Evidence-based solutions to reducing educational and poverty gaps.
The Foundation for Educational Research and Development (FERD) is a philanthropic foundation that invests in the development, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based solutions to reducing educational and poverty gaps.
Currently, our grant-making focuses on research projects and education, learning and skills-development programs in Minnesota.
Purpose
Our goal is to help reduce intergenerational poverty and support people’s thriving. We believe that investing in programs and practices that produce long-term results will drive success toward this goal. Because there isn’t enough high-quality, long-term data on what works, FERD focuses its investments on actionable research and evaluation to help fill these gaps and increase funding for effective solutions.
A large evidence base shows that educational attainment and skills development play key roles in people’s long-term social and economic mobility. Given this understanding, many of our investments focus on research and programming aimed at reducing education and skills gaps through a range of strategies.
Funding
Starting in January 2023, FERD partnered with the Constellation Fund to launch the Constellation Lab, or “CoLab,” a groundbreaking philanthropic venture that will catalyze, fund, and support longitudinal research and evaluation of poverty-fighting programs and practices in Minnesota and beyond. FERD’s research investments are now made through CoLab’s grantmaking.
FERD is not accepting unsolicited funding proposals at this time.
To learn more about CoLab, its projects, and funding opportunities, you can find the webpage and sign up for updates here.
Contact Us
To contact FERD staff, please use the form below.