Children Are Successful Along
the Education Pipeline

kindergartenkid

As part of an overall framework for our grantmaking, our advocacy and our leadership, the Community Foundation is focusing on four key Results, including this one:  Children are successful along the education pipeline.

Here’s why:
The reports from experts echo our own experience: How far we get in school is a major predictor of health status, economic security and overall well-being.

That’s why the situation in our state is so serious, with a dangerously high dropout rate listed by the Southern Education Foundation as Alabama’s number one economic issue.  While we have attracted and expanded major industries, Alabama still trails the nation in education attainment, which threatens our economic competitiveness.

The Community Foundation recognizes the urgent need for policies, priorities and programs that can be effective in improving the Birmingham region’s education system. We’ve already seen examples where community engagement has been successful in setting the stage for education improvement, often by influencing policy, leadership and the distribution of resources, such as our Yes We Can! Birmingham grassroots initiative in 2007, which led to the creation of the Birmingham Education Foundation.

Here’s how:
Starting in 2011, we began to focus on making grants to support two strategies. Follow the link for each strategy to learn more about our investments in this Result.

To learn more about specific strategies and grants:

Want to join us?

  • For more information about how your nonprofit organization can partner with the Community Foundation, contact James McCrary.
  • If you want to make a gift to drive positive change in this result, contact Erin Stephenson or use our secure on-line donation process.
  • If you are already a Community Foundation donor and wish to use your Advised Fund as part of our Giving Together program, contact Kathryn Corey.