2024-11-04T21:52:18-06:00 2023-12-31 SMITH & HOWARD ADVISORY LLC 271 17TH STREET NW SUITE 2100 ATLANTA GA 30363 990 2023-01-01 135562388 SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC % LEIGHTON O'SULLIVAN SOUT 4045230001 101 MARIETTA ST NW 1650 ATLANTA GA 30303 Leighton O'Sullivan CFO 4045230001 2024-11-15 true true SABRE J LINAHAN P01372980 4048746244 2024-11-15 2023 2024-10-15 13:58:12Z Raymond Pierce 101 MARIETTA ST NW SUITE 1650 ATLANTA GA 30303 7029677 false X www.southerneducation.org X 1867 GA TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR DISADVANTAGED RESIDENTS IN THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES BY PROMOTING EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION. 9 9 27 9 0 7556460 5060131 0 248053 1226149 1052802 78655 96140 8861264 6457126 150000 50000 0 0 2043049 2759970 0 0 232413 2074461 3724295 4267510 6534265 4593754 -77139 30404725 34001067 1182294 1327709 29222431 32673358 X THE SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION'S MISSION IS TO ADVANCE EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION FOR ALL STUDENTS IN THE SOUTH, PARTICULARLY LOW-INCOME STUDENTS AND STUDENTS OF COLOR. SEF USES COLLABORATION, ADVOCACY, AND RESEARCH TO IMPROVE OUTCOMES FROM EARLY CHILDHOOD TO ADULTHOOD. OUR CORE BELIEF IS THAT EDUCATION IS THE VEHICLE BY WHICH ALL STUDENTS GET FAIR CHANCES TO DEVELOP THEIR TALENTS AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE COMMON GOOD. SEF STRIVES TO FULFILL ITS MISSION THROUGH THE FOLLOWING CORE PROGRAM AREAS: EXPANDING EARLY LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES, ADVANCING PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMPROVING COLLEGE ACCESS AND COMPLETION. SEF EXECUTES FIVE PRIMARY STRATEGIES ACROSS OUR PROGRAMS: LEVERAGING KNOWLEDGE OF THE FIELD: BY ESTABLISHING AND OPERATING TASK FORCES, WORK GROUPS, AND LEARNING COMMUNITIES TO ORGANIZE KNOWLEDGE AND ADVANCE NEW SOLUTIONS TO LONG STANDING PROBLEMS; PUTTING GOOD IDEAS TO A FAIR TEST: PROMOTING, CONDUCTING, AND USING DEMONSTRATIONS, PILOTS, AND EVALUATIONS TO SHAPE POLICY AND PRAC false false 5130345 50000 248053 For a summary of our strategies, activities and accomplishments in 2023 follows for each program area, please see continuation on Schedule O. 5130345 true true false true false false false false false true true true false false true true true false false false true false false false false false false true false true false false false false false false false false true false false false false false false false false true 91 0 true 27 true false false false false false false false false false false false false X 9 9 false false false false false false false true true false false true true true true true true true true false GA NY X LEIGHTON O'SULLIVAN 4045230001 101 MARIETTA ST NW STE 1650 ATLANTA GA 30303 X Raymond Pierce President 40.0 0.0 X 353661 0 55771 Kenita Williams Chief Operating Officer 40.0 0.0 X 243996 0 38271 Leighton O'Sullivan Chief Financial Officer 40.0 0.0 X 199996 0 35271 Fred Jones Jr Senior Director of Public Poli 40.0 0.0 X 161955 0 31341 Max Altman Director of Research and Polic 40.0 0.0 X 136956 0 26571 Harry Chiu LW Huntley Social Justice Fell 40.0 0.0 X 124996 0 12865 Alan Richard Communications, Director 40.0 0.0 X 118584 0 12305 Dr Michael Nettles Chairman 2.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 Dr Hakim Lucas Trustee 2.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 Kenneth Jones II Secretary 2.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 Judith Leonard Trustee 2.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 Larry Berger Trustee 2.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 Ajay Mehrotra Trustee 2.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 Michele Warman Trustee 2.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 Charlotte Morris Trustee 2.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 Careshia Moore Trustee 2.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 1340144 0 212395 7 false true false Brittany Miller 15638 Baker Avenue LAKEWOOD CO 80228 Consultant 221360 Center for Black Educator Developme 7901 Hidden Lane ELKINS PARK PA 19027 Consultant 158400 Sarah C Glover dba Glover Consulti 516 Black Avenue CHATTANOOGA TN 37405 Consultant 147593 TDC Centennial LLC 5310 S Avenue Ste 210 DURHAM NC 27713 Consultant 160172 Westat Inc PO Box 962001 BOSTON MA 02196 Consultant 608725 6 1377468 3682663 1442741 5060131 ISSUES FORUM 900099 248053 248053 248053 694171 694171 0 0 0 0 0 931182 572551 358631 358631 358631 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 OTHER INCOME 900099 96140 96140 96140 6457126 248053 1148942 50000 50000 0 0 0 930302 744242 111636 74424 0 1429259 1143407 171511 114341 206016 164813 24722 16481 29851 23881 3582 2388 164542 131634 19745 13163 1875988 1580055 287533 8400 90631 62530 28101 35210 35210 0 0 115570 115570 66500 66500 84402 43331 41071 151903 79163 71723 1017 55434 34299 21135 0 726216 653594 72622 0 0 380766 253402 127364 0 0 68824 68824 9662 9662 DUES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS 40512 16830 21483 2199 HONORARIA 17340 13840 3500 TAXES & LICENSES 5337 5337 6534265 5130345 1171507 232413 X 0 0 169925 65290 1278450 1298662 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 560955 387584 159933 173371 28159369 29483978 0 2440294 0 0 0 0 637048 539472 30404725 34001067 280085 730928 0 0 200000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 702209 596781 1182294 1327709 X 16517736 17934968 12704695 14738390 29222431 32673358 30404725 34001067 -77139 3528066 X false true X true false X 724240 1389634 3988850 1556460 5060131 12719315 0 0 724240 1389634 3988850 1556460 5060131 12719315 4019368 8699947 540226 426957 564377 768331 694171 2994062 0 24668 11311 28818 78655 96140 239592 15952969 248053 0.54535 0.52386 X Part II, Line 1 The organization received a one-time, unexpected grant during the 2022 year of $6,000,000. It has not been reported in the 2022 column for grants received during the year as it was deemed to meet the definition of an unusual grant. 