In the weeks since NewSchools Summit, I’ve been reflecting on a question that came up again and again: What does it look like to lead with courage in this moment?

More often, it looks like the quiet resilience of education leaders showing up every day to do the work, even when the path forward is anything but clear.

It looks like planning for next year without knowing if your funding will come through. It looks like standing by your values when you’re being told they’re liabilities. It looks like defending your team and your mission while wondering if you’ll still be standing six months from now.

Over the past three months, I’ve had the privilege of sitting in intimate, off-the-record conversations with education leaders across the country. These were spaces where people could be real — and they showed up with honesty and vulnerability, sharing what’s keeping them up at night.

Some spoke of the exhaustion, the kind that builds over months of uncertainty and pressure. Others described the heartbreak of letting go of programs they’ve spent years building. Many reflected on the toll of political attacks and funding instability, and how it detracts from their focus on students.

Again and again, I heard just how isolating this moment can feel and how powerful it is to be in a room with people who truly understand what you’re carrying.

And yet, even in those hardest conversations, something else came through: People aren’t giving up.

Summit Was Just the Start

At Summit, that spirit of collective courage was everywhere.

In my opening remarks, I framed the moment as both a crisis and an opportunity. I invoked the legacy of courageous leaders — past and present — who refused to make fear-based decisions, and instead doubled down on purpose and imagination.

During the civil rights movement, the Freedom Fighters and the lesser known Freedom Funders, didn’t wait for perfect conditions to stand up for what was right. They invested in legal defense, grassroots organizing, and voter education — showing us what it means to pair bold leadership with bold support, so that lasting change is possible, even in the hardest of times.

That same energy pulsed through Summit. From mainstage panels to quiet hallway conversations, we saw leaders holding space for one another and asking what it would take to move from survival to reinvention.

We also saw the power of community in action. And we were reminded of something that’s easy to forget in a time like this: that even in uncertainty, we have each other.

So where do we go from here?

We build towards a future:

• Where every student graduates with purpose, opportunity, and real choices. 
• Where schools prepare young people for a changing world, and are also places of truth, belonging, and joy. 
• Where educators are respected, supported, and empowered to thrive. 
• And where innovation is driven by evidence — and reaches the students who need it most. 

To do this, we have to keep the positive momentum going. 

At NewSchools, we’re committed to continuing these conversations. To lifting up what we’re hearing from the field. To sharing honest reflections and bold ideas. And to being a partner to those doing the work.

And we know that to accelerate impact, we have to respond to our ventures’ most pressing needs, which includes strategic support, opportunities to connect — and funding to fuel what comes next.  

Not just lifelines, but long-term, flexible investment. Capital for reinvention. 

That’s why we’ll keep funding new ideas. This year, we’ll invest $28 million in schools and solutions that are improving student outcomes. We’re also seeking to make more reinvestments in high-impact ventures, including those diversifying education leadership. 

We’re exploring ways to strengthen collaboration, from supporting consolidations to accelerating matchmaking between innovators and partners. We’re providing coaching, legal, and communications support, ensuring our newest ventures and even our more tenured leaders are provided the resources needed for this moment. 

And we’re talking to our funders about what the field needs — and about the bright spots that prove what’s possible if we all do our part.   

Because we believe in you — the people doing this work, the hard work — and together, we’ll keep fighting for what’s possible.

Let’s keep building what’s next.