2018-01-31T15:45:12-06:00 2016-12-31 HURRICANE IRMA SMITH & HOWARD PC 271 17TH STREET SUITE 1600 ATLANTA GA 30363 990 2016-01-01 135562388 SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC % TROY D JOHNSON SOUT 4045230001 101 MARIETTA ST NW Suite 1650 ATLANTA GA 30303 TROY JOHNSON OFFICER 4045230001 2018-01-31 true MARC AZAR P91739349 4048746244 50.58.246.46 67983820180315000032 2018-01-31 P FC72E9DAD08D5C00AF6E7F09DEF1C7DCB312DFA4 B4AD22B8ABF0B46F7581053B55C3B468FF9EAA4F 2016 2021-01-29 14:40:06Z X RAYMOND PIERCE 101 MARIETTA ST NW STE 1650 ATLANTA GA 30303 17203330 false X www.southerneducation.org X 1867 GA TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR DISADVANTAGED RESIDENTS IN THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES BY PROMOTING EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION. 9 9 13 15 0 6696000 693538 0 0 672846 3503186 1178 20000 7370024 4216724 677688 84891 0 0 1660511 1977643 0 52496 124878 758902 687245 3097101 2802275 4272923 1414449 26399087 25921446 145866 47403 26253221 25874043 X FOUNDED IN 1867 AS THE GEORGE PEABODY EDUCATION FUND, THE SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATIONS MISSION IS TO ADVANCE EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION FOR ALL STUDENTS IN THE SOUTH, PARTICULARLY LOW INCOME STUDENTS AND STUDENTS OF COLOR. SEF USES COLLABORATION, ADVOCACY, AND RESEARCH TO IMPROVE OUTCOMES FROM EARLY CHILDHOOD TO ADULTHOOD. OUR CORE BELIEF IS THAT EDUCATION IS THE VEHICLE BY WHICH ALL STUDENTS GET FAIR CHANCES TO DEVELOP THEIR TALENTS AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE COMMON GOOD. SEF strives to fulfill its mission through the following core program areas: expanding early learning opportunities, advancing public education and improving college access and completion. SEF executes five primary strategies across our programs: 1) Leveraging knowledge of the field: by establishing and operating task forces, work groups, and learning communities to organize knowledge and advance new solutions to long standing problems; 2) Putting good ideas to a fair test: promoting, conducting, and using demon false false 1939428 84891 For a summary of our strategies, activities and accomplishments in 2015 follows for each program area, please see continuation on Schedule O. 1939428 true true false true false false false false false true true false false false false true true false false false false false false true false false false true false true false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false true 22 0 true 13 true false false false false false false false false false false X 9 9 false false false false false false false true true false false true true true true true true true true false GA NY X X TROY D JOHNSON 4045230001 101 MARIETTA ST NW STE 1650 ATLANTA GA 30303 FRED FRELOW TRUSTEE 2.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 ESTHER AGUILERA TRUSTEE 2.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 DR ALICE BROWN TRUSTEE 2.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 DR SUSAN JOHNSTON CHAIR, TRUSTEE 5.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 DICK MOLPUS TRUSTEE 2.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 DR WARREN SIMMONS TRUSTEE 2.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 MICHAEL NETTLES TRUSTEE 2.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 LISA HAMILTON SECRETARY, TRUSTEE 5.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 MILTON LITTLE TREASURER, TRUSTEE 5.0 0.0 X 0 0 0 TROY D JOHNSON CFO/COO 50.0 0.0 X 156760 0 29580 DR CYRIL K MCGUIRE CEO 50.0 0.0 X 285000 0 48066 DR LEAH AUSTIN VICE PRESIDENT 50.0 0.0 X 139917 0 5337 TOMEKA HART VICE PRESIDENT 50.0 0.0 X 70208 0 13496 651885 0 96479 3 false true false LEARNING POLICY INSTITUTE 1530 PAGE MILL RD STE 200 PALO ALTO CA 94304 RESEARCH 300291 1 X 693538 693538 0 487208 487208 0 0 0 0 0 16002584 12986606 3015978 3015978 3015978 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 OTHER INCOME 900099 20000 20000 20000 4216724 3523186 84891 84891 0 0 0 753609 593763 134135 25711 0 1042043 834374 175144 32525 37975 25447 10219 2309 60343 48317 10142 1884 83673 59031 22062 2580 4191 4191 15013 15013 37000 37000 0 52496 52496 88391 88391 80635 4607 76028 40840 25305 15535 118967 58912 56160 3895 0 0 5257 5257 171791 117376 54415 0 33673 27263 6410 0 0 49076 38279 9325 1472 14287 14287 GIFTS & DONATIONS 3146 1859 1287 DUES & SUBSCRIPTIONS 15128 1554 11568 2006 PROGRAM SUPPLIES 4330 4140 190 HONORARIA 2250 2250 3270 23 3247 2802275 