Unlocking Potential:

Supporting Impact, Innovation, and Equity at Scale

What if every education leader and team that identified a challenge could access the expertise and hands-on support they needed to address it? What if, as a sector, we were continuously learning from these efforts and leveraging insights to better students, families, and communities?

Catalyst:Ed is a national nonprofit working to transform the capacity of the nation’s education ecosystem and improve outcomes for the millions of students it serves. Our pioneering model rapidly and effectively matches education organizations to tailored technical assistance and capacity building supports so they can address long-standing challenges and expand the limits of what they can accomplish. We also invest in strengthening the capacity of grassroots organizations that work in close proximity to historically marginalized communities. At a systemic level, we are building the “marketplace” infrastructure – the technology, network, and know-how – needed to support capacity building at scale, strengthening the field of providers, and facilitating sector-wide learning.

Our Impact

Our Guiding Beliefs

  • Leaders know their organization needs and contexts best, and must have agency to decide what expert support they need to build team capacity.
  • Deep expertise and experience exist in the sector – and by leveraging it wisely, leaders can accelerate impact.
  • By gathering the insights that emerge as leaders and providers work together, we can build our collective understanding of what works, in what context.

Our Work

We help school systems, education agencies, postsecondary institutions, education nonprofits and philanthropies tap into the expertise of our network of education leaders and technical assistance providers in order to spur change and power organizational learning and capacity building.

  • Unlocking Capacity

    We strengthen organizational capacity by matching education organizations with customized support so they can strengthen their organizational and programmatic capabilities and address challenges. 

  • Investing in Potential

    We invest in capacity building for grassroots organizations that work with historically marginalized communities, and match them to our diverse community of providers who understand and are responsive to grassroots contexts and needs.

  • Strengthening the Field

    We strengthen the field of providers by offering a platform for them to access new opportunities, demonstrate expertise, learn, and collaborate.

  • Amplifying Insights

    We facilitate sector-wide learning by aggregating data and insights across hundreds of projects and disseminating it broadly to build the collective understanding and capacity of the sector.

Explore Our Expert Hubs and Exchanges

  • CE Expert Hubs

    Our Expert Hubs provide leaders with value-added supports in high-need, high-impact areas such as equity and innovation.

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  • CE Exchanges

    Our Exchanges work with foundations in building grantee capacity, while also supporting peer connections and learning.

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Our Funding Partners