Prek-12 Teachers Can Apply for up to $10,000 for Self-Designed Fellowships
HOUSTON – Fund for Teachers, one of the country’s largest investors in preK-12 teachers, today opens its 2025 grant cycle, inviting teachers with a minimum of three years classroom experience to design fellowships (anything/anywhere) that enrich their careers, support student success, and strengthen schools and communities.
The application is available at fundforteachers.org and is due by January 23, 2025.
Recipients will be notified in April.
Since 2001, Fund for Teachers has awarded more than $36 million to 10,000 teachers who pursue knowledge and skills in the United States and around the world (170 countries, to date).
“Teachers introduce skills, facilitate dialogues, and prepare students as informed citizens,” said Karen Eckhoff, Fund for Teachers’ executive director. “Funding their professional and personal development is a vital way to keep teachers in the classrooms and make classrooms engaging spaces for students.”
Last summer 365 teachers, or FFT Fellows, pursued unique, experiential fellowships using $1.6 million in grants. From this cohort, 67% teach at Title I schools where more than half of their students receive free or reduced lunch — an education-sector identifier of underserved student populations. Fund for Teachers also invests in teachers by awarding Innovation Circle Grants that fuel Fellows’ independent research during the summer, followed by virtual collaboration with other Fellows throughout the fall and classroom implementation in the spring.
Visit Fund for Teachers’ website, Facebook, or Instagram sites for more information about the grant opportunity and listen to teachers share the impact of their grants on the non-profit’s podcast.
Non-Profits Collaborate to Support Teachers’ Experiential Learning & Student Outcomes
HOUSTON —Fund for Teachers, one of the country’s largest investors in preK-12 educators, announced a grant from the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation to award fellowships focused on science and craft experiences for teachers working with underserved students or in rural school settings.
The Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation joins organizations including Dalio Education, the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation and the Ford Family Foundation that support the Fund for Teachers’ belief in educators’ ability to address student-specific learning gaps and positively affect families and school communities.
“The Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation is rooted in supporting innovative people working in field-based science, art and craft, teaching and protection of the natural world,” said foundation Executive Director Rachel Strader Chen. “The Foundation is particularly pleased to support Fund for Teachers’ work enabling individual educators to design their own fellowship experiences, which will help them feel appreciated, directly support their innovation and passion, and contribute to retention.”
“Conservation, the arts and STEM-related issues are among the most important of our time and the most pursued topics by our Fellows,” said Karen Eckhoff, Fund for Teachers executive director. “This infusion of funding provided by the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation will make an immediate impact on what, where and how teachers will inform students’ learning about these matters for years to come.”
This summer 365 teachers, or FFT Fellows, pursued unique, experiential fellowships using $1.6 million in grants. From this cohort, 67% teach at Title I schools where 52% of their students receive free or reduced lunch. Since 2001, Fund for Teachers has invested in public, private, and charter school teachers’ learning in 170 countries and on every continent. Consequently, approximately 10,000 teachers have earned $37 million, transforming grants into growth for teachers and their students. The new grant of $345,000 will allow even greater impact in summer 2025.
ABOUT FUND FOR TEACHERS
Fund for Teachers also invests in teachers by awarding Innovation Circle Grants that fuel Fellows’ independent research during the summer, followed by virtual collaboration with other Fellows throughout the fall followed by classroom implementation in the spring. Visit Fund for Teachers’ website, Facebook, or Instagram sites for more information about the grant opportunity and impact on teachers, students, and school communities.
ABOUT THE MAXWELL/HANRAHAN FOUNDATION
Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation powers people who explore and ask, teach and try, conserve and connect, create and captivate. Our funding supports individual scientists, teachers, conservationists and creators whose diverse perspectives enable us to discover new things about ourselves and our world. Learn more about our partners and work at www.Maxwell-Hanrahan.org.
FUND FOR TEACHERS NAMES JONAS ZUCKERMAN CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
National Advocate for Equitable Education Moves into New Leadership Role
May 24, 2024 (Houston) – Fund for Teachers, one of the country’s largest investors in preK-12 educators, has named Jonas Zuckerman as its new board chair. Having served as a Fund for Teachers board member since 2018, he will continue to contribute his experience and expertise, particularly in the realms of equity and public-school education, to guide the nonprofit into its next twenty-five years of supporting preK-12 teachers’ professional learning.
