more.
The 5 Collaborative for Education Organizing grantees are:
Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center $200,000 To support the DC Language Access Coalition, a project of the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center. The Coalition is an alliance of 20 community-based organizations advocating for language access rights within the District of Columbia. DC Alliance of Youth Advocates $200,000 To support DC Alliance of Youth Advocates, a coalition of youth-engaged organizations, youth, and concerned residents formed to ensure that all of the District's youth have access to high-quality and affordable educational and developmental opportunities. DC Voice $100,000 To support DC Voice, a nonprofit organization which informs and mobilizes the public to hold both the schools and the community accountable for providing high-quality teaching and learning for all. Tellin' Stories $25,000 To support Tellin' Stories' capacity to undertake a process exploring scaling up to provide parent organizing for secondary school DC Public Schools parents citywide. Youth Education Alliance $200,000 To support Youth Education Alliance, a youth-led nonprofit organization which mobilizes hundreds of DC public schools and charter school students to fight for improved learning conditions and access to high-quality educational opportunities.
Founded in 1973, The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region is the largest funder of nonprofit organizations in the Washington, DC area. In FY2007, The Foundation and its donors awarded some $95 million in grants to nonprofit organizations in the Washington, DC region and beyond.