Education Circle

The Challenge | Our Goal | Our Approach | Grant Partners

You want to help make education work better. But where to begin? Full Circle members in the Education Circle work together in support of inspiring education leaders like Ellen Moir, Salman Khan, Alex Bernadotte and many more. Through their work, these leaders are answering important questions about how to make education work better for each student. It is our pleasure and privilege to work with them.

Learning is a complex human endeavor, and there is plenty to learn about what works for each student, each teacher, each school and each community. Over ten years of work together, the Education Circle has supported educators and administrators, entrepreneurs and union leaders, policymakers and philanthropists, journalists and researchers. This mix of perspectives is part of what makes participating in Full Circle exciting and enriching for members.

As a member of the Education Circle, you play a part in making important change happen. You also learn about education change ideas by connecting with people doing extraordinary, creative work.

The Challenge

About one million students attend public school in the Bay Area. Roughly half are not performing at grade level. And while dropout statistics remain a subject of dispute in California, as many as a third of Bay Area students drop out of school before graduating. Of those who do graduate, only a third meet the requirements to apply to a four-year college. Averages across the general population mask even more dismal demographic trends; for example, the college-ready graduation rate for Hispanic and African-American males in the Bay Area is well below 10 percent.

Statistics such as these would be cause for concern in any community, but in the high-rent, tech-charged Bay Area they are particularly troubling.

Our Goal

Full Circle Fund's Education Circle strives to improve the effectiveness of education, especially for students in underserved communities.

Our Approach

The Education Circle has partnered with outstanding social innovators and nonprofits in support of many different approaches to educational reform, with the ultimate goal of improving both access to learning and educational outcomes for children. A parallel goal has been to learn about what works and help others get involved. To this end, Education Circle leaders developed a set of plain-language primers for members that have evolved into Ed100.org, now a public resource with many prominent fans.

Full Circle members can learn more about our current projects and grants on the Full Circle members-only platform: https://member-fullcirclefund.jivesbs.com/groups/education-circle

"There really isn't anything else out there quite like Full Circle Fund. The team brought both early funding and a diverse range of talents and connections. The members are professionals with full-time jobs of their own, but they make time to do the work."

Alex Bernadotte

Founder & CEO
Beyond 12