Ballmer Group’s Strategic Investment

Ballmer Group’s $30 million 10-year grant was catalytic in helping to enhance and scale BellXcel’s evidence-based programming.
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Record 10-year $30 million grant from Ballmer Group to expand educational access to reduce summer slide

July 20 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOSTON – BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life), the largest evidence-based summer learning provider in the U.S. and a national leader in PK-8 out-of-school time (OST) education, received a 10-year $30 million grant from Ballmer Group. It is the largest grant in BELL’s 25-year history. Founded by former Microsoft CEO and Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie, Ballmer Group supports organizations and initiatives aimed at improving economic mobility for children and families in the U.S.

BELL estimates that 7.5 million K-8 students from underserved communities are performing significantly below grade level. Up to two-thirds of the nation’s academic achievement gap is due to lack of access to quality summer learning programs. Students who are not proficient readers by third grade are four times as likely to drop out of high school and face lower lifelong earnings.

Ballmer Group’s grant will support BELL’s mission to eliminate summer slide by strengthening the capacity of school districts and youth-serving nonprofits to deliver BELL’s high-quality, measurable and sustainable summer learning programs on a larger scale. Ballmer Group’s support will allow BELL to increase programmatic efficiencies to better meet the needs of scholars, parents and teachers, while developing technology solutions to enable greater scale of the BELL model.

“Education inequity is a national crisis that has long-term repercussions for our economy. It leaves underserved students at risk of being caught in a downward spiral of lower graduation rates, decreased lifelong earnings and generational poverty,” says BELL CEO Lauren Sanchez Gilbert, Ed.D. “Ballmer Group’s contribution allows us to further refine and replicate BELL’s holistic, data-driven summer programs to reach exponentially more underserved children living in urban, suburban and rural communities.”

Ballmer Group chose organizations that support individuals and families at key life stages, use evidence-based practices, track outcomes and utilize data for continuous improvement. “Many of our nation’s largest evidence-driven organizations are reaching less than 5 percent of their target population,” says Tonya Dressel, Executive Director of Ballmer Group. “In response, we are investing in national organizations like BELL with demonstrated impact that align with our interest in improving economic mobility for children and families.”

Students spend 80 percent of their time outside of the confines of the school day. Young people whose families cannot afford expensive summer and after school programs are at risk of suffering higher learning loss that is difficult to regain. Studies show that by fifth grade, summer learning loss can leave underserved children two and a half to three years behind their peers.

BELL’s academic and enrichment programs have been shown to reverse summer slide. Nationwide, more than 14,500 BELL students, known as scholars, experience an average of two month gains in reading and three month gains in math annually.

“We are grateful for Ballmer Group’s long-term investment in children and families across the nation,” said Dr. Gilbert. “They understand the challenges facing nonprofits and the importance of flexible funding to meet the complex needs of underserved communities. Their support will enable us to be more agile and responsive, and it will serve as an anchor to raise additional funds required to expand summer learning across the U.S.”

BELL transforms the life trajectories of scholars by empowering their circles of support, including parents and teachers. According to a 2016 survey, 92 percent of participating teachers say BELL helped them develop their professional skills, and the majority reported using BELL strategies in the classroom. Parents become more engaged as well, with 89 percent of those surveyed saying BELL programs made them more involved in their child’s education.

BELL supports program partners through all stages of their summer or after-school programs, including program design, curriculum development, professional development, measurement and technical assistance. BELL continuously applies and shares best practices and innovations as they are tested and refined in classrooms and other learning environments across the country.

About Ballmer Group:

Ballmer Group strengthens organizations and initiatives that increase economic mobility for children and families in the United States. Founders Steve and Connie Ballmer envision a country where the promise of the American Dream -that every child has an equal opportunity to build a better life -is within reach.

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The above press release was originally published in 2017 and BellXcel remains grateful for Ballmer Group’s transformational investment.