Three Ideas that Drive the New Approach to Foundation Work

This from Jeff Rakes at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation:

“I think a lot about the ‘three-legged stool,’

the idea that philanthropy, government, and business

have to work together to create effective social change.”

--- Jeff Rakes, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

For the last several months,Rakes led a group of 12 foundations that are working with each other—and with the U.S. Department of Education—in new ways to drive innovation in education.

Foundation Grants Support Public Grants

Last year, the Department of Education committed $650 million to its Investing in Innovation, or i3, Fund. At the end of April, the 12 foundations announced that they’d be adding $500 million, bringing the total up to more than $1 billion.

A Blueprint for Education Reform

Sharing information and putting out a blueprint for education reform allows foundations to see what each foundation or government entity is doing and where we may be under-investing. For example, it was discovered that very little was going into innovation in education for rural areas. So the Kellogg and Walton Family foundations decided to take that on. It creates a more efficient deployment of resources.

Technology in Support of Cooperation

The use of technology has created one of the most important developments in foundation work. The common application developed for i3 grants is shared with foundations. i3 applicants apply on line so that the department and each foundation can see where innovation occurs. That allows foundations to see what the great ideas are that they might invest in matching ideas to foundational goals.

Rakes says, “I'm really excited about this collaboration for two reasons. First, I am confident it will be an important part of an aggressive push to improve student achievement in this country. Second, I think this new model of collaboration—both between philanthropy and government and among philanthropies—can help us make progress on other pressing issues.”

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