Mission

redefinED atlanta is a growing collective of civic leaders and philanthropists passionate about and invested in transforming Atlanta into a place where every student in every community can attend a great K-12 public school.

What We Do

redefinED atlanta engages communities, advocates for equity, and funds critical work to drive systemic level improvement in K-12 public education for students and families. Our vision is an Atlanta where every student, in every community, receives a great public education.

redefinED atlanta formally launched in 2016 under the leadership of our founding board of directors and executive director, Ed Chang. Since then, we have expanded our team, built a diverse board, and broadened our work from grantmaking to include community engagement and advocacy, recognizing equity as core to the process. From 2017-20, the organization invested over $12M into the Atlanta educational ecosystem ($3.37M in Community, $4.14M in Schools, and $4.66M in Talent) and influenced policy and direction for several critical advances in equity and accountability within APS.

In 2020, we released a new strategic plan that outlines goals, implementation pathways, and race, equity, and inclusion recommendations. The plan includes 3 areas of focus unified by an overarching goal - to increase the number of students attending great public schools:

Engage Community:
We honor the centrality of Community in making continued and sustained progress in education. Engaging students, families, grassroots and grasstops leaders involves building relationships and coalitions to support community-identified needs.

Advocate for Equity:
There are a host of policy barriers that prevent transformation and so building deep and effective advocacy strategies and infrastructure is critical to our ability to serve Atlanta. Priority policy initiatives include equity, transparency, school accountability, and autonomy.

Fund Critical Work:
To build out the ecosystem, we fund proven and promising efforts within 3 portfolios: schools and systems, community and policy, and talent development. This remains important as our advocacy efforts unlock opportunities to increase the number and type of great schools.