Attendance Works
The Smarter Learning Group is in the process of developing a three-year strategic plan for Attendance Works and its national campaign to cut chronic absence in half nationwide over the next five years.
Bezos Family Foundation
The Smarter Learning Group began working with the Bezos Family Foundation in 2020 to explore potential next steps in its investments in early learning. The Smarter Learning Group collaborated with IDEO.org to facilitate a process that engaged diverse local leaders and national partners in designing an Early Learning Nation Collective.
Campaign For Grade Level Reading
Our firm has worked with the Campaign for Grade Level Reading since 2011. We have focused on creating and supporting a network of 300+ CGLR communities across the country that are taking action to improve early school success and grade-level reading. We work with communities interested in developing Community Solutions Action Plans (CSAPs) and joining the Campaign. We also facilitate peer learning between and among state and community leaders interested in making more progress, more quickly by adapting and replicating what’s working in communities across the country.
Click2Science
Through a partnership with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s 4-H program, the Smarter Learning Group developed the first business plan for the Click2Science professional development platform for afterschool STEM educators. Click2Science increases access and broadens participation in STEM among underrepresented minorities, low-income, and rural students. We also supported the development and implementation of a user-centered design process for Nebraska 4-H’s launch of the Click2ComputerScience and Click2Engineering websites.
The Danville Regional Foundation
We are working with the Danville Regional Foundation and leaders in the region to facilitate the design and development of an Out-of-School Time (OST) Learning Lab. A diverse group of 15 leaders will make up the inaugural OST Learning Lab cohort and will work together to strengthen alignment, partnerships, and impact among afterschool and summer learning programs across the Dan River Region.
The Dunham Foundation
The Smarter Learning Group began advising the Dunham Foundation in 2021. Our work has included conducting a community needs assessment to help inform the development of the Foundation’s grantmaking strategy in education. We are currently exploring how to strengthen the educator pipeline and support the city’s Education Commission in launching a campaign focused on early school success.
JF Maddox Foundation
Since 2015, the JF Maddox Foundation and Smarter Learning Group have been close partners in focusing on improving early reading outcomes in Hobbs, New Mexico. We worked together to launch and implement the HELP (Hobbs Early Literacy Pilot) initiative at Taylor Elementary School which resulted in improved reading instruction across the district and measurable progress on literacy performance prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The firm is currently facilitating a community-wide planning process that will result in Hobbs becoming a member of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading and committing to 10-year goal of moving from 32% to 80% of kids in Hobbs reading on grade level by the end of 3rd grade based on the state’s standardized assessment.
National 4-H Council
Since 2019, the Smarter Learning Group has collaborated with the National 4-H Council to design and convene an annual four-day True Leaders in Equity Institute (TLEI) in Washington, DC. TLEI equips high school youth and adult mentors from 4-H programs across the country to work as change agents for equity in their local communities. Each year, the firm facilitates the planning and implementation of the Institute’s agenda, coordinates speakers and workshop sessions, and engages in comprehensive follow-up with TLEI participants.
Nebraska Children and Families Foundation
The Nebraska Children and Families Foundation engaged the Smarter Learning Group first to facilitate the development of a five-year sustainability plan in 2022. We are now supporting the implementation of that plan and serving as an advisor for the leadership of the organization as they work to create positive change and opportunities for children across Nebraska.
The Riley Institute
Since 2011, the Smarter Learning Group has served as the lead facilitator of the White-Riley-Person (WRP) Fellowship program for the Riley Institute at Furman University. Each year, we collaborate to design a 10-month fellowship experience for at least 15 afterschool and summer learning leaders across the country who are committed to improving policy and funding for their programs at the state level. Since its inception, we have supported more than 165 fellows in all 50 states, which is supported by the C.S. Mott Foundation. Based on the success of that effort, the Smarter Learning Group worked with the Riley Institute and the South Carolina Department of Education in 2022 to launch the SCALE Fellowship program (South Carolina Afterschool Leaders Empowered) specifically for South Carolina leaders in afterschool education.
United Way of Greater Newark
The Smarter Learning Group is currently providing design and facilitation services focused on creating an early literacy tutoring pilot program in Orange, New Jersey.
Unite for Literacy
The Smarter Learning Group recently began work with Unite for Literacy. We are providing strategic advisory services to help accelerate their efforts to ensure more children have access to an abundance of books that celebrate their languages and cultures and cultivate a lifelong love of reading.
Waterford
The Smarter Learning Group is serving as a strategic advisor to the organization and helping them establish an active, diverse, and engaged 20-member advisory task force to guide their work in 16 states over the next five years.
John and Janice Wyatt Foundation
The Smarter Learning Group worked with the Foundation and community leaders to develop multi-year action plans and launch Campaigns for Grade-Level Reading in both Dorchester County, MD and Winchester, VA in early 2022. The firm continues to serve as an implementation advisor for both communities.
