2023 Education Grants Announced

December 5th, 2023
PCF News / Grants /
Three girls around the age of 12-13 stand closely together around a table smiling and giggling as they work together to assemble a project. Partnership for Success will use its 2023 PCF Education Grant to strengthen its summer program, which is designed to prevent the learning loss that often occurs during summer months.

Eight Pasadena-area nonprofits recently received a total of $185,000 in grant funding from Pasadena Community Foundation. The awards support Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) students and their families in four priority areas: Early learning and school readiness; academic interventions in math and literacy; youth development; and college access and success. At the heart of the annual program is a commitment to educational equity.

An Asian man in a blue sweatshirt that reads "Reading is a Civil Right" sits in a classroom with a smiling young blonde boy at a table. He is pointing to a book and holding a marker. In front of them is a dry erase board, eraser, and books.
Reading Partners Pasadena received one of PCF’s eight Education Grants this year.

PCF’s Education Grant Program began in 2013 to help bolster student success in the greater Pasadena area. In 2022, PCF reassessed its education funding priorities with the help of a committee formed with local educational experts. As a result, the program grew to include early learning and school readiness.

Six of the eight 2023 education grants are renewed funding from the 2022 cycle – a decision PCF made to ensure the grantee organizations can continue to refine and grow their vital educational programs without interruption. “PCF staff spend a great deal of time out in our community each year, visiting local nonprofits and seeing their programs in action,” notes PCF President & CEO Jennifer DeVoll. “This engagement gives PCF the opportunity to build long-term relationships with nonprofit leaders and understand their mission goals – something that in this case aided our decision to renew funding.”

The 2023 funding will help, for example, expand a child-centered approach to learning at Families Forward Learning Center; empower girls in the classrooms at YWCA Glendale & Pasadena; strengthen mentoring and afterschool programs at Stars; bolster parent readiness and engagement through Pasadena Education Network; and enhance Project Learn, a youth development program at Boys & Girls Club Pasadena.

2023 Education Grantee Organizations

  • Boys & Girls Club Pasadena
  • College Access Plan
  • Families Forward Learning Center
  • Partnership for Success!
  • Pasadena Education Network
  • Reading Partners
  • Stars
  • YWCA Glendale & Pasadena

A peach-colored graphic with text reads: PCF’s Sustainable Support for Education All eight 2023 Education Grantee organizations have received support from PCF for years and in some cases, for decades. For example: Boys & Girls Club Pasadena has received nearly $900,000 in funding from PCF since 1954. Families Forward Learning Center has received $677,000 since 1974 (then under the name Mothers’ Club).