1939428 737969 124878 0 0 1750425 2966754 4132231 2304220 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21249 13068 1457886 1283424 223538 174462 20268864 20460162 0 0 0 0 0 0 2780 2780 26399087 25921446 145866 47403 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 145866 47403 X 11318697 11423162 14622124 14138481 312400 312400 26253221 25874043 26399087 25921446 X 1414449 -1772724 -20903 X false true X true false X 615125 545306 1470664 6696000 693538 10020633 0 0 615125 545306 1470664 6696000 693538 10020633 6405860 3614773 713751 558548 557185 514925 487208 2831617 0 12163 1061 637 1177 20000 35038 12887288 27092 0.28049 0.28698 X PART II, LINE 17A While Southern Education Foundation, Inc. ("Foundation") failed to meet the mechanical "one-third of support" test in 2016, it clearly satisfied the alternative "facts and circumstances" test outlined in section 1.170A-9(f)(3) of the Treasury Regulations. Specifically, the two required factors are present in this case: 1. The organization must receive at least 10% of its support in the form of public support. As noted in Schedule A to Form 990, in 2016 the Foundation received approximately 28.05% of its total support in the form of public support - an amount far in excess of the 10% threshold. 2. The organization must have an active "continuous and bona fide" fundraising program designed to attract new and additional public support. The Foundation carried on an active program of public solicitation in 2016 and raised over $690,000 from more than a dozen different sources. In addition, all of the "favorable factors" described in the tax regulations relevant to non-membership organizations are present in this case: 1. The higher the percentage of support above 10%, the lesser the burden of the organization in establishing that it is publicly supported. In this case, the Foundation's public support percentage is substantially above 10%. (The Foundation nearly satisfied the mechanical "one-third" test.) 2. The organization receives support from a representative number of persons rather than from members of a single family or from a limited base of support. Over the years, the Foundation has attracted contributions from a large and varied number of sources, including dozens of the nation's most well-known and respected charities. 3. The composition of the organization's governing body is representative of broad public interests. The Foundation's Board of Directors has a diverse membership which includes foundation executives, community leaders, and persons with special expertise in education. Its governing body represents the interests of the larger public rather than the personal or private interests of a limited number of donors. 4. The organization conducts programs and activities that are available to and that appeal to the general public. (The fact that a research or educational organization conducts scholarly studies which are used by educators or the general public is evidence of public support.) The Foundation conducts analyses of education issues, trends, and possibilities and disseminates the data in accessible formats to the lay public and to policy makers. Additionally, through its website, conferences, and direct dissemination of its publications, the Foundation provides essential information to the public about educational problems and solutions. In sum, the facts and circumstances in this case clearly demonstrate broad public support for, and interest and involvement in, the Foundation's mission and programs. Therefore, the Foundation continues to qualify as a "publicly supported charity" described in sections 509(a)(1) and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of the Internal Revenue Code. RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED 60000 0 60000 2742275 2802275 290114 72529 false 289166 308357 300875 290114 1188512 1782768 10468 265608 215000 60000 551076 72292 77089 75219 72529 297129 445694 60000 60000 22934524 579797 26565 88036 726627 275342 22450881 17152895 6688023 -6283 900111 22934524 17115479 1335600 637 358466 759875 180480 17152895 18495972 496000 343543 1181561 351389 17115479 19667080 575000 6250 1739858 18495972 0.35630 0.01390 0.62980 false false 1293200 1118738 174462 91112 91112 73574 73574 174462 0 0 X 2423097 -1772724 -20903 -1793627 4216724 4216724 2802275 2802275 2802275 INTENDED USES OF THE ORGANIZATION'S ENDOWMENT FUNDS ENDOWMENT FUNDS ARE USED TO SUPPORT THE FOUNDATION'S VARIOUS RESEARCH, ANALYSIS, ADVOCACY, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS. LIABILITY