Holding the Line: Philanthropy’s Role in Protecting Education’s Core
- Dr. Renée T. Willis, Martha Holden Jennings Foundation
As the Executive Director of the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, I look forward to joining colleagues and thought partners to discuss a pressing question for all of us who fund education: How do we ensure that true academic growth remains the end game of our philanthropic investments? After all, education is the great equalizer.
The Instructional Core: Where Learning Happens
Harvard’s Dr. Richard Elmore reminds us that real improvement in student learning happens through the Instructional Core—the relationship among content, teacher skill, and student engagement. To move the needle for students, any change in one element requires changes in the other two. Raising expectations without equipping teachers, or introducing new technology without engaging students, simply won’t produce lasting growth. As funders, this principle challenges us to ask:
Does this grant raise the level of academic content students are taught?
Does it build teachers’ knowledge and skill to deliver that content?
Does it increase student engagement and ownership of their learning?
If we cannot answer “yes” across all three dimensions, the initiative is unlikely to have sustained impact.
21st Century Competencies: Beyond Test Scores
Equally important is preparing students with the skills they need to thrive in college, careers, and life. These 21st century competencies include:
Creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration (the “4 Cs”)
Digital and media literacy to navigate today’s information-rich world
Life and career skills such as adaptability, initiative, and leadership
Funding programs that cultivate these competencies ensures that our students are not just performing on today’s assessments but are equipped for tomorrow’s challenges. Philanthropy has the responsibility to invest in both academic rigor and the transferable skills that fuel lifelong success.
Avoiding “Feel-Good” Programs
In philanthropy, it is easy to be drawn to programs that look good on the surface—those that generate excitement, photos, or anecdotes. But we must be disciplined enough to ask: Does this strengthen the Instructional Core? Our responsibility is not to fund what feels good, but to support what works. That means aligning our grants with evidence-based teaching and learning, prioritizing equity, and insisting on innovation that actually leads to measurable student growth.
Philanthropy in Action
I have seen the difference when funders embrace this approach. When professional development is tightly linked to classroom practice, when students are challenged to think critically and collaborate, when teachers are supported in mastering new content, the results are transformative. Students not only learn more—they learn better. This is the kind of impact that philanthropy must strive for: not short-term activity, but long-term capacity-building that empowers teachers and accelerates student learning.
A Call to Action
As I prepare to share at Philanthropy Forward ’25, my message is simple: philanthropy’s role is not charity—it is responsibility.
In these volatile times, we must protect the heart of education. That means holding the line—ensuring our funding choices elevate the instructional core, foster 21st Century Competencies, and ultimately deliver on the promise that education is the great equalizer. I invite you to join me in this commitment. Together, we can ensure that every grant, every partnership, and every initiative we support is a step toward deeper learning, stronger teaching, and brighter futures for all Ohio students.