Zuckerman manages Zuckerman Education Consulting, LLC, which he founded to support the effective administration of federal education programs so that every student will be successful. This life-long commitment began as a Teach for America corp member at Golden Gate Elementary School in Oakland, CA. He became a trusted presence within the Oakland Unified School District as a teacher, athletic director, and new teacher coach, before joining the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and, eventually, directing its Title I and School Support Team.
Zuckerman also served as president of the National Association of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) State Program Administrators (NAESPA). In these positions, he supported ESEA programs, which include funding to raise the academic achievement of struggling learners and address the complex challenges that arise for students who live with disability, mobility problems, learning difficulties, poverty, or transience, or who need to learn English.
“I am very excited to continue my work with Fund for Teachers in this new role as board chair. I have always had tremendous respect and admiration for the organization, especially how it honors, respects, promotes, and supports the professionalism of teachers. Teacher retention is a significant issue right now, and I believe that FFT can help schools and districts retain some of their most effective teachers. I aam looking forward to working with the board and FFT staff to continue to fulfill our mission.”
“Sixty-seven percent of Fund for Teachers Fellows teach students in a Title I setting,” explained Karen Eckhoff, Fund for Teachers’ executive director. “Jonas’ deep knowledge of ESEA funding — combined with his passion for equitable education and institutional knowledge of our organization — uniquely position him to lead our work of investing in teachers and their students.”
Zuckerman replaces outgoing board chair Chris Santiago, who guided Fund for Teachers through the pandemic in this role after serving as a board member for the previous eight years. Santiago remains on the board as a director.
“The Fund for Teachers board is pleased and fortunate to have Jonas expand his leadership role and guide the organization through our next phase of recognizing, supporting, and providing opportunities for teachers across the country,” Santiago said.
The board of directors also saw the retirement of founding board member Dorothea “Dottie” Engler. Engler provided formative insight as Fund for Teachers moved from an idea to a granting institution, bringing her experience as Harvard University’s director of public affairs for Graduate School of Education, and later as Boston Plan for Excellence’s director of special projects. In recognition of Engler’s longstanding leadership, Fund for Teachers has established the Dottie Engler “Follow the Learning” annual fellowship.
Since 2001, Fund for Teachers has invested $37 million in nearly 10,000 preK-12 educators, transforming grants into growth for teachers and their students. Public, private and charter school teachers design unique fellowship grants to pursue learning during the summer.
Access the complete list of 2024 Fund for Teachers Fellows here.
365 prek-12 teachers will pursue learning around the world to impact student engagement and success.
APRIL 5, 2024 (Houston) – Fund for Teachers, one of the country’s largest investors in preK-12 educators, has announced its 2024 grant recipients who will embark on self-designed expeditions this summer using $1.6 million in grants.
These 365 teachers, FFT Fellows, submitted proposals specifically addressing issues affecting their students, classrooms and/or school communities. After a rigorous selection process, individual teachers will now receive up to $5,000 and teams of two or more up to $10,000 to pursue their plans. Since 2001, Fund for Teachers has invested $37 million in nearly 10,000 preK-12 educators, transforming grants into growth for teachers and their students.
Access the complete list of 2024 Fund for Teachers Fellows here.
Fund for Teachers grants support teachers as the primary learner in the classroom and trusts they know best what their students need to advance academically and emotionally. That’s why there is relatively no limitation on what a teacher can propose to learn, or where they propose to learn it. Over the past 24 years, FFT Fellows have pursued new knowledge, skills, and perspectives in 170 different countries on every continent.
“A curious teacher who recognizes students’ learning gaps, honors their lived experiences, and actively seeks innovative solutions will change the lives of those students and their families,” said Karen Eckhoff, Fund for Teachers’ executive director. Our Fellows are models of what can happen when teachers are respected professionals and valued as agents of change.”
Fund for Teachers also invests in teachers by awarding Innovation Circle Grants that fuel Fellows’ independent research during the summer, followed by virtual collaboration with other Fellows throughout the fall followed by classroom implementation in the spring.
Visit Fund for Teachers’ website, Facebook, or Instagram sites for more information about the grant opportunity and impact on teachers, students, and school communities.