FOR UNCERTAIN TAX POSITIONS UNDER ASC 740-10 The Foundation is recognized as an organization exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code as an organization described in Section 501(c)(3). The Foundation annually evaluates all federal and state income tax positions. This process includes an analysis of whether these income tax positions the Foundation takes meet the definition of an uncertain tax position under the Income Taxes Topic of the Financial Accounting Standards Codification. In the normal course of business, the Foundation is subject to examination by federal and state taxing authorities. The Foundation believes it is no longer subject to tax examinations for tax years ending before December 31, 2013. PART XI, LINE 2D 20,903 - REFUND OF GRANT X X X X true COX CURRY STRATEGIC CONSULTING false 33798 SYNERGY GROUP FUNDRAISING LOGISTICS false 18698 52496 GA NY true PUBLIC EDUCATION MATTERS GEORGIA 1090 BELLEVUE DRIVE ATLANTA GA 30306 474928680 501(C)(3) 40000 TEACHING GRANT NATIONAL PUBLIC EDUCATION SUPPORT FUND 1900 L STREET NW STE 520 WASHINGTON DC 20036 263015634 501(C)(3) 20000 TEACHING GRANT COMMITTEE TO KEEP GEORGIA SCHOOLS LOCAL 155 bradford square ste b fayetteville GA 30215 10000 radio advertising 2 1 PROCEDURES FOR MONITORING THE USE OF GRANT FUNDS The organization requires an annual report detailing the outcome of the project funded and an accounting for the monies received. X X X X X false false false false false false false true false TROY D JOHNSON CFO/COO 149760 0 7000 0 0 0 22464 0 8608 0 187832 0 0 0 DR CYRIL K MCGUIRE CEO 285000 0 0 0 0 0 40950 0 8847 0 334797 0 0 0 PART II COLUMN (B)(II) BONUSES WERE BASED ON PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS. PART III, LINE 4A (1) CONTINUED FROM FORM 990, PART III, LINE 4A Promoting Early Learning Opportunities: Decades of studying the link between poverty and education have confirmed that high quality early childhood programs may be the single best investment for getting young children, especially the new majority of low incomes students in the South, to be school-ready and succeed. In addition to tracking demographic changes in the region, SEF continues to monitor policy and program developments across the South. Our Strategy: 1) Providing research, technical assistance and tools: uncovering early education trends, impact, and best practices in financing and aligning early education systems (birth-to-eight) stakeholders can use for informing policymaking decisions; 2) Creating opportunity for cross-state collaboration: sharing information related to strategies for equitably raising the quality of early learning systems without lowering access; 3) Building community awareness and support: bringing new partners to the table and ensuring current stakeholders and allies are working more strategically together. During 2016 SEF maintained its efforts to monitor access and funding trends in early learning, making this information available to allies and partners in the region. Staff also engaged national early learning networks, both in the advocacy and philanthropic communities. In this regard, the President worked closely with the Southeastern Council on Foundations to design a session at their annual conference highlighting a range of strategies for improving access and shaping policy in the early learning arena. Advancing Public Education: Public education for all children has long been a cornerstone of democracy in the United States, and the American South has been the center of the battle to achieve this goal. A perennial threat is the disinvestment in our public schools and increasing efforts to divert funds to private and charter schools as a hindrance from achieving equity in education for all, and we work to push back on these efforts and advance well-funded, safe, supportive, and diverse public schools that are held to meaningful and fair standards. Our Strategy: 1) Informing and supporting public education campaigns across the South, to help engage, connect, and align diverse coalitions within and across states to employ multi-strategy approaches to advance public education; 2) Regionalizing efforts through policy research and communications efforts, to help marshal evidence about what works in the region and strengthen the public education narrative; and 3) Advancing ideas about teaching and learning to provide education advocates with where defensive battles can become offensive ones that shift from simply protecting public education to re-envisioning