Alignment Was the Starting Point. Designing the Future Is the Work.
When I joined the Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation, now known as the Richmond Ed Fund, in February 2023, one thing was immediately clear: we were doing meaningful work without a clear strategy. We hadn't updated our approach in nearly ten years. We were reactive, overextended, and caught between two identities. Sometimes, we operated like a direct service organization; at other times, like a traditional fundraising group. We cared deeply about students, but we were not yet positioned to change how the system itself worked.
At the same time, Richmond Public Schools was updating Dreams4RPS, a districtwide strategic plan rooted in student success, staff excellence, and whole-child support. There was interest in alignment, but it couldn’t be superficial; it had to be a deliberate, structural decision.
I spent my first nine months listening before leading. I listened to district leadership, school-based staff, families, and community partners. I also listened to peers across the country, particularly through the National Ed Fund Collaborative convened by Give Better Group. Through that community, I gained early access to CEOs leading some of the largest education funds in the country. They were open about what they would do differently if given the chance to start over. That honesty accelerated our learning curve and clarified what effective education philanthropy actually requires.
I read tirelessly, sent cold emails, and visited university foundation leaders. I jotted down ideas late at night and tested them the next day. Over time, a clear pattern emerged: the most effective education foundations and ed funds are not program operators but strategic investors. They align closely with district priorities, take risks that public systems cannot, and focus their capital on unlocking scale rather than managing pilots.
That insight prompted deliberate action. We restructured the Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation. First, we rebranded as the Richmond Ed Fund to reflect our evolved role. We stopped trying to do everything and focused on doing the right things. We clarified that Richmond Ed Fund exists to invest in the district’s highest-priority efforts, not to run parallel initiatives.
We revised our messaging. We moved away from “give because it’s the right thing to do” and toward something more honest and compelling: we are shaping the future of public education from Richmond, and we invite you to be part of that work.
We revised our capital strategy. Richmond is big enough to make an impact but small enough to influence effectively. It’s the perfect city to test new ideas in public education and show what can be achieved on a larger scale. That belief led us to make record-level national investments, and the response confirmed our strategy.
During this transition, Superintendent Kamras invited me to join his leadership team. That invitation was a turning point and demonstrated that we can develop initiatives together with the district, not just around it. Alignment shifted from intention to action.
Due to this deliberate alignment, the Richmond Ed Fund no longer invests in isolation or vanity projects. We allocate capital where philanthropy can unlock what public systems alone cannot:
Earlier literacy and extended learning time
Staff stability and retention
Wraparound supports that eliminate barriers to learning
Our community clearly communicated what matters: investing in students, supporting staff, and addressing the conditions outside the classroom that affect learning. Our strategy reflects this mandate.
This alignment has also broadened what we can pursue. Over the past year, Richmond Ed Fund has gained national investment and attention that wouldn’t have been possible without a clear, shared vision with Richmond Public Schools. Alignment isn’t about appearances; it’s about impact.
For investors, the question isn’t whether public education needs support but whether resources are being used to create lasting changes in how the system works. When philanthropy aligns with district strategy, every investment becomes more effective. It lowers the risk of innovation, speeds up adoption, and creates opportunities for ideas to move from proof of concept to widespread practice. That is the role Richmond Ed Fund now plays. We are not funding around the system; we are supporting its evolution.
Alignment was just the starting point, not the end goal. Our next phase focuses on building the financial, human, and physical infrastructure that helps Dreams4RPS survive beyond any single leader, funding cycle, or political moment.
This work requires a different approach: thinking long-term, embracing complexity, and caring not just about outcomes but also about the systems that produce them. This is the national playbook for the future of public education, but it’s starting in Richmond, VA.