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· Public charity

The Children's Education Initiative

THE CHILDREN'S EDUCATION INITIATIVE (tcei) is dedicated to improving the quality of education for socioeconomically disadvantaged children.

$1.6M
Granted FY2024still arriving
12
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$322k
Largest
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2023 to 2024.

Education$2.6M
02FY2024 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $50k–250k10 grants · $1.0M
  • $250k+2 grants · $572k
$123,444
Median grant
7
States reached
$112M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE SQUARED NETWORK$321,792
COLORADO ROCKY MOUNTAIN SCHOOL INC$250,000
STMARK'S SCHOOL$206,716
THE POTOMAC SCHOOL$185,226
LOS ENCINOS SCHOOL$143,835
MARK DAY SCHOOL$123,444
LIVE OAK A LEARNING CENTER FOR CHILDREN$116,725
ISLAND PACIFIC ACADEMY INC$50,000
ECHO FOUNDATION$50,000
SHERIDAN SCHOOL$50,000
THE FRANCES XAVIER WARDE SCHOOL$50,000
TOWN SCHOOL FOR BOYS$50,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY23–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 57% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%THE SQUARED NETWORK: $322k → 16%ACADEMY HILL SCHOOL INC: $50k → 17%HILLBROOK SCHOOL: $50k → 8%MARK DAY SCHOOL: $123k → 8%REDWOOD DAY SCHOOL: $100k → 10%LIVE OAK A LEARNING CENTER FOR CHILDREN: $117k → 10%THE SEQUOYAH EDUCATIONAL CENTER: $100k → 14%CRANE COUNTY DAY SCHOOL: $50k → 14%ISLAND PACIFIC ACADEMY INC: $50k → 9%HAWAII PREPARATORY ACADEMY: $50k → 15%SHERIDAN SCHOOL: $50k → 14%COLORADO ROCKY MOUNTAIN SCHOOL INC: $250k → 6%THE BUSH SCHOOL: $100k → 9%THE FRANCES XAVIER WARDE SCHOOL: $50k → 14%THE POTOMAC SCHOOL: $185k → 6%MARIN COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $350k → 8%TOWN SCHOOL FOR BOYS: $50k → 10%STMARK'S SCHOOL: $207k → 14%THE RIVIERA RIDGE SCHOOL: $50k → 14%TOWN SCHOOL FOR BOYS: $50k → 10%WESTSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL: $50k → 14%LOS ENCINOS SCHOOL: $144k → 14%ECHO FOUNDATION: $50k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
IL
MA
CA
CO
VA
DC
HI
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Capitol Hill Day School

Capitol Hill Day School is a co-educational independent school serving students from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. Capitol Hill Day School deeply engages a diverse community of students in connecting the classroom with the larger…

Education
2
The Seven Hills School

The institution provides educational instruction and activities to students ranging from preschool through 8th grade.

—
3
The Island School

The Island School provides a flexible learning environment where each child is known and celebrated.

Education
4
Austin Trinity School

Trinity episcopal school (trinity) is a not-for-profit independent school whose mission is to provide an enriched academic curriculum in a christian environment. trinity is not affiliated with or sponsored by any parish. we will nurture…

Education
5
Spruce Street School

Spruce Street School is a nurturing educational community that instills in a broad range of children the social, emotional, and intellectual skills for lifelong participation in a diverse society. We offer kindergarten through fifth grade…

Education
6
The Peak School

The peak school seeks to ignite a passion for learning, to develop students of diverse talents and backgrounds who think critically and act with integrity, and to graduate compassionate, confident, capable students who will embrace their…

Education
7
Berkwood School

Berkwood Hedge School provides a hands-on developmental curriculum that promotes deep and intuitive learning. Students achieve academic excellence by becoming critical thinkers and creative problem solvers. Our teachers meet the needs of…

Education
8
The Chandler School

Chandler's mission is to provide each student with the highest quality and most academically challenging education in a nurturing, balanced and diverse environment. chandler strives to have its students gain a love of learning, a means of…

—
9
The International School of San Francisco

Guided by the principles of academic rigor and diversity, the international school of san francisco offers programs of study in french and english to prepare its graduates for a world in which the ability to think critically and to…

Education
10
The San Francisco School

A private school that cultivates and celebrates the intellectual, imaginative, and humanitarian promise of each student in a community that practices mutual respect, embraces diversity, and inspires passion for learning.

—
11
Sonoma Charter School

Sonoma charter school seeks to achieve academic excellence through engaged learning in a setting that involves students, teachers, and parents.

Education
12
Darrow School

Darrow school is dedicated to serving students with diverse backgrounds and abilities, building on each student's talents and interests to inspire enduring confidence for success in college and life. this mission is accomplished through…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Redwood Day School; the most unlike its peers is The Squared Network. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

20 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 20 of the 22 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
20/20
Grantees still filing
18/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MARIN COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $350,000 · EducationMARIN COUNTRY DAY SCHOOLTHE SQUARED NETWORK: $321,792 · EducationTHE SQUARED NETWORKCOLORADO ROCKY MOUNTAIN SCHOOL INC: $250,000 · EducationCOLORADO ROCKY MOUNTAIN SCHOOL INCThe Potomac School: $185,226 · EducationThe Potomac SchoolLIVE OAK A LEARNING CENTER FOR CHILDREN: $116,725 · EducationLIVE OAK A LEARNING CENTER FOR CHILDRENREDWOOD DAY SCHOOL: $100,000 · EducationTOWN SCHOOL FOR BOYS: $100,000 · EducationTHE BUSH SCHOOL: $100,000 · Education+9 more: $450,000 · Education+9 moreSAINT MARKS SCHOOL ALTADENA INC: $206,716 · OtherSAINT MARKS SCHOOL ALTADENA…LOS ENCINOS SCHOOL: $143,835 · OtherLOS ENCINOS SCHOOLMARK DAY SCHOOL: $123,444 · OtherMARK DAY SCHOOLThe Sequoyah Educational Center: $100,000 · OtherThe Sequoyah Educational Ce…FRANCES XAVIER WARDE SCHOOL NFP: $50,000 · OtherFRANCES XAVIER WARDE SCHOOL…
Education$1,973,743Other$623,995

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMARIN COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $350,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTHE SQUARED NETWORK: $321,792 over 1y, 56% of budgetCOLORADO ROCKY MOUNTAIN SCHOOL INC: $250,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetThe Potomac School: $185,226 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLOS ENCINOS SCHOOL: $143,835 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetMARK DAY SCHOOL: $123,444 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetLIVE OAK A LEARNING CENTER FOR CHILDREN: $116,725 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetREDWOOD DAY SCHOOL: $100,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetThe Sequoyah Educational Center: $100,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTOWN SCHOOL FOR BOYS: $100,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE BUSH SCHOOL: $100,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSHERIDAN SCHOOL: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCRANE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWESTSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetECHO FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetACADEMY HILL SCHOOL INC: $50,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetThe Riviera Ridge School: $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetHILLBROOK SCHOOL: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetISLAND PACIFIC ACADEMY INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHAWAII PREPARATORY ACADEMY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

United Way WorldwideVA20.7× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: United Way Worldwide · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Charities Aid Foundation America · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · The Yelp Foundation · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · Weingart Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Children's Education Initiative funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Children's Education Initiative. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    04Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Children's Education Initiative?

    Find your warmest path to The Children's Education Initiative through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 22 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

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