Carnegie Foundation For Advancement Teaching W Coast Office Education

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching operates as a private operating foundation — a fundamentally different structure from traditional grantmaking foundations. With $134.6M in assets (FY2023) and $18.3M in annual program expenditures, Carnegie channels virtually all of its capital into its own initiatives, research programs, and direct partnerships. External grants paid have been near-zero since FY2019, totaling just $10,000 in FY2018 and $383,000 at their peak in FY2013. The foundation's own FAQ explicitly states it does not award grants or scholarships.

This means the pathway to Carnegie funding and collaboration is entirely relationship- and alignment-driven. Organizations do not submit grant proposals through a portal — they become partners within Carnegie's programmatic framework. The primary vehicle is Carnegie's signature improvement science methodology: Networked Improvement Communities (NICs) that bring together schools, districts, universities, and nonprofits to tackle specific educational equity challenges using structured PDSA cycles and driver diagrams.

Under President Timothy Knowles (IRS-reported compensation: $730,635 in the most recent filing), Carnegie has repositioned around two strategic aims: High School Transformation and Postsecondary Innovation. Organizations that want to engage Carnegie must demonstrate deep alignment with these priorities and show capacity — or willingness to build capacity — within the improvement science framework.

Carnegie particularly favors: K-12 school districts with demonstrable equity challenges and receptive senior leadership; educator preparation programs at universities and teacher residencies; organizations advancing competency-based or career-connected learning; and postsecondary institutions serving underrepresented students. Past consulting engagements include Baltimore City Public Schools (14 middle and high schools focused on secondary literacy) and an 11-institution Texas teacher preparation partnership with Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation.

First-time engagements typically begin at the Carnegie Summit, through the Networked Improvement Fellows program, or via the Community Engagement Classification process for postsecondary institutions. The foundation received $3.7M in contributions in FY2023 — meaning it does accept philanthropic support from co-funders — but the primary value proposition for most partners is Carnegie's technical assistance, research expertise, and network facilitation, not outbound dollars.

Carnegie's financial profile diverges sharply from traditional grantmakers: its 'total giving' line in IRS filings represents program expenditures on its own initiatives, not outbound grants to third parties. Four major program expense buckets from recent filings tell the strategic story:

• Improvement Science Field Building: $2.9M — Carnegie Summit operations, Improvement Practice Network leadership development, ILEAD (Improvement Leadership Education and Development) initiative
• Improvement Science Research & Development: $1.6M — Networked Improvement Fellows, the NILS online platform for NIC chartering and improvement testing, Gates Network Development Measurement Project (in partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation)
• Improvement Science Consulting: $1.5M — Direct district consulting (Baltimore City Public Schools 14-school NIC; 11-institution Texas teacher prep partnership with RYHT Foundation); Evidence for Improvement Network
• Development Agenda / Technology Platforms: $980K — NILS infrastructure, Teaching Commons standalone platform

Total program expenditures have grown from $12.5M (FY2012) to $18.3M (FY2023), a 47% increase over 11 years. Assets have grown more modestly from $111.7M to $134.6M over the same period. Net investment income was $2.6M in FY2023; contributions received were $3.7M, compared to a $9.7M spike in FY2021 that almost certainly reflects a major infusion from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Networks for School Improvement initiative.

External grants paid have essentially ceased: $290K (FY2012), $383K (FY2013), $245K (FY2014), $10K (FY2018), $0 in FY2019–2023. Any organization expecting a grant check from Carnegie will be disappointed — the investment model is human capital (consulting hours, fellow stipends, platform access, convenings), not checks.

Officer compensation has nearly doubled from $844K (FY2012) to $1.9M (FY2023), reflecting the expansion of senior leadership under the Knowles administration.

Carnegie CFAT occupies a unique niche as an education operating foundation — it produces knowledge and builds field capacity rather than distributing grants. Peers range from pure grantmakers to hybrid operating-grantmaking models:

The critical distinction: Carnegie CFAT is the only foundation in this peer set that makes virtually no external grants. Spencer and William T. Grant are the most accessible for researchers seeking competitive grants in education. Lumina mirrors Carnegie's postsecondary focus but does award substantial grants. Joyce Foundation is the best open-grant alternative for K-12 equity organizations in the Midwest.

For organizations seeking to understand Carnegie's philosophy, note that Carnegie Corporation of New York — a separate organization entirely — is actually a major donor to Carnegie CFAT, having provided grants through its own grantmaking program. The two organizations share a name and heritage but operate independently.

Carnegie's 2025–2026 activity reflects a foundation in active strategic transition under President Timothy Knowles:

December 16, 2025 — Carnegie and College Board announced a national initiative to expand the teacher pipeline for career-connected coursework, launching a multi-state certification coalition with pilot programs beginning June 2026. This partnership positions Carnegie squarely in the career and technical education (CTE) reform space.

January 2026 — More than 230 U.S. colleges and universities received the 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, a biennial recognition program that has become one of the foundation's primary mechanisms for field-building with postsecondary institutions. Arizona State University was among the named recipients.

July 2025 — Carnegie released a formal R&D Agenda for High School Transformation, signaling an intent to convene and fund external research partners around a structured set of questions about secondary school redesign.

2025 — Carnegie and ETS jointly released three Skills Progressions (Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking), establishing competency frameworks intended to supplement traditional academic standards for high school students.

2025 — Carnegie launched the Future of High School Network with 24 school systems and introduced the Opportunity Colleges and Universities (OCUs) classification for postsecondary institutions.

March–November 2025 — After 11 consecutive years as summit host, Carnegie transferred National Summit on Improvement in Education leadership to a community coalition; the Spring Summit ran March 30 – April 1 in San Diego and the Fall Summit November 6–7 in Nashville. Starting in 2026, the National Coalition on Improvement in Education leads planning.

Because Carnegie is an operating foundation that does not accept unsolicited grant proposals, 'application tips' must be reframed as partnership engagement strategies. The following are specific and actionable:

Adopt the language and methodology. Carnegie staff screen potential partners for improvement science fluency. Before any outreach, ensure your organization can speak credibly about Networked Improvement Communities, driver diagrams, PDSA cycles, and equity-centered problem framing. Carnegie's published works (available at carnegiefoundation.org) are the primary study materials.

Enter through a formal pathway. The three structured entry points are: (1) the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification for postsecondary institutions (apply every two years); (2) the Networked Improvement Fellows program for practitioners and researchers; and (3) the Carnegie Summit for initial relationship-building. Cold outreach to program staff without a prior Summit connection rarely succeeds.

Align with one of two strategic aims. Carnegie's current strategic plan has exactly two priorities — High School Transformation and Postsecondary Innovation. Frame any partnership pitch around one of these, using Carnegie's own language: 'competency-based,' 'career-connected,' 'social and economic mobility,' 'underrepresented students.' Generic 'education improvement' framing is insufficient.

Target the right staff. Senior Vice Presidents Paul Lemahieu and Ash Vasudeva have historically overseen consulting and network partnerships. President Timothy Knowles (compensation: $730,635) sets strategic direction. Treasurer/Contact Douglas Mihok handles administrative inquiries at (650) 566-5100.

Demonstrate data infrastructure. Carnegie's improvement science approach requires partners to collect, analyze, and act on real-time data at the school and student level. Organizations without existing data systems or willingness to build them are poor fits.

Timing. Engagement conversations are most productive in the fall (September–November) following the Fall Summit, when Carnegie staff are in active planning mode for the next programmatic cycle. Avoid outreach in March–April (Spring Summit prep) when staff bandwidth is constrained.