New Education Ecosystem Grant Program Awards $2.4 Million

Twelve organizations that help create the environment for the education initiatives of others to succeed are the first recipients of the Bush Foundation’s Education Ecosystem Grants. Their efforts contribute to the favorable conditions needed for others to work to reduce educational disparities and improve outcomes for all students.

The Education Ecosystem Grant recipients support the initiatives of several types of education organizations including schools, nonprofit service providers and government agencies. They assist by creating access to critical data, advancing a favorable policy environment and/or shaping and sharing best practices.

“Efforts toward change in education happen within an interrelated organizational ecosystem,” said Kayla Yang-Best, the Foundation’s education director. “Through this program, we want to create the most favorable environment possible for education initiatives—including those of the Bush Foundation—to succeed in improving education outcomes.”

The grantees will each receive $200,000 in general operating support over two years. Historically, organizations that improve conditions in the education ecosystem have struggled to find funding because guidelines often emphasize program support. The Foundation created the Education Ecosystem Grant Program to fill that gap.

Ecosystem-building work is critical to the overall success of the education field, and it sometimes happens behind the scenes. During the selection process, the Foundation consulted with education experts who could connect the supportive work of eligible organizations to specific impact on the ecosystem.

“This new, open grant program lets us provide much-needed funding for work essential to an effective ecosystem,” said Jen Ford Reedy, the Foundation’s president.

The 2014 Education Ecosystem Grant recipients are:

• Black Hills Special Services Cooperative (Sturgis, SD)
• Charter School Partners (Minneapolis, MN)
• Education Transformation Initiative (Minneapolis, MN)
• Educators 4 Excellence – MN (Minneapolis, MN)
• Generation Next (Minneapolis, MN)
• MinnCAN (Minneapolis, MN)
• Minnesota Minority Education Partnership, Inc. (Saint Paul, MN)
• MinnPost.com (Minneapolis, MN)
• Northside Achievement Zone (Minneapolis, MN)
• Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood (Saint Paul, MN)
• Students for Education Reform (New York, NY)
• Think Small (Saint Paul, MN)