Stand for Children

About Stand for Children

Stand for Children Inc. combines advocacy funding with state-based political and operating support, and one of its clearest signals is the $891,500 ballot-measure grant to Invest in Arizona in 2023. That grant sits alongside repeated, large general contributions to affiliated state entities such as Stand for Children AZ IEC and Stand for Children OR PAC, showing a structure built around both direct program work and campaign infrastructure. The foundation’s stated aim is to advance education equity and improve outcomes for children through advocacy, policy change, community engagement, and evidence-based programs focused on student success. Its support reaches several parts of the education pipeline. In Arizona, it has backed scholarship work for first-generation college students through a partnership with The Renaissance Foundation, while also funding efforts tied to high school readiness and graduation. Elsewhere, grants have gone to organizations working on school improvement and education policy, including groups in Colorado, North Carolina, and New Hampshire. The pattern suggests a funder that mixes state-specific priorities with broader education reform work, using both project grants and general contributions to support nonprofit and campaign partners.

What Stand for Children Funds

Education equity is the organizing theme across the foundation’s grantmaking. In Arizona, Stand for Children Inc. gave $260,000 to Save Our Schools Arizona in 2023 as a general contribution, and also provided $50,000 to Yes4IPS in 2024 for ballot measure support. Those gifts show a willingness to fund both advocacy organizations and election-related education work. High school success is another clear area. The foundation funds 9th grade on-track work in Arizona through legislative-funded grants for schools and school districts to implement evidence-based programs that improve attendance, graduation rates, and student achievement. Postsecondary access appears in the scholarship programs run by Stand for Children Arizona in partnership with The Renaissance Foundation, which award $20,000 per recipient over four years to first-generation college students. Parent engagement also shows up through the Kimberly Payton Parent Fellowship in Chicago, which honors parents advocating for educational equity.

How Stand for Children Gives