If there is one lesson that we’ve learned over our 25 years it is that Baltimore’s children need – and deserve – our entire community’s support if we are to achieve educational excellence for all. One of the most important roles the Fund plays is as a trusted convener, bringing together local and national partners to share best practices and tackle key issues facing Baltimore’s students. We connect resources, partners and ideas to each other and to the City Schools, creating critical support for Baltimore’s educational needs. Over the years, we’ve incubated new non-profits as well as local offices of nationally respected reform organizations. All these efforts demonstrate the Fund’s unique ability to build, broker, and manage relationships that benefit Baltimore’s students.

• Committee Representation. This year, the Fund played a leadership role in more than ten critical community and/or City Schools committees supporting a wide range of education needs including curriculum development, drop-out prevention, community schools, college access and college readiness, and safe and supportive school environments.

• Incubation and Support. The Fund provides both start-up and operational support to a variety of local organizations, including this year:

• Baltimore Education Network (BEN). Recognizing the importance of BEN’s Presidents’ Roundtable and family mobilization efforts to the City Schools’ Community Support Initiative, the Fund stepped in this year to donate space and operational expertise to ensure the continuation of these programs. With the Fund’s help, this work has now been transitioned to a new home at CivicWorks.

• Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC). The Fund is a founding partner and plays a key role in disseminating results and information about BERC’s research activities and findings. Over this past year, the Fund provided project management, strategic planning, and fiscal agent support for BERC’s efforts, helping it launch its inaugural public meeting and introduce a three-year research agenda.

• Fiscal and Technical Expertise. The Fund remains one of Baltimore’s most trusted and experienced education intermediaries. We provide fiscal, operational and project management support for such key City Schools’ initiatives as secondary transformation, fair student funding, accelerator schools and drop-out prevention. We also provide support to community-based organizations addressing the same issues.