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PART X, Line 2 The Foundation is recognized as an organization exempt from federal income tax under Section 501 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code as an organization described in Section 501 (c)(3). The Foundation annually evaluates all federal and state income tax positions. This process includes an analysis of whether these income tax positions the Foundation takes meet the definition of an uncertain tax position under the Income Taxes Topic of the Financial Accounting Standards Codification. In the normal course of business, the Foundation is subject to examination by federal and state taxing authorities. The Foundation believes it is no longer subject to tax examinations for tax years ending before December 31, 2020. Central America and the Caribbean Investments 440294 440294 440294 false false false true true false true Fulton County Schools 6201 Powers Ferry Road NW Atlanta GA 30339 586000246 50000 Book Support 1 PROCEDURES FOR MONITORING THE USE OF GRANT FUNDS The organization selects recipients based on need and requests an annual report detailing the outcome of the project funded and an accounting for the monies received. X X X X X false false false false false false false true false Raymond Pierce President 310661 25000 18000 49000 7921 410582 Kenita Williams Chief Operating Officer 234496 9500 0 31500 7921 283417 Leighton O'Sullivan Chief Financial Officer 190496 9500 0 28500 7809 236305 Fred Jones Jr Senior Director of Public Poli 154812 7143 0 24570 7870 194395 Max Altman Director of Research and Polic 131996 4960 0 19800 7670 164426 PART I, LINE 7 BONUSES WERE BASED ON PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS. PART II COLUMN (B)(III) AUTOMOBILE EXPENSE X 1 1442741 FMV false true true Part I, Column B - Items Contributed: COLUMN B REPORTS NUMBER OF ITEMS RECEIVED. Part I, Line 32 B The Organization uses their investment broker to sell donated stock. PART III, LINE 4A (1) CONTINUED FROM FORM 990, The Southern Education Foundation Inc. mission is to advance equity and excellence in education for all students in the South, particularly low-income students and students of color. SEF uses collaboration, advocacy, and research to improve outcomes from early childhood to adulthood. Our core belief is that education is the vehicle by which all students get fair chances to develop their talents and contribute to the common good. SEF strives to fulfill its mission through the following core program areas: expanding early learning opportunities, advancing public education and improving college access and completion. SEF executes five primary strategies across our programs: -Leveraging knowledge of the field: by establishing and operating task forces, work groups, and learning communities to organize knowledge and advance new solutions to long standing problems; -Putting good ideas to a fair test: promoting, conducting, using pilots and evaluations to shape policy and practice; -Mobilizing the public: through direct engagement to educate and organize, providing research, tools, and in some cases capital assistance to organizations for advancing public education through policy and practice reforms that improve learning opportunities for vulnerable children and youth; -Leadership Development: advancing the will, skill, and capacity of change agents focused on equity in education in the South through fellowships from undergraduates to C-suite professionals; -Communications as a change strategy: conducting and commissioning research and messaging campaigns to support progressive public policy and practice reforms in education, from early learning through higher education. A summary of our strategies, activities and accomplishments follows for each program area. Advancing Public Education: Public education for all students has long been a cornerstone of democracy in the United States, and the American South has been the center of the battle to achieve this goal. A perennial threat is the disinvestment in our public schools and increasing efforts to divert public tax-payer funds to private schools where they can legally deny students and families access due to student disability status or religious affiliation. SEF pushes back against the development of state-sponsored school vouchers to privatize education and advocates to strengthen and advance a well-funded, safe, supportive, and diverse public education system. Our Strategy: -Informing and supporting public education campaigns across the South to help engage, connect, and align diverse coalitions within and across states to employ multi-strategy approaches to advance public education; -Regionalizing efforts through policy research and communications efforts to help marshal evidence about what works in the