Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation
ActivePhilanthropy & VoluntarismFunds Individuals
About Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation
The Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation is a highly focused education funder that concentrates almost exclusively on K–12 school reform, with a strong emphasis on charter school networks, leadership development, and scaling successful curricula and school models. They support both national charter organizations and local urban networks, plus advocacy/coalition groups that advance charter growth and education policy. Grants are large and strategic, aimed at expansion, replication, and talent pipelines rather than small program grants.
Focus Areas
Urban charter school networks and expansion (e.g., Achievement First, KIPP, Success Academy)School leadership and teacher pipeline programs (e.g., New Leaders, Aspiring Teachers Accelerator)Scaling curriculum and school model replication (e.g., K–12 curriculum redesign and scaling)State and city-level charter advocacy and policy (e.g., 50CAN, CharterForward initiatives)Local charter incubators and start-up support (e.g., The Mind Trust, Zeta Charter Schools)
Who They Fund
aspiring teachers and teacher residents
About Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation
The Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation Inc. places unusually large bets on K-12 education, especially charter school networks, educator pipelines, and curriculum scaling. Its recent awards show a funder that backs both national organizations and local operators: KIPP received a $10,000,000 general operating grant in 2025, while The Mind Trust was awarded $9,400,000 for CharterForwardCT. The foundation also supports growth-oriented charter models and the infrastructure around them, including grants to Zeta Charter Schools, Success Academy Charter Schools, New Leaders, and Relay Graduate School of Education. That pattern points to a strategy centered on expansion, replication, and school quality rather than short-term project work. The portfolio also reaches into policy and sector support, with grants tied to advocacy and school finance work, and into teacher preparation through residency and accelerator models. Across the recent grants list, the foundation’s education program is the clearest thread: it funds organizations that build school networks, strengthen leadership, and move successful models into new settings.
What Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation Funds
In K-12 school reform, the foundation funds both network growth and talent pipelines. It gave $3,600,000 to New Leaders for the Aspiring Teachers Accelerator Program, and $2,100,000 to Relay Graduate School of Education for the Charter Residency Consortium. Those grants sit alongside support for teacher preparation and residency pathways, showing attention to how educators enter and move through the sector. The foundation also backs charter-school model development and expansion. Success Academy Charter Schools received $3,500,000 for K-12 curriculum redesign and scaling, while Connecticut-based charter support appears in grants such as $9,400,000 to The Mind Trust for CharterForwardCT and $2,500,000 to Elevate Charter Schools for general operating and Danbury charter school support. Policy and advocacy are another clear theme. 50can received $3,708,100 for LEAD, the Latinos for Educational Advocacy and Diversity initiative, with a second 2025 award of $2,256,900 for the same effort.
How Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation Gives
Typical grants cluster around a median of $100,000, with the middle half running from $17,000 at p25 to $275,000 at p75. The recent-grants list also includes repeated awards to the same organizations across multiple years, including Achievement First, Elevate Charter Schools, Columbia University, Third Sector New England, and Capital Preparatory Schools, which suggests ongoing relationships rather than one-off transactions. The foundation is a regular funder and also makes program-related investments, including a low-interest loan program for current grantees, though the recent grant data here is dominated by outright grants. General operating support appears frequently, alongside restricted support and larger time-limited bets.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$106.3M
Total Assets
$2.8B
Total Revenue
$1.9B
Total Expenses
$116.1M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $17K and $275K, with a median of $100K.
25th Percentile
$17K
Median
$100K
75th Percentile
$275K
Geographic Reach
Regional19 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
CARRIE SCHINDELE
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Accepts unsolicited proposals
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Where Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation Funds
Top 2 recipient countries by grant volume for Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation.
| Rank | Country | Grants | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United StatesDomestic | 511 | $191.8M | 96.6% |
| 2 | Brazil |
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