Building a Beloved Community for Action: A Retrospective on the Partnership for the Future of Learning

2026

From 2012 to 2026, the Partnership for the Future of Learning built an enduring national network of public education players around a shared commitment to equity, deeper learning, justice, and democratic renewal in public schools.

Building a Beloved Community for Action documents why the Partnership formed, how it worked, and what it accomplished, and offers lessons for the broader field. Drawing on the wide-ranging perspectives of people who engaged closely in the Partnership's work, the report explores four themes:

A broad-based, cross-sector network rooted in democratic principles of participation can add significant value by creating a relational infrastructure through which to shift current policy and drive future change.
Leveraging the different perspectives, priorities, and expectations of a diverse network depends on ongoing, open navigation of those differences, and careful attention to balancing process and outcomes along the way.
Engaging philanthropy alongside other public education advocates requires authentic co-creation of visions and strategies and must address inherent power dynamics between funders and field partners.
Advancing a thriving, just system of public education in a time of growing threat demands a shared commitment from both field and funders to "hold the whole" of the system, lifting their gaze beyond the immediate interests of any organization or strategy and sustaining attention and resources over the long term.

We hope the report will ignite future philanthropic and field conversations, inform efforts to prioritize this kind of cross-sector collaboration, and help new networks emerge. We invite you to share it with your networks.

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The Partnership Over Time

The Partnership grew from a small group of funders in 2012 into a national network of more than 800 members from over 425 organizations, including 25 foundations. This timeline traces its path, from the founding years through its strategy strands, issue workgroups, and field-wide activation, to its close in 2026. Building a Beloved Community for Action tells the story behind each moment.

The Partnership for the Future of Learning: A Timeline

2012	The New Models Working Group forms as an offshoot of the Education Funders Strategy Group, convened by the National Public Education Support Fund (NPESF). Funders include the Ford Foundation, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, Sandler Foundation, Southern Education Foundation, Stuart Foundation, and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
2013-15	Funders articulate their shared vision and values, Updating American Public Education: Keeping the Foundation—While Preparing for the Future, and commission an initial framework to guide implementation. The first staff are hired, and an advisory group of field partners is convened to inform the strategy.
2016-17	The Partnership officially launches with Shared Story as its first field-facing initiative, followed by Shared Policy and Key Places (a fourth strand, Shared Systems, follows later). A Steering Committee of funders and field leaders is established as the formal governance body of the network, alongside a 50-member Strategy Council to foster field input on priorities. Key Places investments begin in California, Georgia, and New Hampshire (and continue through 2020). Network participation grows to about 250, and the first network Assembly convenes.
2018-19	Partner work groups launch on Community Schools, Teaching Professions, and Education Resourcing. The Community Schools Playbook is published, followed by an animated explainer video, story map, finance brief, and website.
2020-22	The COVID-19 pandemic forces a suspension of in-person gatherings until 2022. Attacks on public education accelerate. Over an 18-month period, the Partnership transitions from NPESF to Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, while releasing two new tools—Building a Strong and Diverse Teaching Profession Playbook and Truth in Our Classrooms Bridges Divides: A Messaging Guide—in deep collaboration with partners. The first evaluation of the Partnership finds strong evidence of deeper field connection and alignment across the network.
2022-23	A year-long Strategy Regeneration engages 165 partners in setting network priorities for the post-pandemic era, leading to a broader, field-focused network strategy: Breakthrough for Public Education. Network Assemblies resume and the Truth in Education Funding web resource on school privatization is launched.
2024-25	The Partnership responds to intensifying threats to public education through network-wide coordination calls, rapid-response communications, and a suite of action tools to protect educational equity, access, and civil rights. Network membership grows exponentially, reaching 425 organizations and 800 individuals, but the network and partners face existential challenges as the funding for equity-focused public education advocacy contracts sharply.
2026	The Partnership sunsets. Its tools and resources are shared with the field, and remaining funds are directed to partner organizations continuing key dimensions of the work.