- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Joyce Foundation
- Open Society Foundations
- Kellogg Foundation
- Kresge Foundation
- University of Phoenix Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In the United States, it seeks to significantly improve education so that all young people have the opportunity to reach their full potential. The United States Program works to significantly increase the number of young people who complete their postsecondary education—supporting millions of Americans who have the will to get an education with the way to obtain one. The foundation's ambitious goal is to help the nation double the number of low-income adults who earn postsecondary degrees or credentials with value in the workplace and labor market.
The similarly ambitious goals of the Accelerating Opportunity initiative will bring the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation closer to its goals. The foundation believes that focusing on the attainment of postsecondary credentials is one of the best ways to break the intergenerational transfer of poverty and improve the nation’s economy. There are millions of adults in this country who have at least one educational barrier, and low-income, nontraditional adult learners have often been overlooked in policy and reform agendas. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation believes that focusing on this population is essential to meeting its goal of doubling the numbers, and is investing significant resources in this transformative initiative so that states, community colleges and Adult Education programs can systematically address this national need. In particular, the foundation wants to invest in states willing to focus efforts on policy and seriously tackle redesign efforts that will ultimately impact public investment and credential attainment for adult learners across the state's entire postsecondary education system. For more information, visit www.gatesfoundation.org
The Joyce Foundation supports efforts to protect the natural environment of the Great Lakes, to reduce poverty and violence in the region, and to ensure that its people have access to good schools, decent jobs, and a diverse and thriving culture. We are especially interested in improving public policies, because public systems such as education and welfare directly affect the lives of so many people, and because public policies help shape private sector decisions about jobs, the environment, and the health of our communities. To ensure that public policies truly reflect public rather than private interests, we support efforts to reform the system of financing election campaigns. Learn more at www.joycefdn.org.
The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve this mission, the Foundations seek to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, the Open Society Foundations implement a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, we build alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. The Foundations place a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of people in marginalized communities. For more information visit www.soros.org.
Established in 1930, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, southern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Kresge Foundation is a $3.1 billion private, national foundation that seeks to influence the quality of life for future generations through its support of nonprofit organizations in six fields: health, the environment, arts and culture, education, human services, and community development. Fostering greater access to and success in postsecondary education for low-income, minority and first-generation college students is the focus of Kresge’s Education grantmaking. In 2010, Kresge awarded more than $23 million in grants to support higher education in the United States and South Africa, with more than one-third benefiting U.S. community colleges. For more information, please visit www.kresge.org.
Inspired by 30 years of witnessing the life changing power of education, Dr. John Sperling, Chairman of the Apollo Group, Inc. and University of Phoenix established the University of Phoenix Foundation in November 2006. The Foundation’s mission is to increase access to education in critical areas, especially for underrepresented and low-income students traditionally under-served by the education continuum, in an effort to provide a pathway for economic advancement. To learn more, visit http://www.apollogrp.edu/corporate-responsibility/philanthropy/universit...