2021
Grants Awarded

Stone Foundation Fellowships will support the development of a technical report that will describe how to lead early childhood education in the most under-resourced schools in Chicago.

In partnership with Chicago Public Schools, Communities United will engage youth and communities in developing plans for creating safe, inclusive, and supportive learning environments.

Council for Strong America will launch a social media campaign segment as part of a strategic communications campaign to educate on the need for and importance of early education and care.

Through this project, Erikson will build faculty capacity across the state (IL) and two-and-four-year higher education institutions to prepare the early childhood workforce to effectively serve young, bi/multilingual children.

To provide current, culturally, and linguistically appropriate and accessible information on COVID-19, vaccination and national and state regulations, relevant to families.

Illinois Action for Children is seeking support to accelerate its work in bringing feedback from early childhood educators and early childhood teacher-prep faculty into policy changes being decided in the IBHE strategic planning process.

Internationals will develop and disseminate recommendations to support multilingual learners as schools and districts plan for re-opening.

Philadelphia Student Union in partnership with Resolve Philly will build awareness of the need for adequate and fair funding in Pennsylvania in tandem with the current state trial.

The Rennie Center supports work to transform education by leveraging the assets and power of communities to build a new vision of high-quality, liberated learning for all students.

Start Early will support the capacity of the U.S. Department of Education to create supportive relationships with and between the organizations, communities, states and families that make up the early childhood landscape, leading to better programs and policies for young children across America.

In early education advocacy, representation matters. This project will launch the inaugural cohort of an early education and care Speakers’ Bureau – a diverse cohort of emerging leaders from the field, whom we will prepare and support to successfully represent our field in public speaking, with the media and advocacy.

Advance Illinois works to ensure a more equitable education system that enables all students to achieve success in college, career, and civic life.

Bank Street plans to support Cohort II teacher residents through graduation from our Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages Teacher Residency Program, launch the first year residency for Cohort III teacher residents, and continue our work to secure government support to sustain the model.

LEAD Hubs identified improving equity competencies for district and building leaders as a key driver for school improvement. Funding will sustain leadership training and resources in LEAD Hubs through development of toolkit and by building organizational capacity to sustain Leaders for Equity and Leaders for English Learners Micro-Credentials.

BPE plans to assist approximately 1000 students through our neighborhood-based Teaching Academies while developing a diverse cohort of educators for Boston Public Schools (BPS) through our Boston Teacher Residency (BTR) program.

The Center for Collaborative Education’s statewide advocacy campaign supports to leverage state policy changes to transform Massachusetts’ current education assessment system.

The Chicago Public Education Fund plans to support their direct-to-principal programming. In the 2021-22 school year, they will serve more than 280 principals and aspiring principals and make our supports responsive to the needs of school leaders during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

This grant will strengthen Internationals’ capacity to create schools that close the achievement gap for MLLs. These activities will deepen Internationals’ impact on MLL educator practice within and beyond the network and build the organization’s capacity to advocate for policies and practices leading to more equitable educational opportunities for MLLs.

LPI seeks support for the Shared Learning Initiative, a collaboration with the California Partnership for the Future of Learning to build the capacity of key CA education stakeholders—grassroots groups, advocates, and policymakers—to understand and advance structures, policies, and practices to catalyze change for more equitable and racially just school systems.

NCTR proposes a partnership with the Columbia University Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL) to study the Black Educators Initiative (BEI) to strengthen the recruitment, preparation, and retention of Black teachers through teacher residency programs in the NCTR network. This evaluation will benefit teacher residency programs, teacher preparation, and most importantly, Black teacher candidates.

Funding would support (1) discounts to leaders and teams that want to attend our institutes but are struggling financially, (2) increasing our offerings of affinity learning communities, and (3) expanding access to our training offerings through the launch of asynchronous course(s).

NTC is a leader in education — one of few with proven results. With general operating support, NTC can embrace next-level leadership — establishing best practices for school systems, creating transformational change for educators, and accelerating students’ social-emotional and academic growth after the most challenging year in K-12 education.

Partners in School Innovation (Partners) employs a variety of service delivery models to introduce results-oriented continuous improvement practices as a means towards achieving lasting systemic progress. Using its assessments and protocols, Partners works to improve school climate and culture and instruction in traditionally low-performing schools serving predominantly Black and Latinx students from low-income communities. Many of these schools had challenges prior to the pandemic and these challenges have grown in response to COVID-19.