public education systems that support all children. In 2016, SEF used a number of initiatives to implement this strategy support for advocacy campaigns, communications, policy research and data sharing across the country and across the South. Most of this work was done by working closely throughout the year with both national and regional stakeholders interested in education justice in the American South (the, Advancement Project, the Alliance for Education Justice, the American Federation of Teachers, the Education Justice Network, the Opportunity Institute, the Center for Popular Democracy and the Partnership for the Future of Learning.) and others who have a history of advocacy and organizing work in the region. One example was SEFs continuing presence in Mississippi. It is important to note that SEF was involved in the Better Schools Better Jobs campaign during 2015. That campaign did not result in a change to Mississippis constitution. During 2016 as a follow on to SEFs involvement in the campaign, staff worked closely with Mississippi One Voice and other partners in a range of follow-up activities from this ballot initiative. These included conducting interviews to surface lessons from the campaign, developing a summary of key milestones in the campaign and using this information to help tell the Mississippi story to various audiences at the national level. Collaborating with the Opportunity Institute and its major K12 initiative, Partners for Each and Every Child, SEF provided assistance in the initial months following the passage of Each and Every Student Act, commonly referred to as ESSA, both in Mississippi and Georgia. The early opportunity was to provide opportunities for stakeholder groups to access and inform state level ESSA planning efforts just as they were getting underway. With Partners For, guides for stakeholder engagement were provided to state officials, to facilitate their efforts to work with advocacy groups. Following this, SEF served on the Georgia Department of Educations ESSA State Advisory Council. As we got into this effort, it became apparent that marginalized groups (civil rights organizations, child advocate groups, etc.) were not being fully engaged. SEF engaged representatives from over 20 advocacy groups late in the year to discuss the states evolving ESSA plan. A significant outcome of our collaboration with the Center for Popular Democracy and the Institute for Education Leadership was the production of Community Schools: Transforming Struggling Schools into Thriving Schools. This report presents the key evidence-based strategies associated with community schools initiatives and profile community schools across the country that are implementing these evidence-based strategies to make a bigger difference for young people. This report was widely disseminated nationally and across the South. It was especially useful in SEFs efforts to support a coalition formed in opposition to a ballot initiative to establish a statewide school district for low performing schools in Georgia. In that effort, SEF assisted the Coalition in its early stages of formation, served as a source of data and analysis, and staged a series of town halls and community forums to educate the public on the facts associated with the initiative. PART III, LINE 4A (2) Improving College Access and Completion: The economic and social returns for a post-secondary credential are indisputable. SEFs higher education efforts are designed to address a range of issues that influence student success and degree attainment among low-income and minority students. With a focus on the post-secondary institutions most likely to serve these students, SEF takes up critical issues known to influence their participation and completion in higher education. Our Strategy: 1) Examining and report on policies that impact participation, retention, and degree completion; 2) Establishing demonstration projects that serve as laboratories for testing innovative practices that hold the promise of increasing degree completion; 3) Convening institutional leaders and university trustees to share evidence-based practices that increase institutional effectiveness; and 4) Providing technical assistance and capacity building to institutions to enhance program effectiveness and student learning outcomes. In 2016 as in years before, SEFs Improving College Access and Completion program area focused on implementing programs designed to assist HBCUs and other MSIs in improving institutional effectiveness and