Reflections and the Path Forward

Since Nellie Mae’s founding, we’ve been committed to ensuring each and every student in New England has the resources and access they need to succeed as their authentic selves. While the world has changed in ways we couldn’t have imagined, the unwavering importance of this work has not.

Public education is the cornerstone of our democracy and the strongest tool we have to build generations of engaged leaders and citizens. We know that what happens in public schools matters and has ripple effects that impact the health and future of our families and communities. But we also know that here in New England and across the nation, we’ve long faced widening opportunity and access gaps and a failure to deliver for those who are least well-served by the current system. For each and every student in our region to thrive–both in the classroom and beyond–we must address the deep-rooted inequities, exacerbated by everything from race to immigration status to income and more, that are so pervasive in our system.

And, as we all head into what will likely be another year of increased attacks on the institution of public education and opportunity for all, it makes the work of education justice that we’re all collectively engaged in that much more important. But instead of a moment of resignation or despair, this is a moment of opportunity for Nellie Mae–to reflect, recommit, and ensure we’re prepared to respond to the urgency this new era requires.

Reflections on where we’ve been

When Nellie Mae announced Phase I of our new strategy in 2019, shifting from a targeted focus on student-centered learning to an approach explicitly focused on advancing racial equity in public education, we did so after thoughtful learning, evaluation, and community engagement showed us that in order for student-centered practices to flourish, we needed to address the racial inequities that seep through our education system. As an organization, we committed to deepening our time in community, strengthening our relationships, and expanding our understanding of where gaps exist.

But with all the intentional learning and preparation, nothing could have prepared us for the compounding crises that were soon to come–a global pandemic, a rise in racist attacks and continued violence against our communities, attacks on democracy, and a mental health crisis that has affected everyone from our students to our teachers. We were reminded of just how fragile our systems are. The work of Nellie Mae and our grantee partners became that much more essential, as an already inequitable system was unable to respond with the resources, supports, and services communities and families needed. It made the problems that we’re all facing that much clearer.

The past four years have been challenging for so many reasons, but they were also full of opportunities for learning. Things didn’t always go according to plan, but we still marched towards progress. Since 2020, Nellie Mae has distributed over $42M in grantmaking funds focused on advancing equitable student outcomes and raising the bar for all students across New England. As I look back on this first phase of strategy, I’m especially proud of the collective impact and leadership of our grantee partners here in New England. Their determination to uproot the structural inequities within our education system and bring forward a vision of public education designed to meet the needs of each and every student has driven incredible momentum and progress, including:

• a coalition of grantees from Providence, Rhode Island coming together to help the district develop and implement an anti-racist teaching and learning curriculum, using the power of the collective to ensure the project wasn’t derailed
• investment in a new generation of Latina leaders in municipal city leadership in Chelsea, Massachusetts, where they can play key leadership roles in their school systems and communities
• expansion of culturally inclusive and responsive curriculum, including work in Vermont focused on providing culturally appropriate and historically accurate literature on Indigenous communities
• the passing of legislation in Connecticut mandating offerings for Black and Latinx history and subsequent mandates to include Native American and AAPI studies in following years

As we close out phase one of our strategy, this is a moment to reflect on the successes and the difficulties of the past four years. It’s a moment to evaluate and learn about our implementation tactics in light of how the world has changed. It’s a moment to take stock of our strategy and determine how we can advance this work even further to be as impactful as possible. And, it’s a moment to ask ourselves the challenging questions:

• Is our impact as great as it could be?
• How can we best respond to the failures of the current system?
• How can we use our power and privilege to build meaningful structural transformation?

What we’re already seeing is that because the world is different, our approach has to be different. While the way we engage with organizations doing this work may shift, we will remain steadfast in our commitment to our mission, vision, values, and focus on racial equity and education justice. I look forward to continuing to lock arms with our partners across the region and the nation in support of a vision for an excellent public education for all students.

Where we’re going

At Nellie Mae, our grantmaking strategy has always been rooted in a commitment to continuous learning and evaluation–elevating what we are seeing and hearing from grantees, community members, and partners to ensure our grantmaking strategy and investments are targeted to result in shifts in practice and policies that enable equitable learning environments. This will be a year for us to focus even more so on learning as we review and build the next phase of our strategy. As I previewed in my end of year note, through 2024 we will:

• prioritize support for people of color-led and youth-focused organizations to increase their impact and sustainability;
• partner with organizations in support of districts working to build bridges with community members and invest in evidence-based policies and strategies; and
• incentivize policy coalitions and grassroots/tops efforts to eliminate disparities and build will for the systems change we’re all working towards.

Based on what we learn through 2024, in 2025 we’ll focus on deepening the policy and practice change efforts that have shown the most impact in driving equitable education outcomes and justice. I look forward to sharing more on the next phase of our strategy then.

While the world around us will continue to evolve and change, with both new crises and new opportunities, our commitment to our collective vision for all youth to have access to excellent and equitable public education that prepares them to succeed and thrive in community will hold steady. We have the power to make this vision a reality by investing in the resources, infrastructure, and access to opportunities that ensure every young person receives a high-quality education that’s not limited by sociocultural factors. We know it’s a lofty goal, but together, we can transform our education and youth-serving system to make real the promise of our democracy.