As we begin a new school year, in some ways, I’d like to block much of the pain and uncertainty that we experienced in our public schools last academic year. Amid the tremendous disruption, our grantee partners seized opportunities to accelerate their mission to support students and teachers.

As a family foundation with over 90 years of history, we have never faced a confluence of events like we have in 2020.

In 2019, inspired by what we launched in Read Charlotte’s community-wide movement, we announce a new strategic issue for the next five years: equitable access to effective teachers.

Fiscal year 2018 was a milestone year for The Belk Foundation – we marked our 90th year of grantmaking. We also engaged in reflection on the Foundation’s future and how best to focus our time and energy for impact within our two focus areas, K-3 achievement and excellent teachers and leaders.

In fiscal year 2017, The Belk Foundation began a new chapter by intentionally focusing our grantmaking in Charlotte and at the North Carolina state-level. This year, we made 37 grants, totaling $3.1 million, to strengthen public education.