region and strengthen the public education narrative; and -Ensuring classrooms do not censor traditional and historically relevant content related to Black history. In 2023, SEF used a number of initiatives to implement this strategy; support for advocacy campaigns, communications, policy research, and data sharing across the country and across the South. SEF redefined principles and positions considered to be critical to improving K-12 public education. Most of this work was done by working closely throughout the year with both national and regional partners and policymakers interested in education justice in the American South. SEF has joined over a hundred partner organizations in collaborative efforts to address Pre-K through 12 and higher education issues in communities in the South. Our vision for education equity focuses on meaningful learning, professional development, adequate resources, and connected communities. Southern Education Leadership Initiative Embedded across the three programs' strategy, is SEF's leadership development initiative, the Southern Education Leadership Initiative (SELI). SELI was launched in 2004 to honor the 50-year anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. Twenty years later we recognize the 70-year anniversary of the landmark case and celebrate the 20 years SELI has been developing emerging leaders in education. For two decades, SELI has provided intensive trainings and paid summer fellowships to a diverse and inspired group of nearly 300 college and graduate level students interested in working to make systemic changes in education policy and practice. Fellowship Overview The Southern Education Leadership Initiative (SELI) is an intensive, eight-week, paid summer fellowship for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students interested in advancing racial equity and improving education across the pre-kindergarten to college continuum. It is a continuation of SEF's legacy of educating leaders in the South, which spans more than a century. Our initiative recognized that there is still important work to be done to ensure that all children, irrespective of race or class, receive an excellent education. Placed in nonprofits, school districts, higher education institutions, or state education agencies in the South, SELI fellows spend the summer developing as leaders, engaging with valuable stakeholders, and acquiring practical job skills through direct learning experiences. Over SELI's tenure, nearly 300 talented and diverse young leaders have conducted important research, policy analysis, advocacy, and organizing efforts for over 110 partner organizations. SELI alum can be found today working as educators, policymakers, researchers, community organizers, and committed civic leaders dedicated to improving the life chances of all children. The fellowship is delivered via three key activities: Orientation Training, Placement, and the Closing Meeting. The Orientation Training takes place in May each summer and exposes students to research and data around racial and socio-economic disparities in education, stresses the importance of education equity, offers site visits to see top issues in education firsthand, and provides opportunities to learn from inspiring leaders. Students depart from Orientation to their placement sites, where they work for eight weeks on projects to advance the capacity of their host sites, while developing their own leadership potential in the educational equity field. The Closing Meeting, held every July, presents an opportunity for fellows to share lessons learned, reflect, and brainstorm on how to continue making change as part of a network of emerging leaders in the sector. PART III, LINE 4A (1) CONT. Racial Equity Leadership Network In districts all over the United States, race and class remain among the most reliable predictors of student success in school. Currently, in southern states, more than half of all the students enrolled in public school are from low-income families, with a growing number of families living in extreme poverty. The majority of public school students in the South are also children of color, rapidly changing the demographics of large and small districts. The increasing diversity and inequities students and families confront creates an imperative for us to reimagine how we create a system that increases access and opportunity for all children to learn, develop, and thrive. We think the system we need now requires a bold and significant shift in educational leadership and practice. Leaders in every corner of our nation are being called to think, engage and act differently in the face of the complex challenges they navigate. Strengthening the will, skill and capacity of district leaders and their teams is an important lever for advancing authentic and enduring equity-centered system change. Funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies, the Southern Education Foundation, Inc. is answering this call by hosting the Racial Equity Leadership Network (RELN) to advance the capacity of district leaders committed to enduring equity-centered systems change as a solution to addressing racial, economic and academic disparities in districts across the South. Fellowship Overview and Theory of Change The Racial Equity Leadership Network is an 18-month, cohort-style fellowship program for school district leaders who are committed to addressing persistent disparities in their