AQE will develop and execute a plan to influence how federal ARPA and state resources are invested in order to meet the academic, social and emotional needs of students and their families as our communities recover from the impact of COVID-19 and decades of systemic racism in education.

They will launch a school-level initiative to support integrating transformative social-emotional learning (TSEL) in Boston Public Schools. Schools will build capacity and develop plans for implementing TSEL schoolwide. Separately, we will also carry on policy reform efforts through Open Opportunity – Massachusetts, a cross-sector network of 40+ organizations.

Teach Plus delivers programs that empower excellent, experienced, and diverse teachers to take leadership over key education policy and practice issues that advance equity, opportunity, and student success.

The general operating grant will be used to engage and support a coalition of Massachusetts equity advocates from civil rights, disability rights, parent, educator, and education reform communities to demand and secure policy and practice change to increase opportunity and achievement for low-income students and students of color.

This request was to support leadership coaching to monitor and assess the extent to which UIC novice school leaders are infusing elements of social-emotional learning into their practices.

Advocate Children’s Hospital Healthy Steps Program, in conjunction with Advocate Medical Group, will continue to engage and support physician practices serving socially-vulnerable communities to promote effective screening and management for child mental health issues and unmet social needs.

Support BUILD to partner with state leaders and teams to build racially equitable early childhood systems by developing/extending leadership capacity, increasing knowledge, reflection, and critical analysis skills, and the capacity to think and act strategically, forge networks across sectors, and seize opportunities to act within one’s role, authority, and influence.

The National Center will work with state partners to expand and strengthen its evidence-based T.E.A.C.H. Scholarship and Child Care WAGE$ early childhood workforce initiatives to reach more educators and promote equity and will implement new strategies to tackle longstanding and COVID-related challenges impacting educator retention and the teacher preparation pipeline.

Children Now continues to work on Cradle to Career data-sharing system for services to children and families throughout the State, and the credentialing system project that works towards building a well-prepared early childhood workforce.

Council for a Strong America will build policymakers’ and the public’s support for increased investments in high-quality early childhood education and care, coupled with investments in a strong early childhood workforce, by elevating the voices of members from law enforcement and business communities at the national and state levels.

A grant will support Erikson Institute’s Early Teaching and Learning Academy and Policy and Leadership Department, which, through professional development opportunities and key policy initiatives, help young children gain equitable access to high-quality care and early educational experiences which set the foundation for optimal development, lifelong health, learning, and success.

First Up works to improve the quality of early childhood education and care for all young children in our region. First Up’s work will impact professionals, programs, and systems, with a focus on serving those with the greatest need.

Funding to pay community-based birth workers is critical and largely absent, legislative action and Medicaid MCO funding can change this. This project will center on community-based birth workers in a storybook related to the sustainability of the profession, advocacy training, and an advocacy trip to Capitol Hill.

Illinois Action for Children supports organizational initiatives advancing state public policies promoting excellence in Illinois early childhood education and child care.

The Jumpstart SFSU Practicum connects future teachers with high-quality coaching, mentorship, and hands-on experience, resulting in better outcomes for children and a well-prepared pipeline of early educators.

This grant supports Latino Policy Forum’s Quality Bilingual ECE Programs for English Language Learners. The work focuses on strengthening the early childhood bilingual workforce pipeline and advancing recommendations and lessons learned with national stakeholders.The work focuses on strengthening the early childhood bilingual workforce pipeline and advancing
recommendations and lessons learned with national stakeholders.

Building on work carried out through current and previous Stone Grants, NAEYC will advance the quality of early childhood higher education programs by using NAEYC accreditation as a lever and engaging higher education leaders in championing investments in degree programs that prepare an effective, diverse, well-prepared and well-compensated ECE profession.

This grant supports New America’s Early & Elementary Education Policy Program to continue to inject Birth-3rd grade policy ideas into the national education conversation and produce new policy insights to propel B-3rd reforms in states, school districts, communities, and schools.

Support for the launch of a new child care movement network that engages partners and stakeholders across policy, research, communications, and organizing to center racial and gender equity in child care in order to create and enact a bold, equitable agenda.

ParentChild+ will support early childhood well-being and school readiness for families in historically marginalized communities by innovating and expanding our proven models during COVID and beyond. We will focus on growing our Family Child Care (FCC) model, piloting a One-on-One to FCC pipeline providing support for parents becoming providers.

This grant provides general operating support for Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children with an emphasis on early care and education and its intersections with child and maternal health. In addition, during the grant cycle funds will support data management and development particularly around child care workforce issues.

