Our Blog
As schools face increased student disengagement and uneven academic recovery, there’s a critical need to identify effective approaches to strengthen family-school partnerships—starting with investments in evidence-based solutions. Meghan McCormick details the evidence base guiding our Foundation's decision-making for investments in this space.
In Q1 2024, our foundation awarded 53 grants totaling over $14 million. Here, we highlight just some of the organizations we’re proud to support this quarter as we kick off our 2024 grantmaking.
The first installation of our new interview series, “Spotlight On,” features Lina Eroh in conversation with Heejae Lim, founder and CEO of TalkingPoints. Together, they discuss TalkingPoints’ growth trajectory, the platform’s use of AI to foster family-school partnerships, and how technology will continue to shape the future of education.
Families’ involvement in their children’s learning is a vital component in academic achievement, but for a number of reasons, can often be a challenge for parents and caregivers. Stephanie Sharp and Ambika Kapur urge education funders to prioritize investing in evidence-based supports to help schools and families overcome barriers to engagement, improving outcomes for children.
Anu Malipatil, Vice President, Education, shares her lessons learned with the philanthropic sector, inspired by a decade of experience leading Overdeck Family Foundation.
Since the pandemic began, the federal government has provided nearly $190 billion in education funding to states and districts. As these rapid-relief dollars are set to expire, Anu Malipatil suggests that now is the time for schools and districts to assess whether the dollars have made a difference, and use that insight to inform what funding should be spent on going forward.
Technology has the potential to play a significant role in improving engagement with families, assessing student progress, and providing personalized learning solutions. But to have a real impact, edtech tools need to be evaluated and refined before they're made available at scale. John Overdeck, President of Overdeck Family Foundation, points to the need for philanthropic investment in new innovations and ongoing evidence-building to ensure these solutions improve learning for all students.
In Q1 2023, our foundation awarded 31 grants totaling over $15.4 million. Of these, 10 grants were new, 15 were renewals, and six were disbursements for ongoing pledges. This post highlights just some of the many organizations we’re proud to support this quarter as we begin our 2023 grantmaking.
In 2022, Overdeck Family Foundation disbursed over $50.6 million to 97 organizations that collectively reach 57 million children, two million families, and 147,000 educators. Our 2022 Grantmaking & Impact Report shares key grantmaking outcomes, lessons learned, and stories of how our funding helped grantees unlock innovation, evidence, and growth.
In this blog post, we highlight stories of how Overdeck Family Foundation funding has helped Leading Educators, TalkingPoints, and Zearn unlock evidence to advance field knowledge or validate program models.