ABOUT US _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Startup:Education is a not-for-profit grantmaking organization established in 2010 by Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan to improve access to high-quality education for all students. We are a supporting organization of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and an affiliate of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. We were founded on the core beliefs that a high-quality education is the gateway to opportunity, that great teachers are central to that effort, and that no smart, hardworking students should lack the resources they need to be successful. OUR WORK IN PERSONALIZED LEARNING We are committed to supporting personalized learning. Personalized learning empowers teachers to work with students to create a customized learning path that meets the student's individual needs and interests, and empowers students to master a broad range of skills, engage in their own learning, progress at their own pace, and meet rigorous college and career expectations. Technology enables this approach and helps to track progress. OUR WORK IN THE BAY AREA In May 2014, Startup:Education committed $120 million over 5 years to support initiatives to improve education in underserved, local communities in the Bay Area. To this end, we are supporting traditional district and public charter schools, as well as a number of innovative organizations working more broadly to increase high-quality school choices, foster student development, leverage technology in the classroom and reimagine the school model to truly prepare students for the 21st century. OUR HISTORY Startup:Education launched in September 2010 with a 5-year gift of $100 million to improve education in Newark, New Jersey. This commitment focused on improving the quality of teaching and learning in Newark for all of its public school students, supporting the expansion of high-quality district and charter schools, and implementing sustainable, systemic change to improve public education for all students.