EdRedesign

Thrilled to kick off Day 2 of the Place-Based Education Institute at Harvard University with a powerful reminder of why this work matters.

Opening keynote speaker Christian Rhodes, Chief National Impact Officer at Harlem Children's Zone and By All Means Senior Fellow at EdRedesign, challenged participants to rethink the purpose of public education. Drawing on his personal experience and upbringing, his parents’ and grandparents’ deep belief in education as a pathway to economic mobility, Christian named a hard truth: we often talk about education as “the great equalizer,” but for too many children that remains a myth. Instead, he framed education as our most important engine of economic mobility. “You as educators are civic engineers,” he reminded us. “You are building the future you want for your communities.”

That theme continued in the “How to Fund Cradle-to-Career” session with Cecilia Gutierrez (Blue Meridian Partners) and Dreama Gentry (Partners for Rural Impact; EdRedesign By All Means Senior Fellow). Cecilia underscored the mismatch between the scale of our ambitions and the size of most grants—around $30,000—when we are trying to tackle big, complex, intergenerational challenges. Her early place-based work began with something as simple and tangible as a playground so kids had a safe place to play, while always holding a larger vision: every child going to college.
Both Cecilia and Dreama highlighted what it really takes to move communities from poverty to mobility: intentional partnerships with superintendents and local leaders, deep relationships, sustained conversations, and building trust with communities before the money arrives.

As Cecilia noted, Blue Meridian Partners aims to “find, fund, and scale” solutions that put kids on a path to social mobility—and to change the way philanthropy works by encouraging multi-billion dollar, long-term investments and unlocking the trillions of dollars in philanthropic capital, including donor-advised funds and foundation endowments, to fuel work.

At EdRedesign, we are leaving this session inspired and challenged:
to embrace our role as civic architects alongside educators and local leaders, to support communities to start small while advancing bold, comprehensive visions, and to push for funding and partnerships at the true scale of the work children and families deserve.


Harvard Graduate School of Education

We are excited to announce the release of "Building Evidence for an Emerging Field: A White Paper from the Data and Evaluation Working Group."

Developed by EdRedesign in collaboration with Partners for Rural Impact, Purpose Built Communities, StriveTogether, William Julius Wilson Institute at Harlem Children's Zone, and a national Place-Based Partnerships Data and Evaluation Working Group, this white paper reflects the collective expertise of leaders from more than 100 place-based initiatives in over 35 states.

partnerships have demonstrated powerful potential to improve economic and social mobility for children and families. Yet, key questions remain: How do we know whether these efforts are disrupting intergenerational poverty at scale? What data practices, policies, and infrastructure are needed to support this work?

"Building Evidence for an Emerging Field" responds to this need. It synthesizes what we know and outlines what the field must do next, offering strategic recommendations for researchers, national intermediaries, practitioners, backbone organizations, policymakers, and funders.

Together with our partners, we are committed to helping lead this effort—supporting the field in moving from promising practice to proven impact, and ensuring all children and families are on a path to economic and social mobility.

Read the paper: https://edredesign.org/resources/building-evidence-emerging-field-white-paper-place-based-partnerships-data-and-evaluation