GreenLight Fund
With the support of over 25 local and national funders, GreenLight Fund will launch GreenLight Baltimore as the 10th city in its growing network. Over the next five years, GreenLight Fund Baltimore will bring 3-4 social innovation non-profits into the city with the potential to fill gaps in Baltimore’s social service landscape and make a significant, measurable impact on the lives of low-income residents. GreenLight embeds itself in the local community, engages local partners to identify critical gaps, researches proven nonprofit programs, and then launches and manages selected programs to achieve impact in the Baltimore region.
Teach for America – Baltimore
Teach for America: Baltimore has been recruiting and developing teachers and leaders to expand educational opportunities for Baltimore’s children growing up in poverty since 1992. Today, there are 1,200 Teach for America alumni and teachers in Baltimore–80% continue to engage in work impacting low-income communities.This grant will continue TFA’s work in 1. recruiting top talent ( 95 new and diverse teachers–over 50% people of color); 2. building leaders in the classroom, schools and City (a total of 20 TFA principals and 3rd year teacher retention rate of 66%) and 3. Connecting TFA network to accelerate educational outcomes in Baltimore (the 2nd year of a new network strategy engaging alumni in collection impact).
TNTP, Inc.
TNTP has recruited, prepared and placed an average of 110 non-traditional teachers annually in Baltimore City Public Schools since 1997. Their efforts, both policy and programmatic, to increase the number of high quality teachers of color entering Baltimore City and Maryland public schools have resulted in a pool that is 50% black and 60% people of color. TNTP will continue its policy work at the State level to successfully adopt new Teacher License regulations that will remove certification barriers and advocate for a legislative grant program that will remove financial barriers for teachers of color.
The Maryland Book Bank, Inc.
With a goal to distribute 550,000 books in 2020, the Maryland Book Bank bridges the literacy gap through increased access to quality age-appropriate books in homes, school classrooms, and community program settings. Operating out of the new Baltimore Warehouse Collaborative in Clipper Mill, The Book Bank distributes new and donated books through two Bookmobiles, a Home Library program in 27 City schools, and open warehouse hours for families and educators. Its social enterprise that sells donated adult books of value and trains warehouse employees generates $80,000 of revenue annually.
ACLU Foundation of Maryland, Inc.
In spring 2020, the Maryland Legislature will tackle the aggressive “Blueprint” educational policy and school funding formula recommendations from The Kirwan Commission. This session promises to be a once in a generation opportunity to reapply an equitable statewide educational funding formula, particularly for those children living in concentrated poverty. The ACLU has been critical to maintaining educational funding over the last three decades, and will use its core strategies of advocating to policy-makers and school systems, informing and engaging parents, students and community groups, and for the first time in over a decade, litigating. The goals are to pass a new state funding formula with additional dollars for schools with high concentrated poverty, and to pass the $2.2 billion bill for School Construction.