What We’ve Learned from our Focus on Excellence and Equity in Education Innovation
By Frances Messano, President Over the past seven years, NewSchools has been intentional about centering racial equity and investing in leaders of color. Along the way, we’ve heard rumblings that some white leaders believe they shouldn’t apply for funding because their chances of receiving a grant are lower. Nothing could be further from the truth. […]
Becoming the Next CEO of NewSchools
By Frances Messano, President In March, we announced that I will succeed Stacey Childress as CEO of NewSchools Venture Fund, beginning in 2023. I am grateful for Stacey’s extraordinary leadership and intentional transition planning. She supported my growth, giving me stretch opportunities over time and the freedom to lead different parts of our work, which […]
Our Promise and Plan of Action for the Year Ahead
Frances Messano, President This is a tough time to be in education. For teachers and school leaders navigating a third wave of the pandemic and fighting to deliver an excellent education, there are no “time outs.” Education philanthropy has a shared responsibility to support educators who are responding to unrelenting demands every day. Here at […]
MacKenzie Scott Makes Historic Gift to NewSchools Venture Fund
By Frances Messano and Stacey Childress We are thrilled to announce that NewSchools Venture Fund has received an incredible $35M investment from MacKenzie Scott—a gift that allows us to continue to provide unrestricted dream capital to the innovators we fund. This is the single largest contribution NewSchools has received to date, and these funds will […]
Dream Capital for Innovators Advancing Racial Equity in Education
By Frances Messano, President, NewSchools Venture Fund For the past year, there have been loud calls for justice and change stemming from the ongoing police killings of Black and Brown people and the violence against Asian-Americans. This week, George Floyd was given a measure of justice after a jury in Minneapolis convicted his killer, the […]
Our Moral Imperative: Racial Equity and the Public School System
By Frances Messano, senior managing partner, NewSchools Venture Fund Educators are preparing for a fall as their school communities — and the rest of the world — grapple with the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic anti-Black racial injustice. As a national nonprofit that supports and invests in promising teams of educators and innovators who want to reimagine learning, […]
How Leopards Change Their Spots: Five Attributes of Schools That Successfully Transitioned to Distance Learning
By Frances Messano, Senior Managing Partner, NewSchools Venture Fund As schools rapidly closed down their physical buildings across the country, we saw many of the leaders in our portfolio move quickly and nimbly to implement distance learning plans and provide critical support families need. Across them all, we found five common themes in the approaches they took. […]
Reposted from Medium.com — Hey Educators and Entrepreneurs with Bold Ideas…This is Big!
For the last few years, August 1 has been a particularly auspicious day for me and my colleagues at NewSchools Venture Fund. It’s the day we announce open funding opportunities. As a side note, it’s also my dad’s birthday, so it’s been a special day to me forever (Happy Birthday, Dad!). But, getting back to […]
What Does It Look Like to Make History in the Moment?
This blog is also cross-posted on Medium. My team at NewSchools just completed one of our favorite and most impactful activities of the year — we decided upon the next round of investments in our Diverse Leaders portfolio! It’s always exciting to announce our new ventures, and lately I’ve been reflecting on what it means to fund […]
Unrealized Impact: New Study on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Education
Today, I’m thrilled to announce a new study, “Unrealized Impact.” But before we discuss that, I have to go back in time. A year ago, I had an idea for a project. I wanted to see comprehensive data on the state of diversity in education. Sure, there was a lot of talk about the need […]