Partnering to Catalyze Change

We are incredibly grateful to the many grant partners we’ve had over the years. As we support research organizations, colleges, workforce training providers, and large-scale initiatives, we recognize and celebrate these partners’ critical work to support learners from low-income backgrounds. To maximize the impact of our grantmaking, we aim to be more than a source of funding. We strive to be a true collaborator.

Building Relationships

One of the ways we do this is by connecting applicants and grantees to other funders. On average, nearly half of the projects we’ve funded since 2020 also receive funding from other sources.

We engage in co-funding for many reasons.

• To support projects with a larger budget that exist outside of, yet complementing, our current strategic priorities.
• To support grant partners, especially newer or smaller organizations, in building diversified funding streams and relationships with other funders.
• To amplify the message that funders send to the field about what’s important.
• To help advance a cohesive vision for systemic reform.
• To learn more about topics related to our strategy.

Investing in Infrastructure

We also proactively invest in infrastructure to support more funder collaboration in areas where Ascendium is unique in having an explicit focus. Historically, incarcerated and rural learners have benefited less from large national reform efforts funded by philanthropies. To build the supportive infrastructure for this mission-critical work, we are currently engaged in planning phases to do the following.

• Convene funders with interests in or related to rural and postsecondary education in prison.
• Identify common investment priorities.
• Explore options for collaboration.

Identifying Areas of Innovation and Investment

Our philanthropic investment strategy is catalytic, lending momentum to key issues at the right moments. Rather than providing sustained funding at an increasingly larger scale, we learn from our grant partners by asking them about areas primed for innovation and investment. Pooling funds allows us to leverage our philanthropic investment in these areas to build local capacity, including data, leadership, and infrastructure for collaboration. These capacities are critical for our partners and their constituents to leverage broader private and public resources and strengthen their collective impact.

One example of pooled funding in action is the Families and Workers Fund. The Fund is a national, multi-donor pooled fund focused on supporting low- and middle-income families and workers. As part of our contribution to the Fund, we support their work on powering climate and infrastructure careers in rural communities. We also serve on the Powering Climate and Infrastructure Careers for All Advisory Board, where we have learned more about the issues impacting workers and learners who are interested in new career opportunities in clean energy and infrastructure but have systemically been unable to get a foot in the door. The Fund has allowed us to be in community with other funders, frontline leaders, grantees, and experts who are working toward developing and supporting job pathways that enable economic security and mobility for workers and families.

We see such partnerships as a promising agent for accelerating our mission and igniting change.