About Wallace Foundation
The Wallace Foundation is prioritizing K–12 education policy and learning time reform, demonstrated by a single large grant to create a Texas-focused donor-advised fund for expanding summer learning and adding instructional days. The foundation appears to invest in systems-level, state or regionally targeted efforts that aim to change the academic calendar and expand learning opportunities outside the traditional school year.
Focus Areas
Summer learning expansion and extended learning time in K–12State-level education policy and system reform (Texas-focused)Support for donor-advised funds to seed local/state initiativesStrategies to increase instructional days and out-of-school learning
Who They Fund
K-12 school districts (including DC Public Schools, Baltimore City Public Schools, Texas districts)students from low-income householdsschool leaders and educators (principal pipeline participants)smaller community-based arts organizations
About Wallace Foundation
The Wallace Foundation’s recent grantmaking is anchored by a large Texas effort to expand summer learning by adding days to the school year. In 2023, it awarded $5,604,830 to Communities Foundation of Texas Inc. to establish a donor-advised fund for that work, and then followed with another $3,000,000 to the same organization for the same purpose. That pattern points to a funder that uses substantial, multi-year commitments to move education policy and practice through intermediaries rather than one-off project checks. Its portfolio also shows a strong interest in school leadership and arts participation. Several grants support district- and state-level work on principal pipelines and educator leadership, while another set of large awards backs arts organizations through the foundation’s Advancing Well-Being in the Arts initiative. The Wallace Foundation also funds research, re-granting, and media coverage tied to education issues. Across these areas, the foundation appears to favor system-level efforts that can influence policy, practice, and access for young people and educators at scale.
What Wallace Foundation Funds
In K–12 leadership, The Wallace Foundation funded a wide set of district partnerships through the Equity-Centered Pipeline Initiative. Grants of $2,120,000 went to Columbus City Schools, San Antonio Independent School District, Board of Education of Jefferson County Kentucky, Fresno Unified School District, DC Public Education Fund for DC Public Schools, School District No. 1J Multnomah County Oregon, Winston Salem Forsyth County, and Fund for Educational Excellence Inc. for Baltimore City Public Schools. In arts, the foundation made three $3,000,000 awards in 2025 to Alternate ROOTS Inc., National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, and First Peoples Fund, each to participate in Wallace's Advancing Well-Being in the Arts initiative. It also supports evidence-building. A $2,476,932 grant to Family Health International was for connecting districts to resources for a three-year summer learning plan and for convening a Summer Learning Community. Separate research funding includes a $2,252,202 award to the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System to study districts participating in Wallace's ECPI.
How Wallace Foundation Gives
The Wallace Foundation’s typical grant size sits at $28,000 at the 25th percentile, $130,500 at the median, and $274,000 at the 75th percentile, but the recent record also includes multi-million-dollar commitments for specific initiatives. The same recipient can appear across years: Communities Foundation of Texas Inc. received a $5,604,830 grant in 2023 and a follow-on $3,000,000 grant in 2023 for the same Texas summer-learning effort, and several school districts received Year 3 funding in 2024 after earlier participation. The foundation is a regular funder, not a DAF-only sponsor, and it funds individuals as well as organizations. Its active grants show little sign of open, unrestricted intake; multiple programs state that unsolicited applications are not accepted, while some research and project support is awarded through time-limited calls.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$54.3M
Total Assets
$1.8B
Total Revenue
$124.1M
Total Expenses
$85.9M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $28K and $274K, with a median of $131K.
25th Percentile
$28K
Median
$131K
75th Percentile
$274K
Geographic Reach
National38 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
William I Miller
President & Director
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Where Wallace Foundation Funds
Top 2 recipient countries by grant volume for Wallace Foundation.
| Rank | Country | Grants | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United StatesDomestic | 790 | $199.4M | 99.9% |
| 2 | Puerto Rico | 1 |
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