Mission
The right to learn is the most important promise we make to our nation’s children. America’s future is dependent on keeping the promise of a great public education for every child in every community. The investments we make today in weaving a strong tapestry of diverse, inclusive, and equitable public schools will create the fabric of our society and the world to come.
Our mission simply stated is to promote the opportunity for all children to receive an excellent education from birth through college and career. This purpose is not the province of a singular organization, institution, or moment in time. It requires many hands – and hearts and minds – working together across generations to continually regenerate the power of public education as the engine for our social progress and economic vitality. It requires a dynamic ecosystem of community and parent leaders, educators, policymakers, advocates, and funding partners with a shared commitment to inclusive systems for schooling and supports that respect and engage students and families in all their diversity. Our strategy is to nourish that ecosystem and harness the power of our collective experience and resources to strengthen and sustain the healthy learning environments that all children deserve and need to thrive.
History
The National Public Education Support Fund was created as part of the Leeds family of philanthropies. by current Board President, Dan Leeds, with former Executive Director, Terri Shuck (bio). The National Public Education Support Fund was established in 2008 to support the Alliance for Excellent Education and other projects working to build the leadership, policy innovations, and public engagement necessary to elevate the learning opportunities and outcomes for all students in America. Terri Shuck served as founding Executive Director for the subsequent ten years, building a community of engaged education funders and advocates along the way.
In 2009, the Support Fund launched the Education Funder Strategy Group (EFSG) to provide foundation leaders with a learning community to exchange ideas on the intersections of philanthropy, policy, research and practice. Building on this platform, the NPESF staff organized U.S. delegations of federal and state policymakers, funders, and education officials for study tours to learn from countries with the top-performing education systems around the world including Canada, Finland, Germany, Singapore, and Switzerland.
Today, NPESF is a national hub for convening and connecting influential leaders in education philanthropy, advocacy, research, policy, and practice. In addition to the Education Funder Strategy Group, the Support Fund actively sponsors Grantmakers for Thriving Youth and the Data Funders Collaborative. These collaborative networks of funders and thought partners are advancing an equity-centered vision for strengthening public schools that is informed by the science of learning and energized by the moral imperative of preparing each and every child with a world-class education.