28. K12 Foundation Officers as Connectors with Jackie Coleman

In this episode, we dive deeper into the exploration of how school funding works. This is important for anyone looking to grow their school, but also matters if you are simply interested in the future of education, wonder how education will evolve, or would like to know how the funders are thinking. Our guest today is Jackie Coleman. She is Senior Education Investments Officer at Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. 

We talk about the different types of foundations, how to approach foundation program officers, how she sees her role, the growing importance of social-emotional learning, and more. Without further adieu, here’s Jackie!

Quotes: 

04:20 “Find out who your local community foundation is...and be in dialogue with them about partners that they are working with.”

07:30 “It is not uncommon, and is often welcome for a potential partner, organization, or school district to call.”

15:20 “Because relationship is so important, even if you don’t have particular programs identified (that match the funding criteria of the foundation), there is nothing wrong with beginning a conversation.”

16:45 “Work moves at the speed of trust; it takes time to build relationships.”

33:35 “You might have heard the lottery slogan, ‘You can’t win if you don’t play,’ but it also holds true in funding. Don’t be afraid to ask.”

Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:

Hartford Foundation for Public Giving https://www.hfpg.org/

The Wallace Foundation UPPI https://ucapp.education.uconn.edu/about-the-wallace-uppi-project/

Where to learn more about Jackie Coleman:

Jackie at Hartford Foundation - [email protected]

Jackie on Linkedin https:linkedin.com/in/jackiecolemanct

Where to learn more about Enrollhand:

Website: www.enrollhand.com

Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com

Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/