A leading supporter of BellXcel’s work, the Overdeck Family Foundation has funded BellXcel since 2019.
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Gemma Lenowitz has served as a program officer in the Inspired Minds portfolio at the Overdeck Family Foundation since 2018. Previously, she served as a STEM coordinator and 12th grade lead at MESA Charter High School, where she founded and coached a robotics team, taught Bioengineering and Computer Science, and implemented edtech and project-based learning.

BellXcel: What are your big-picture goals at Overdeck? 

Gemma: Our mission is to measurably enhance education inside and outside the classroom. We focus exclusively on education, funding efforts both inside and outside of school in the areas of early childhood, informal STEM education, and K-9 programs that include supporting educators and student-centered learning environments.

Our priority for the next three years is to continue to scale cost-effective models and organizations that accelerate improvement in academic and socioemotional outcomes for all kids. Specifically, we hope to use our grantmaking and strategic support to unlock innovation, build and strengthen organizational capacities, help grantees generate evidence, and support grantees in attracting follow-on funding. We will continue to fund research, learning, and measurement to ensure that we understand the outcomes of our grantmaking. 

BellXcel: How does BellXcel fit into that picture? What caught your attention about the organization?

Gemma: Thanks to the Institute for Educational Sciences, the Wallace Foundation and other evidence aggregators, there are reviews that demonstrate program effectiveness in alignment with ESSA’s tiered levels of evidence. Beyond BellXcel having the highest level of evidence, it was the breadth of research historically and in progress and the learning and improvement orientation of the team that stood out to me.  

If you zoom out and think about after-school programs, they’ve been providing positive experiences for youth for decades, but it was clear that BellXcel was thinking about how to do that in the 21st century, leveraging edtech. The design is more efficient, with technology solutions that don’t replace human interaction, but actually eliminate some of the onerous administrative tasks so programs can operate more smoothly. What I quickly noticed about the platform is that it can actually give educators more time to plan great instruction, and more time with scholars. As a former teacher and coach, I knew those were two critical elements for student success. That’s what caught our eye originally and why we chose to invest.

BellXcel: What most excites/inspires you about BellXcel’s work and future?

Gemma: The first piece is just impact. We think the program can continue to have strong outcomes and provide the right delivery model for every site to see success for their kids. The second piece is that the tech enables a level of scalability. That’s new, I think, to the out-of-school time field. They’re the first SaaS Enterprise solution that I’ve heard about that centralizes all of the components on the platform, which makes it able to scale faster. And then on the other side of that, there’s the demand. The contracts that BellXcel has won recently underscore that there are so many kids out there who could benefit from these services, and the adults in decision-making capacity in their communities believe that, too. I really appreciate that they are ready to deliver, because this moment asks so much of teachers and parents. 

BellXcel: What excites you the most about philanthropy right now?

Gemma: I’m really excited about the conversations about proximity and empathy in tech and in philanthropy. I think educator and student needs evolved faster than ever during COVID. And, educators and ed tech organizations need to stay on top of what’s happening and develop services and products that resonate with their audience. 

Funders didn’t previously have a lot of insight into what their beneficiaries needed, and the grantee often acted as the intermediary. Now, I think funders can get much sharper insights into the current needs so that we’re not relying on perception or old data. And, philanthropy is now more visibly and loudly encouraging nonprofits to make sure that their solution centers the experiences of their target population and that they use tools to gather better data. For example, we use the “net promoter” score with a lot of our grantees to understand the user experience on their platform or with their service. And now through the Fund for Shared Insight, (a group of philanthropists), and a service called Listen for Good, (a survey tool), we can put the end user’s voice at the forefront. By elevating the voices that are least heard in systems, we can match products and services to their specific needs.

BellXcel: What are the greatest opportunities you see in K-12 education and OST? 

Gemma: There are a lot of elements that were developed during COVID that we think should stay, including an increased focus on the home-school connection that will continue to be a focus for the foundation. This includes thinking about school readiness supports at home. What does it mean for a child to be school ready? What does it mean for a school to be ready for that child? There’s a more racially and ethnically diverse set of students than ever before in public schools across the country this year, but they are also diverse in terms of interests and talents, too. So, how do we think about elevating those unique assets? In philanthropy, we’ll continue to support the scale of evidence-based practices and innovation to meet these and other new demands and challenges as they arise. 

About Overdeck Family Foundation

Founded in 2011 by John and Laura Overdeck, Overdeck Family Foundation‘s goal is to provide all children the opportunity to unlock their potential. Grantmaking and strategic support focus on unlocking innovation, evidence, and growth opportunities for organizations and researchers that are committed to accelerating key academic and socioemotional outcomes for all children.

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.

 

New York Life Foundation’s support empowered BellXcel to think differently about how we support middle school youth.
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BellXcel receives $3 million investment to expand access to summer and afterschool learning from the New York Life Foundation

BOSTON (April 2019) –BellXcel, a national education nonprofit, today announced a $3 million, three-year grant from the New York Life Foundation that will help the organization to expand access to evidence-based summer and afterschool learning for 12,000 at-risk middle-schoolers across the U.S.

This grant will help BellXcel develop new solutions to support its national network of program partners, which aim to strengthen the academic and social-emotional skills of middle school students. BellXcel programs have been proven to yield measurable gains in academics and social-emotional learning. Last summer, BellXcel scholars gained 2.5 months of math skills and 2.0 months of reading skills through five-to-six-week programs, reversing summer learning loss.

 “BellXcel’s proven success in the out-of-school time space aligns with our efforts to ensure that youth have year-round holistic learning experiences that develop important academic and social emotional skills,” said Marlyn Torres, senior program officer, New York Life Foundation. “We are dedicated to expanding access to high-quality out-of-school time programs for middle school students because they help prepare youth for long-term success.”

The New York Life Foundation’s investment will enhance BellXcel’s service offerings, including the development of an innovative technology platform that will allow for greater customization of program offerings to better meet the needs of BellXcel partners. It will also allow BellXcel to provide hundreds of middle school educators with professional development and in-service learning opportunities to enhance their teaching practice.

“With New York Life Foundation’s generous gift, we will strengthen our program model and delivery practices to scale up our collective impact on at-risk middle school students from urban, peri-urban, and rural communities,” said Lauren Sanchez Gilbert, BellXcel CEO. “It will expand our ability to empower partners to deliver summer and afterschool programs that yield measurable outcomes for both students and educators on a greater scale.”

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About the New York Foundation

Inspired by New York Life’s tradition of service and humanity, the New York Life Foundation has, since its founding in 1979, provided nearly $280 million in charitable contributions to national and local nonprofit organizations. The Foundation supports programs that benefit young people, particularly in the areas of educational enhancement and childhood bereavement. The Foundation also encourages and facilitates the community involvement of employees and agents of New York Life through its Volunteers for Good and Grief-Sensitive Schools programs. To learn more, visit www.newyorklifefoundation.org.