Voqal is proud to announce its latest round of Education Opportunity Project grants focused on supporting organizations that are at the forefront of efforts to address educational opportunity gaps in the United States. The grants to Pie for Providers, Real Talk, LitLab, HadaNõu Collective, Network for Public Education Action, Our Turn, OLÉ, TalkingPoints, Quill, LENA, Partnership for the Future of Learning, Capita, and Science with Sophie reflect Voqal’s belief that the massive opportunity gap in the U.S. education system requires a diversity of approaches to address.
Pie for Providers ($50,000)
Pie for Providers uses technology to help child care providers earn more money and to help low-income families access early care and education. It is working for a more equitable early childhood field through fair pay for caregivers, effective government funding systems, and sustainable child care business models.
Real Talk ($50,000)
Real Talk is addressing the extensive phenomenon of loneliness and disengagement that has been found to exist within Generation Z through a safe digital, mobile-oriented space for youth to share stories and access relevant, accurate resources to support their mental, physical, and sexual health and help teens understand that they are not alone. Real Talk does this by crowdsourcing and curating authentic stories from teens about important health and emotional topics and connecting teens with high-quality and teen-friendly online resources on those topics.
LitLab ($50,000)
LitLab promotes early literacy skills through access to quality, user-focused bilingual resources and tools that support adults in developing their children’s three foundational academic skill sets. LitLab’s kidappolis suite of programs provides a combination of digital and in-person resources to young children and their families to encourage parents and caregivers to engage as the child’s first and most important teacher.
HadaNõu Collective ($50,000)
HadaNõu Collective (HNC) is a unique support organization building a cohesive network of infrastructure to support education-based organizations – especially those led by people of color. Its programs are designed with and for leaders of color. Its programs include Collective Leaders, Infrastructure and Leaders Support, Boot Camp, and the Ecosystem Partner Program.
Network for Public Education Action ($50,000)
The Network for Public Education (NPE) is an advocacy group whose mission is to preserve, promote, improve, and strengthen public schools for current and future generations of students. It is an unapologetically progressive organization that supports public schools as a pillar of our democratic society.
Our Turn ($50,000)
Our Turn activates the power of the next generation of diverse civic leaders who advance educational opportunities through leadership development, community organizing, and movement building. Through its organizing campaigns, leadership development, and national voice, young people channel their power to spark a new movement for justice.
OLÉ ($50,000)
OLÉ (Organizers in the Land of Enchantment) is a grassroots membership organization of working families in New Mexico organizing to strengthen communities by fighting for early childhood education, workers’ rights, democracy reform, and citizenship. Voqal’s grant will help support OLÉ’s efforts to pass a constitutional amendment to help fund universal early childhood education in New Mexico.
TalkingPoints ($70,000)
TalkingPoints drives student success by using accessible technology to improve the potential of family engagement in their children’s education. Its multilingual technology platform connects and empowers families and teachers by using human and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered, two-way translated communication and personalized content. This unique approach eliminates barriers including language, time, mindsets, and capacity to foster strong family engagement in the development of students’ academic success.
Quill ($70,000)
Quill provides free writing and grammar activities for elementary, middle, and high school students, specifically geared toward English-language learning (ELL) students, so they become strong writers and critical thinkers. Quill uses advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically grade and serve feedback on student writing, enabling students to revise their work and quickly improve their skills.
LENA ($70,000)
LENA helps communities accelerate language development in children from birth to age three, to improve their cognitive, social, and emotional health and close opportunity gaps. It accomplishes this goal through several programs including LENA Grow, LENA Start, LENA Home, and LENA SP.
Partnership for the Future of Learning ($70,000)
The Partnership for the Future of Learning brings together a diverse network of individuals and organizations with a deep commitment to an equitable, high-quality, public education system. Together, the Partnership promotes policies to strengthen this system and calls attention to schools that are making learning rigorous, relevant, engaging, and available for every student.
Capita ($70,000)
Capita is a social impact organization that is actively working to change both the narrative and the outcomes concerning human flourishing. It provides insight into pressing challenges and great transformations to leaders, thinkers, innovators, and all those working to positively change the future for children and families. It invests in the work of journalists, artists, scholars, philosophers, social scientists, and other creatives who are writing the story of our children’s future.
Science with Sophie ($75,000)
Science with Sophie (SWS) is an award-winning science comedy series for girls and everyone. Created and hosted by science educator/actor/comedian Sophie Shrand, the characters – all played by Sophie – invite children to be smart, curious, brave, funny scientists every day. The show strives to include everyone in the solution of creating gender equity through the lens of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math).
Voqal’s Education Opportunity Project seeks to measurably reduce educational opportunity gaps by providing capital and strategic advice to entrepreneurs and organizations working to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged populations. We believe these organizations are leaders in this work and are excited for the more equitable and effective education system that will no doubt result from their work.
Learn more about the Education Opportunity Project and the organizations it supports here.