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Ascendium Education Philanthropy is a division of Ascendium Education Group.

Awarded Grants

The grants we award advance our core strategies to Expand Opportunity, Support Learner Success, and Connect and Align Systems. They also promote field support and development efforts across strategies.

Strategies

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NISS Support for Georgia Colleges

Support
Georgia State University Foundation Inc|$2,000,000|9/2024 - 6/2028
This grant supports Georgia State University's National Institute for Student Success (NISS) in working with a cohort of institutions to implement a comprehensive set of reforms. Six institutions, comprising both two and four-year colleges and universities, will complete extensive diagnostics, identify high-impact practices, and receive coaching and implementation support from NISS.

Empowering HBCUs to Expand Higher Education in Prison Programs

Expand
Healthy Routines|$1,348,900|9/2024 - 8/2027
This grant supports Healthy Routines, a project of Benedict College, in engaging and supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities in South Carolina to establish pathways and expand access to postsecondary education in prison opportunities for incarcerated learners across the state.

Talent Strong Texas Pathways: Student Supports and Belonging HB8 Implementation

Support
Texas Community College Education Initiative|$3,000,000|9/2024 - 8/2027
This grant supports the Texas Success Center in developing and implementing holistic basic needs and support services at Texas community colleges. This statewide initiative aims to help colleges strengthen supports for learners to ensure they complete credential of values in alignment with the state’s new funding model established by House Bill 8.

Connecting the Justice-Impacted Community to Pre-entry Resources

Field Development
Our Community Ltd|$230,000|9/2024 - 8/2026
This grant supports Milwaukee-based Our Community in producing and expanding its bi-monthly prison newsletter, which is distributed to more than 8,000 incarcerated individuals in Wisconsin and provides resources and information to support success after release.

Connecting the Workforce Ecosystem through the Horizons Platform

Field Development
Jobs for the Future Inc|$350,000|9/2024 - 8/2026
This grant supports Jobs for the Future (JFF) in developing podcasts to be hosted on its online information and resource-sharing hub, the Horizons platform. Informed by an advisory council representing its broad, cross-sector network, JFF will develop two podcast series to explore opportunities and challenges related to connecting education and career in support of economic mobility.

Covering the Future of Work

Field Development
WorkingNation|$140,000|9/2024 - 8/2026
This grant supports WorkingNation in expanding its reporting related to postsecondary education and workforce training, both broadly as national issues and in relation to rural communities and in carceral settings, specifically. The grant also supports focused reporting on specific workforce opportunities in cities and towns across the nation in collaboration with mayors and local leaders in those places.

Supporting the Future U. Podcast

Field Development
Academic Intelligence|$105,000|9/2024 - 8/2026
This grant supports Academic Intelligence in producing the Future U. podcast series, which features interviews with national thought leaders and innovators working to improve student success in postsecondary education.

Prevalence of Lived Experience in Leadership Positions

Field Development
The Urban Institute |$100,000|9/2024 - 3/2026
This grant supports Urban Institute in understanding the prevalence of lived experiences in or adjacent to the criminal justice system, including personal history of incarceration, among nonprofit organizational leaders. The project will identify best practices and develop data collection tools funders can use to understand the extent to which their grantees are led by individuals with relevant lived experience.

Supporting the Expansion of the THRIVE Program

Support
The College & Community Fellowship Inc|$522,710|9/2024 - 1/2026
This grant supports College & Community Fellowship to refine and expand its THRIVE training and coaching program, which helps college campuses and employers strengthen their ability to serve individuals after release from incarceration.

Creating a National Movement for Emergency Aid

Support
Scholarship America Inc|$750,000|9/2024 - 9/2025
This grant supports Scholarship America in launching a national campaign communicating the impact of emergency aid for learners from low-income backgrounds in an effort to broaden the donor base for emergency aid nationwide.