Elaine Gast Fawcett

Education for Anyone, Anywhere

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SalKhan
By Elaine Gast Fawcett, on behalf of ASF

Sal Khan is changing the way students learn. 

Just four years ago, the hedge-fund manager quit his job to teach math—for free—over the Internet.

It all started when he taught his 12-year-old cousin how to change kilograms to grams. Working out of his closet with an electronic doodle pad and a headset, Khan uploaded short tutorials to YouTube that soon went viral.

Today, he runs the nonprofit Khan Academy with a mission to provide a free world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Each month, 7 million students view his more than 3,400 tutorials online.

Initially funded with a $100,000 donation from philanthropist Ann Doerr, the Khan Academy now has significant backing from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Google. 

Khan’s model for learning is quite different from the grade school model we all grew up in. “You can get a C in a class and the school will still advance you on to the next topic,” he said at the ASF 2012 National Conference plenary lunch on Tuesday. “We say: Instead of learning something fixed, what’s fixed here is that you have a high level of understanding of a topic before you move on. What’s variable is how and when you learn it.” Continue reading →

The Capacity to Aspire

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David Bornstein
By Elaine Gast Fawcett, on behalf of ASF

“The way we imagine the world will determine what we do.” —David Bornstein

What if we are closer to solving problems than we realize?

New York Times columnist and author David Bornstein believes that the solutions for the some of world’s biggest problems already exist. They may not be in your backyard, but they’re out there. It’s just a matter of finding them.

Bornstein addressed a roomful of leaders in philanthropy at Monday’s ASF 2012 National Conference plenary lunch. He spoke about the ways funders can find innovative solutions to major social problems by examining what works—and what doesn’t—around the globe.

“What if we could eradicate homelessness in three or four years? Change the foster care system so that 80, 90, even 100% of those kids came out fully functional? Or change schools so that children were kind instead of bullies?” he said. “We’re doing many of these things today. We have the solutions. It’s a blueprint—not a poem.” Continue reading →

How Innovation Can Transform Giving

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By Elaine Gast Fawcett, on behalf of ASF

“Innovation can help you give in a way that matters more.” — Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen

Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen is obsessed with innovation.

In Sunday’s opening plenary lunch at the ASF 2012 National Conference, the family philanthropist and best-selling author of the book Giving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World spoke to 800 small foundations about innovation as a force that drives change and expands our human potential.

It’s innovation, she said, that will help small-staffed foundations evolve their giving potential.

“All of us here are compelled to live in a way that touches and transforms individuals lives. We are compelled to give,” she said. “And through innovation, every single small foundation has power to give in a way that matters more.”

That’s powerful stuff. But what does it mean to innovate? Especially for a foundation with limited staff, time, or resources? Continue reading →

The Need to Know What Works

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By Elaine Gast Fawcett, on behalf of ASF

Elaine GastSmall-staffed foundations have caught the What Works fever. They want to know what works in their grantmaking in order to have the most impact. After all, the more foundations can show how their own grants are making a difference, the more value they can bring to their communities.

To find out what works, foundations look to evaluation. But in small-staffed foundations, who has the time for evaluation? And among those who do evaluation, how much of the data gathered is actually meaningful or valuable?

According to John Bare of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation in Atlanta, the What Works fever (he calls it a movement) evolved from the notion that we can use science to cure social problems. In his example: Just as water boils at a certain temperature, we can apply certain factors to all small towns that will eliminate teen pregnancy.

If only it were that easy. Continue reading →