EdAllies 2021 Annual Report

EdAllies Celebrates 5 Years of Being Your Eyes & Ears

Letter From Our Board Chair

Like you, I care deeply about the quality education our kids receive and the care with which it is delivered. I want to know the barriers they face and the best solutions to remove them. But, the engine of everyday life makes it difficult or impossible for parents to keep up with the ever-changing information landscape. That’s where EdAllies comes in.

In 2021, EdAllies celebrated a milestone: five years as one of Minnesota’s most trusted voices in education policy and advocacy. From the steps of the Capitol to community coalition meetings to the classroom, that’s five years of being your eyes and ears on all things impacting the quality of education our students receive. Five years of elevating the voices of those who, historically, have been left out of the conversation. Five years of partnering with students, parents, educators, community organizations, and policymakers to work toward our shared vision of a Minnesota where every student succeeds.

Last year was no different, as advocacy efforts led to major wins that kept diverse and effective educators in the classroom and student-centered policymaking on multiple issues. We produced critical research and looked for the most promising solutions, providing recommendations to advance equity and opportunity. We heard from students and educators whose bravery to tell their stories directly led to change.

EdAllies even leveled up on our commitment to being your eyes and ears with a creative series of weekly video updates that quickly and understandably broke down the most important news in education policy for you.

The last five years have reinforced one thing: We cannot do this work alone. Thanks to you, our community of advocates, organizational partners, and generous supporters, we have been able to advance our mission. We want to deepen our relationship with you as we focus our eyes forward and put our ears to the ground for the next five years and beyond. Because the closer we work together, the closer we will be to changing what is to what should be for our kids.

Thank you.

Karn Engelsgjerd
EdAllies Board Chair

Our Mission

EdAllies partners with schools, families, and communities to ensure that every young Minnesotan has access to a rigorous and engaging education. We advance policies that put underserved students first, remove barriers facing successful schools and programs, and foster an inclusive conversation about what's possible for students.

  1. Advancing equity
  2. Removing barriers
  3. Changing the conversation

Our Core Values

Equity Inventiveness Humility Honesty Courage

2021 Feature Stories

Our Team & Supporters

Staff

Board

This is How We Fight – Together

Thank you to all of our partners who advocated for students on many fronts during the 2021 legislative session—from ensuring pathways to the classroom for the diverse teachers our kids need to stronger guardrails for charter school quality.


56

meetings with legislators

25

Formal letters written
on legislation

66

Total testifiers before 6 different committees

 

251

Grassroots action takers sent …

6,822

emails

Supporters

Foundations and Corportations

  • 3M
  • Advance Consulting
  • Briva Health
  • DailyPay
  • Douglass Brandenborg Family Foundation
  • The Box Top Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation
  • The Curtis L. Carlson Family Foundation
  • F. R. Bigelow Foundation
  • Frey Foundation
  • General Mills Foundation
  • GHR Foundation
  • Great MN Schools
  • Graves Foundation
  • The Joyce Foundation
  • McKnight Foundation
  • The Minneapolis Foundation
  • Mortenson Family Foundation
  • Ciresi Walburn Foundation for Children
  • WEM Foundation
  • Valley Community Food Co-op

Individuals and Family Funds

  • Idil Abdull
  • Zachary Abrams
  • Adriana Alejandro Osorio
  • Albright Foundation
  • Almira Arnold
  • Anonymous
  • Craig J. Alexander Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation
  • The Julie and Doug Baker, Jr. Foundation
  • Steven Baker
  • Paul Baranay
  • Naomi Becker
  • Lauren Bell
  • Elizabeth Besser
  • Tyler Bethke
  • Chad Borseth
  • Nicollette Brady
  • Joanne Brockington
  • The Daniels Family Foundation
  • Richard Campion
  • Mariel Carozza
  • Stuart Chmielewski
  • Alana Christopher
  • Lauren Clyne Medley
  • Joan Coates
  • Lydia Connolly
  • Brenna Connors
  • Nicole Cooley
  • Cheryl Coombs
  • Matthew Crnobrna
  • Joseph Crnobrna
  • Brad Crnobrna
  • Josh Crosson
  • John Crosson
  • Leland Culver
  • Athena Currier
  • Erin Daly
  • Ella Daniels
  • Amanda Demeules
  • Lola Dorsogna
  • Karn Engelsgjerd
  • Emory Erker-Lynch
  • Stephanie Farrell
  • Jeffrey Feldman
  • Grace Ficara
  • Molly Flannagan
  • Katie Fuller
  • Keely Gage
  • Maryanne Gehrenbeck
  • Gunderson Family Foundation of The Minneapolis Foundation
  • Patti Haasch
  • Joshua Habtwold
  • Indra Halvorsone
  • Afua Harris
  • Mary Henke-Haney
  • Daniel Hodges
  • Arlene Howell
  • Maren Hulden
  • Bethany Israelson
  • Flora Ivins
  • Adam Johnson
  • Bernadeia Johnson
  • Kathleen Juhl
  • Celia Kaplan
  • Krista Kaput
  • Nora Kaye
  • Amber Kerrigan
  • Lisa Key
  • Ariana Kiener
  • Deanna Kilgour
  • Holly Kragthorpe
  • Emma LaBelle
  • Lauren Lemos
  • Jenifer Loon
  • Anne Mahle
  • Olivia Malone
  • Geoffrey Marsi
  • Carolyn Martinez
  • Katherine May
  • Kayla McBride
  • Kellen McClain
  • Hannah McCord
  • Bayla McDougal
  • Dick and Joyce H. McFarland Family Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation
  • Alice McGee
  • Lauren Clyne Medley
  • Lori Meyer
  • Lynnell Mickelsen & John Bellaimey
  • Andrew Minck
  • Hailey Modi
  • Alissa Movern
  • Joseph Nathan
  • Michael O'Connell & Sue Hayes
  • Edward Oliver
  • Tim & Sandra Penny
  • Stephanie Phillips
  • Piper Family Fund II of The Minneapolis Foundation
  • Nicole Rapson
  • Remele Family Fund
  • Ashley Reyes
  • Maeve Riley
  • Elsy Rodriguez
  • Andrea Roethke
  • Ben Ruxin
  • Gabriel Sandholm
  • Lily Sears
  • Yaakov Segal
  • Daniel & Stacy Sellers
  • Karen & Richard Sellers
  • Matt Shaver
  • Alexis Shaw
  • Rachel Simone
  • Jelly Sinclair
  • Soran Foundation
  • Smikis Foundation
  • Emily Sroga
  • Morgan Stanley
  • Oron Stenes
  • Jennifer Stern
  • Jacob Street
  • Emily Stroga
  • Bryan Sullivan
  • Erin Tao
  • Nicole Tenorio
  • Bo Thao-Urabe
  • Mark Therrien
  • Marlena Thompson
  • Morgan Tomsche
  • Paul Tucker
  • Sophia Tzougros
  • Katharine Vancil
  • Elena Vidas
  • Adrienne Vitt
  • Roberta Walburn
  • Amy Walstien
  • Rebecca Weaver
  • Janet Weber
  • Joseph Wenger
  • Aliana Whelan
  • Ben and Mary Whitney Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation
  • Varsenik Wilson
  • Amy Zylka

2021 Financials

Functional Expenses

What's next?

We have been hard at work on our 2022 campaigns, from recruiting and retaining the diverse and effective teachers students deserve to ensuring all students are ready for college and career to providing opportunities for those most impacted by Minnesota’s education inequities to guide our work, tell their stories, and demand justice in education.

You can support this work by:

Download a PDF of this report

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