student success. Much of our activity concentrated on working with institutions through the MSI Consortium for Innovation and Change, which has been designed to highlight and support state-of-the-art initiatives that promise to improve institutional practice and outcomes for students. Through the Consortium, SEF identifies and engages institutions that have deep interest and/or investment in enhancing practices that directly improve student success. It aims to promote innovative and effective practices by testing existing programs, performing campus demonstrations, and assessing the effectiveness of promising academic interventions. In a collaborative fashion, SEF coalesced the best thinking and practices to address common and persistent problems related to degree completion for low-income and minority students. Rather than only coaching institutions to improve their own practices, this effort employs rigorous assessments and research protocols to develop defensible evidence about particular practices that inform the larger higher education community. This effort also helps many of the campuses provide the kind of evidence that meets or exceeds what is required for accreditation. One specific product of this work was a report, Not Just Faster: Equity and Learning Centered Developmental Education Strategies. This report provided a summary of the various Developmental Education interventions, evaluation strategies and program outcomes for the minority serving institutions who participated in our effort to develop evidence on practices in development education that would be useful for the higher education community generally. Subjecting a range of popular ideas about remediation (summer bridge, co-requisites, interdisciplinary curricula, extended courses, accelerated math), several lessons emerged from this work. One size does not fit all students so institutions need to consider tailoring their development education (DE) offerings to a range of student needs. Fostering collaboration across the campus is a key to success in these efforts. Effective DE programs impact various academic and administrative units on campus. Obtaining buy-in across these units is essential for addressing challenges as they inevitably emerge. And, how a program works is as important as what works. The point is that we should go out of our way to carefully assess what produces the positive outcomes we seek so that we fully understand what it takes to sustain successful DE initiatives. PART III, LINE 4A (3) Southern Education Leadership Initiative Embedded across the three programs strategy, is SEFs leadership development initiative, the Southern Education Leadership Initiative (SELI). SELI was developed in 2004 to honor the 50 year anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. For a decade, SELI has provided intensive trainings and paid summer fellowships to a diverse and inspired group of 175 college and graduate level students interested in working with nonprofit organizations to make systemic changes in education policy and practice. During the summer of 2016, we worked with 12 summer fellows to help build the capacity of organizations across the South: Eradicating the School to Prison Pipeline in Miami, Florida, the ACLU Georgia, One Voice in Jackson, Mississippi, Arkansas Public Policy Panel in Little Rock, Birmingham Education Foundation in Alabama, the ACLU Racial Justice Racial Justice Program in Brooklyn, the Institute for Child Success in Greenville, South Carolina, the Intercultural Development Research Association in Houston, Texas Appleseed in Austin, Voices for Georgias Children in Atlanta, among others. As part of this work, we hired a full year fellow in 2016 to serve as the Advancing Public Education Fellow to assist in all activities of the program area of the next twelve months. At the end of the summer, the fellows formally presented to their peers and SEF what they learned from this experience at a Closing Meeting in Atlanta, GA July 27-29, 2016. The focus of the meeting was to not only hear about the projects they worked on over the summer, but also provide a space for fellows to think about how they can carry on this mantle of making change in education in their own communities and states. Students were assigned to panels based on the kinds of strategies they were implementing at their placement site and asked to develop their session title as a way of encouraging them to better understand each others work. As with the Orientation, ample time was provided for students