21st Century Education Grantees

The Sobrato Family Foundation has been making strategic grants focusing on 21st Century Education since 2014. Below is a list of our current grantees within the education focus area.


Grantee Purpose Statement Year Amount
Ace Charter School Ensure ACE continues to be a high-quality education option for the highest-need students in downtown and East San Jose. 2019-2020 $200,000
Alder Graduate School of Education To expand the presence of Alder Graduate School of Education, an established and successful teacher residency model, in underserved Silicon Valley school districts and charter management networks. 2018-2019 $150,000
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula To increase the pool of local, committed, skilled educators to help alleviate the educator shortage crisis in Redwood City. 2018-2019 $100,000
California Charter Schools Association Expand CCSA’s local advocacy and communication efforts, to maintain the composition of the current Silicon Valley charter school sector and promote a positive narrative around charter schools. 2018-2019 $125,000
City Year Inc. To expand City Year services to Mt. Pleasant High School and implement a standardized social emotional learning / “soft skills” curriculum to bolster students’ ability to succeed in college preparatory courses. 2018-2019 $225,000
Downtown College Prep (DCP) Strengthen DCP to best serve first-generation college students from multiple underserved communities in San Jose in innovative ways. 2019-2020 $200,000
Education Pioneers To build a network of education leaders in Silicon Valley and robust alumni engagement to maintain candidates’ growth in education careers. 2018-2019 $200,000
KIPP Bay Area Schools Continue to build the KIPP TK-12th grade school system in East San Jose and East Palo Alto. 2019-2020 $200,000
New Teacher Center To support effective instructional practice, data collection, and assess impacts of educator work through deeper partnership commitments with three individual districts in the East Side Alliance. 2018-2019 $225,000
Santa Clara University For the ExCEL teacher preparation program to attract and prepare outstanding teachers for service in Silicon Valley’s low-income Catholic schools, including a sustainable housing / residency component. 2018-2019 $250,000
Santa Clara University To design and develop ExCEL as a new, intensive residency model for teacher candidates to serve Catholic schools. 2015-2019 $1,150,534
Silicon Schools Fund To support Silicon Schools’ Fund II. 2017-2021 $2,000,000
Teach for America – Bay Area To deepen TFA partnerships, improve TFA alumni leadership capacity, and increase number of TFA corps members in the San Jose area. 2017-2020 $750,000
The BASIC Fund To provide scholarships for low-income students in Silicon Valley to attend Catholic and private K-8 schools. 2018-2019 $100,000
Voices College Bound Language Academy Strengthen the Voices’ Charter Management Organization (CMO) to best support the instructional and operational needs of Voices’ charter schools. 2019-2020 $200,000
$225,000 | 2018-2019

City Year Inc.
To expand City Year services to Mt. Pleasant High School and implement a standardized social emotional learning / “soft skills” curriculum to bolster students’ ability to succeed in college preparatory courses.
$225,000 | 2018-2019

New Teacher Center
To support effective instructional practice, data collection, and assess impacts of educator work through deeper partnership commitments with three individual districts in the East Side Alliance.
$250,000 | 2018-2019

Santa Clara University
For the ExCEL teacher preparation program to attract and prepare outstanding teachers for service in Silicon Valley’s low-income Catholic schools, including a sustainable housing / residency component.