systems and ensuring that race and class are no longer the most reliable predictors of student success. Each RELN cohort is comprised of up to twelve (12) executive leaders (i.e., Superintendents, Deputy Superintendents, Chief Academic Officers, etc.) from school systems across the South. Over the course of their fellowship experience, RELN fellows attend five (5) two-and-a-half-day network convening's focused on the essential levers for equity-centered leadership and system transformation. In between network convening's, the fellows also receive customized coaching and webinars to support the identification of a context-specific equity challenge. Finally, fellows receive grant support and other technical assistance to implement an action plan addressing their unique equity challenge during a six-month in-district work period. The RELN leadership development model follows a double helix approach incorporating two distinct, but intrinsically linked, strands of learning, engaging, and testing over the course of the 18-month fellowship. Fellows sharpen their individual racial equity lens and receive tools to enhance their capacity for influencing education policy and practice. Because this individual development is insufficient to create sustainable change within systems, fellows simultaneously identify specific policy or practice challenges to address within their districts, receive resources for engaging with others, and observe model districts making progress towards racial equity. Fellowship Outcomes As members of the Racial Equity Leadership Network, fellows (ideally) will: 1)Deepen awareness and understanding of the historical and contextual drivers of racial inequity in schools and make connections to present-day education policies and practices that perpetuate racial disparities in student opportunity and outcomes. 2)Challenge to examine their own attitude, beliefs, and assumptions about students' ability to learn, regardless of background. 3)Establish clear steps for an explicit racial equity vision for their systems and establishing racial equity as a fundamental value that is clearly articulated and championed by all school community members, who work collaboratively to advance sustainable, equitable opportunities and outcomes for students. 4)Strengthen their ability to diagnose, and ultimately create solutions to address, the inequities that they witness in their system. 5)Gain a peer network and professional learning community of equity-oriented district leaders throughout the South. PART VI, LINE 11A In accordance with IRS requirements, the 990 was provided to each Board member prior to filing. PART VI, LINE 12C Annually, each Trustee and SEF staff member execute a disclosure form identifying any relationships, positions or circumstances in which he/she is involved that could contribute to a real or perceived conflict of interest. Any information regarding business interest of a Trustee is treated as confidential and is generally made available to the Chair, the President, and any committee appointed to address conflicts of interest, except to the extent additional disclosure is necessary in connection with the implementation of this policy. Trustees do not vote on any matter in which they believe there is duality of interest and may, if asked, be called upon to share with fellow Trustees such information related to the duality of interest as may be necessary and appropriate. The minutes of Board meetings will show that the Trustee having a duality of interest disclosed same and abstained from voting on related matters. A copy of this policy is furnished to each person who is or becomes a member of the Board of Trustees or staff. Each such person is required to review a copy of this policy and acknowledge in writing that he or she has done so. PART VI, LINE 15 IN ORDER TO DETERMINE STAFF COMPENSATION LEVELS FOR ITS SMALL STAFF AND CONSERVATIVE MODEST RESOURCES, SEF CONSULTS SOURCES SUCH AS THE ANNUALLY COMPENSATION SURVEY PUBLISHED BY THE COUNCIL ON FOUNDATIONS, REPORTS IN THE CHRONICLE OF PHILANTHROPY, AND THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, RATHER THAN HIRING INDEPENDENT CONSULTANTS TO CONDUCT DETAILED COMPENSATION SURVEYS AND AUDITS. SEF BOARD MEMBERS AND STAFF, AS APPROPRIATE, ALSO CONSULT WITH PEER ORGANIZATIONS TO ASCERTAIN APPROPRIATE COMPENSATION RANGES FOR STAFF. MANY SEF BOARD MEMBERS SERVE, AS WELL, ON OTHER NON -PROFIT ORGANIZATIONAL BOARDS AND BRING THAT KNOWLEDGE AND PERSPECTIVE TO BEAR IN SETTING COMPENSATION FOR SEF STAFF. SEF'S FINANCE, AUDIT AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE REVIEWS COMPENSATION AS PART OF THE ANNUAL BUDGET-SETTING CYCLE AND DETERMINES COMPENSATION OF THE PRESIDENT BASED UPON AN ANNUAL APPRAISAL OF PERFORMANCE. THAT APPRAISAL CONSIDERS ALL ASPECTS OF THE PRESIDENT'S WORK INCLUDING FUNDRAISING, MANAGEMENT, PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION, GOVERNANCE AND COMMUNICATIONS. SEF'S PRESIDENT APPRAISES THE PERFORMANCE OF OTHER SUBORDINATE SEF STAFF ANNUALLY. ALL SEF STAFF ARE PART OF A MERIT PAY PROGRAM IN WHICH THERE ARE NO AUTOMATIC OR COST OF LIVING INCREASES. PART VI, LINE 19 All SEF public documents are available upon request. Once a request is received the documents can be sent either electronically or through the US postal system. The 2021 CPA audit, conflict of interest policy and whistleblower policy can also be found on the SEF web site in the "Public Documents Listing."