to work in small groups and map out individually their thoughts on achieving education equity for all students in the region. We also provided time to visit historical landmarks in Atlanta that included the Martin Luther King Jr. Museum and Ebenezer Baptist Church. Closing conversations focused on examining leadership skills they had developed through the experience and how they might apply what they had learned to their own communities post-summer. All commented that they felt they had bonded as a cohort and were looking forward to staying connected with each other and SEF. Racial Equity Leadership Network Finally, SEF engaged during 2016 in a year-long design effort for a new leadership initiative focused on chief academic officers and school superintendents. To be launched mid-2017, the Racial Equity Leadership Network (RELN) will support cohorts of system leaders in addressing major equity issues in their schools, focusing on discipline policy, health and wellness, teaching and learning and other issues that impact students, especially low-income students and students of color. As with so much of SEFs work, three strong partners are involved in this effort: the Healthy Schools Campaign, the Learning Policy Institute and the National Equity Project. Collectively, they will provide technical assistance, content for professional learning and research and documentation for the Network. PART VI, LINE 11A The 990 is reviewed by the Finance, Audit, and Administration Committee, the CEO and the CFO. After all questions and concerns are addressed a copy of the 990 is presented to each Board member and the 990 is then filed. PART VI, LINE 12C Annually, each Trustee and SEF staff member execute a disclosure form identifying any relationships, positions or circumstances in which he/she is involved that could contribute to a real or perceived conflict of interest. Any information regarding business interest of a Trustee is treated as confidential and is generally made available to the Chair, the President, and any committee appointed to address conflicts of interest, except to the extent additional disclosure is necessary in connection with the implementation of this policy. Trustees do not vote on any matter in which they believe there is duality of interest and may, if asked, be called upon to share with fellow Trustees such information related to the duality of interest as may be necessary and appropriate. The minutes of Board meetings will show that the Trustee having a duality of interest disclosed same and abstained from voting on related matters. A copy of this policy is furnished to each person who is or becomes a member of the Board of Trustees or staff. Each such person is required to review a copy of this policy and acknowledge in writing that he or she has done so. PART VI, LINE 15 IN ORDER TO DETERMINE STAFF COMPENSATION LEVELS FOR ITS SMALL STAFF AND CONSERVATIVE MODEST RESOURCES, SEF CONSULTS SOURCES SUCH AS THE ANNUAL COMPENSATION SURVEY PUBLISHED BY THE COUNCIL ON FOUNDATIONS, REPORTS IN THE CHRONICLE OF PHILANTHROPY, AND THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, RATHER THAN HIRING INDEPENDENT CONSULTANTS TO CONDUCT DETAILED COMPENSATION SURVEYS AND AUDITS. SEF BOARD MEMBERS AND STAFF, AS APPROPRIATE, ALSO CONSULT WITH PEER ORGANIZATIONS TO ASCERTAIN APPROPRIATE COMPENSATION RANGES FOR STAFF. MANY SEF BOARD MEMBERS SERVE, AS WELL, ON OTHER NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONAL BOARDS AND BRING THAT KNOWLEDGE AND PERSPECTIVE TO BEAR IN SETTING COMPENSATION FOR SEF STAFF. SEF'S FINANCE, AUDIT AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE REVIEWS COMPENSATION AS PART OF THE ANNUAL BUDGET-SETTING CYCLE AND DETERMINES COMPENSATION OF THE PRESIDENT BASED UPON AN ANNUAL APPRAISAL OF PERFORMANCE. THAT APPRAISAL CONSIDERS ALL ASPECTS OF THE PRESIDENT'S WORK INCLUDING FUNDRAISING, MANAGEMENT, PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION, GOVERNANCE AND COMMUNICATIONS. SEF'S PRESIDENT APPRAISES THE PERFORMANCE OF OTHER SUBORDINATE SEF STAFF ANNUALLY. ALL SEF STAFF ARE PART OF A MERIT PAY PROGRAM IN WHICH THERE ARE NO AUTOMATIC OR COST OF LIVING INCREASES. PART VI, LINE 19 All SEF public documents are available upon request. Once a request is received the documents can be sent either electronically or through the US postal system. The 2015 CPA audit, conflict of interest policy and whistleblower policy can also be found on the SEF web site in the "Public Documents Listing" PART XI, LINE 9 $20,903 - REFUND OF GRANT