Real change must be community-driven, and it takes more than one program or a one-time donation to transform our schools.

These are some of the core principles of the Bay Ed Fund, which takes a unconventional approach to philanthropy.

The nonprofit makes a holistic, multi-year commitment to improving outcomes for students in the Bay Area, with an emphasis on co-designing solutions with teachers, families, students and school leaders. The result is systemic change that lasts.

For its innovative model that has already had a positive impact on three Bay Area districts, the Bay Ed Fund is the recipient of ACSA’s 2026 Partners in Educational Excellence Award.

Created in 2022, the Bay Ed Fund was founded on the belief that the urgency and size of the problem facing traditional public schools requires collective action toward a shared vision for young people.

“We kept seeing the same pattern across the Bay Area and beyond: Extraordinary local leaders working incredibly hard, but the outcomes for young people remaining unchanged,” said Paul Keys, co-founder and managing partner. “We saw that our school systems unintentionally silo us — from each other; from the families, teachers, and students who too often don’t have a seat at the table; and from 25 years of hard-won lessons about what actually works and what doesn’t.”

Keys points out that in California — the fourth-largest economy in the world — fewer than three in 10 low-income students read at grade level. As income inequality grows, it perpetuates a cycle in which students’ access to a quality education its tied to their income, race or ZIP code.

“The opportunity and achievement gaps that exist are not only unjust, but leave enormous human potential on the table,” Keys said. “People like me who are first-generation college graduates, or who have spent decades working in classrooms and schools, can share so many personal examples of how education opens doors for young people.”

To make sure more students have access to a high-quality education, the Bay Ed Fund partners with “visionary and courageous” superintendents who understand the remarkable assets and leadership that already exist in their communities. The nonprofit helps them tap into the power of parents, teachers, students and leaders outside the school community. One way it does this is through 10-week Family Leaders Fellowship programs, where family members learn how schools work and are empowered to share their students’ needs directly with school leaders. The result is multilingual families, low-income communities, and families of color are not only included in decision-making, but are positioned as co-designers of school improvement.

“I like this group and I like being part of it because we have been able to discover we are not alone,” said Zulema Mendez, a parent leader. “We have a voice, and that voice can help us find better resources that can help us in the education of our children.”

Once stakeholders’ needs are understood, the Bay Ed Fund helps define the vision and constructs a strategic plan for bringing it to life. Leveraging its own expertise and connections, the nonprofit then provides strategic and funding support, partnering with best-in-class organizations on curriculum, cycles of inquiry, and professional development.

They also invest in leadership — which it believes is the driving force in all change efforts — to provide professional development, executive coaching, and family fellowships to advance leadership across families, students, teachers, principals and cabinet members. So far, the nonprofit has engaged more than 8,000 leaders and invested $7.3 million across three districts — South San Francisco USD, Ravenswood City School District, and San Mateo-Foster City School District. They also just launched visioning efforts in Sunnyvale School District.

In South San Francisco USD, the district hosted bilingual community conversations attended by over 200 families. Their input was woven into SSFUSD’s Portrait of a Graduate and an action plan for realizing the community-led vision.

In San Mateo-Foster City, the Bay Ed Fund has helped facilitate more than 2,000 conversations in the community. The nonprofit also recently arranged a field trip for middle school students to visit a nearby school to witness project-based learning and imagine new possibilities for their own school.

“The role of a true partner is not merely to support a school or district — but to shift systems, elevate voices, and enable excellence. Bay Ed Fund meets this standard,” said Dr. Christian Rubalcaba, former assistant superintendent of Student Services in San Mateo-Foster City School District. “The organization has helped districts lean into new mindsets of equity, prioritized family leadership development, and advanced rigorous instructional improvements in tandem with community-led visioning. Their approach ensures that high expectations and academic excellence are intertwined with deep respect for the lived experiences of students and families.”