Ciresi Walburn Foundation exceeds $2,000,000 in giving during 2020
14 nonprofit organizations and 6 schools chosen to receive funding for planned work in 2021 to reduce disparities, advance justice, improve academic achievement, and respond to the coronavirus crisis.
The Ciresi Walburn Foundation for Children today announced $1,276,000 in grants to 20 schools, advocacy organizations, and community-serving nonprofits as part of the Foundation’s Annual Grant Cycle.
“The combined challenges of a global pandemic, social unrest, and political turmoil make the work of these organizations more important than ever,” said Mike Ciresi, chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. “We are committed to supporting and investing in courageous leaders and impactful organizations, and we hope these investments will help spur new and innovative solutions and responses to the challenges facing the communities we serve.”
“We are committed to supporting and investing in courageous leaders and impactful organizations, and we hope these investments will help spur new and innovative solutions and responses to the challenges facing the communities we serve.”
The 20 grants announced today are in addition to more than $280,000 in grants given by the Foundation in July 2020 to six schools and organizations working to mitigate the impact of and help students catch up from learning loss due to the coronavirus crisis. The Foundation has also made grants this year of $445,000 to the Minnesota Private College Fund for the Ciresi Walburn Scholars program to support 31 African American men with financial aid, mentoring, and career experiences.
As part of the Foundation’s commitment to listening to affected communities and providing resources to meet their increased needs during these challenging times, total grantmaking by the Foundation in 2020 will exceed $2,000,000.
Reading Partners Twin Cities and Prodeo Academy, which were selected to receive grants as part of the Foundation’s 2020 Annual Grant Cycle, serve as two shining examples of organizations committed to achieving equity in education in spite of current and historical barriers:
Reading Partners Twin Cities uses a scientifically-backed approach to literacy tutoring to empower low-income elementary students to reach their full potential by ensuring they have the foundational reading skills necessary for academic, professional, and life success. In addition to providing students with valuable one-on-one reading time with highly-trained tutors, Reading Partners provides targeted, data-driven instruction to develop the specific literacy “building blocks” required to move towards reading proficiency.
Reading Partners Twin Cities received a $20,000 grant to provide high-quality literacy tutors to students most in need.
In order to continue providing their literacy tutoring to elementary school students during the COVID-19 pandemic, Reading Partners launched the Reading Partners Beyond program, which leverages technology to provide a blend of remote-based distance tutoring and a suite of family engagement resources, including family texting, family literacy resources, literacy skill videos, and virtual “read alouds.”
“Support from the Ciresi Walburn Foundation for Children will allow us to provide high-quality literacy tutors to students most in need,” said Executive Director Brooke Rivers. “We know that COVID-19 has caused a disruption in learning that will certainly exacerbate existing achievement gaps. This grant will ensure that we are able to respond to the urgent needs of students and families and keep students on track to master basic foundational reading skills.”
That being said, “the Reading Partners Beyond program is not simply an interim response to COVID-19,” Rivers continued, “it is a suite of long-term innovations that will allow us to expand our impact beyond our in-school reading centers, engage more directly with families, and expand summer reading programming to create the opportunity for students and communities with so much potential.”
Prodeo Academy received a grant of $75,000 to implement the school’s thorough and comprehensive plan to ensure their rigorous approach would continue even as most students are engaged in “distance learning” as a result of the pandemic.
Prodeo Academy is a college preparatory Pre-K through 7th grade public charter school serving students at two campuses in Columbia Heights and in the North End neighborhood of Saint Paul. The school, which offers data-driven and results-oriented academic instruction to low-income students of color, put together a thorough and comprehensive plan to ensure their rigorous approach would continue even as most students are engaged in “distance learning” as a result of the pandemic.
“These are uniquely hard times for our scholars,” said Co-Founder and Strategy CEO Rick Campion, “but we have not lowered our goals for student learning as a result of the challenges our students, families, and staff are facing. How we deliver instruction, engage students, and support families has all been reinvented, but our commitment remains unchanged: developing students to be critical thinkers and reflective leaders, expanding their opportunities, and closing academic achievement and opportunity gaps.”
“We know that students learning from home need significant guidance, structure, flexibility, and support in order to continue to learn and grow at high levels,” shared Co-Founder and school Development CEO Chancey Anderson. “During instructional blocks, students engage over Zoom and work independently while still connected to allow teachers to check in with them one-on-one. This amount of face-to-face time with teachers presents logistical challenges, but we know students grow and learn best with individualized, timely feedback from teachers and plenty of time to discuss as well as practice new concepts.”
Full list of 2020 Annual Grant Cycle grant recipients:
Nonprofit Organizations:
Breakthrough Twin Cities - $50,000
Close Gaps By 5 - $50,000
EdAllies - $125,000
Educators for Excellence (E4E) - $25,000
Great MN Schools - $35,000
Groves Academy - $40,000
Jewish Family and Children’s Services of Minneapolis (JFCS) - $50,000
MN Parent Union - $75,000
Montessori Center of Minnesota - $40,000
Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) - $100,000
People Serving People - $5,000
Reading Partners Twin Cities - $20,000
Summit Academy OIC - $100,000
Way to Grow - $125,000
Schools:
Ascension Catholic Academy - $100,000
Cristo Rey Jesuit High School - $75,000
Friendship Academy - $50,000
Global Academy - $86,000
Link Public Schools - $50,000
Prodeo Academy - $75,000