This grant provides general operating support for the New York City Early Childhood Research Network at the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute.

Start Early respectfully works to further: (1) Capitalize on opportunities to advance the early childhood (EC) system in Illinois; (2) Advance the EC workforce, and (3) Lift up learning from states to inform federal early childhood investments and policies.

Mikva Challenge requests support to sustain our innovative Citywide Youth Council program (CYCs). CYCs promote youth voice and youth leadership by providing young people with the knowledge, skills, agency, and access to have a meaningful impact on public policy decisions that significantly impact Chicago youth.

NESRI (DBA Partners for Dignity & Rights) is requesting funds for the Dignity in Schools Campaign, a national coalition of over 100 organizations fighting to end school pushout. W.C. Stone Foundation funds will advance local campaigns for Solutions Not Suspensions, engage youth in leadership structures and support collective national action.

This general operating grant supports Oakland Kids First (OKF) to build power and equity for high-need Oakland students by providing transformative youth leadership programs and investing in student organizing to improve school culture and implement the Oakland Youth Vote campaign win.

The Philadelphia Student Union (PSU) is applying for grant funding to support two new projects and the expansion of a third, which, combined, continue to expand PSU’s ability to generate meaningful grassroots power for young people in Philadelphia.

RYSE centers BIYOC (Black, Indigenous,Youth of Color) who are constantly changing, growing, innovating, shifting and reimaging what’s possible for our collective liberation. RYSE’s systems transformation approach centers cultural work, racial justice, and emotional, physical, and political support for healing and self-determination of young people’s own and their communities’ narratives.

We are seeking support for our Youth Leadership Development Continuum, a series of after school and summer programs, credit bearing internships, media production, and paid employment that enables young people to advocate for policy and systems change. Our media work and our collaborations with other youth serving and social justice organizations is also helping to strengthen the ecosystem of youth activism in Philadelphia.

Youth Communication will leverage the transformative power of teen-written narratives to address the systemic issues of inequality that directly impact youth across New York City.

This grant supports the Calafia Fellowship Program in order to 1) produce Calafia, a statewide youth policy magazine; 2) collaborate with youth advocates across the state, especially in our Bay Area offices; and 3) pair Calafia Fellows with professional journalists for mentorship.

This grant provides general operating support for YR Media, formerly known as Youth Radio.

The goals of this organization can be defined by three core values.  (1) Strengthen relationships among between youth and adults in schools and their communities; (2) Develop leadership among youth; (3) Ensure youth decision-making within the organization; (4) Ensure youth participation in decision-making in their schools; (5) Identify and define issues and strategies; and (6) Increase civic engagement of young people.

This grant provides general operating support for the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as resources to support CSCCE to engage in state-based work related to the implementation of American Rescue Plan funding.

Few principal preparation programs in institutions of higher education (IHE) incorporate meaningful attention to early childhood. The National P-3 Center will convene principal preparation faculty and P-3 leadership thinkers. The goal is to produce both a product and a group of IHE leaders that inspire additional engagement on this topic.

RYSE is building a community that inspires and empowers young people to love, learn, educate, heal, and transform lives and communities. As a Stone Leader for Change, Executive Director Kimberly Aceves-Iñiguez focused on deepening her knowledge of power-building mechanisms, such as Youth Voting Power, Policy Power and Training, and Direct Political Power to better assert a more effective vision for enacting youth-driven change.

Oakland Kids First drives to increase youth voice, leadership and power to create engaging and equitable public schools where all students learn and lead. Executive Director Lukas Brekke-Miesner Stone Leaders for Change experience focused on gaining perspective and insights from other field leaders on everything ranging from budgeting, board development, team management, and HR practices to coalition building, organizing strategy, and fiscal sponsorship. Through this, Brekke-Miesner will help position the organization in taking a more powerful advocacy stance.

Mikva develops youth to be empowered, informed, and active citizens who will promote a just and equitable society. As Executive Director, Verneé Green envisions growing the organization towards becoming a hub for continuous learning and improvement in the field of Action Civics. To support this vision, Green’s Stone Leaders for Change experience focused on building her leadership and expanding her skills in innovative practices and better extend this knowledge to Mikva staff.

Coleman Advocates works to promote access for families to high quality education, living wage jobs, family-supporting benefits, affordable housing, and a voice in the decisions that affect families and young people most. As a Stone Leader for Change, Executive Director Neva Walker strengthened her coaching skills to better support BIPOC movement leaders, within her organization and across the field, in their work and promote liberation for collective healing.