The Michelson 20MM Foundation is proud to announce the second cohort of the California Student Parent Pooled Fund, a transformative effort designed to support student parents. This initiative aims to promote equity, drive systemic change, and empower this often underrepresented group.
The Need: Setting Student Parents Up for a Brighter Future
Parenting students make up 22% of undergraduate students, underscoring the importance of tailored support systems. Student parents—primarily people of color, women, and individuals facing financial challenges—often encounter significant obstacles that hinder their ability to complete their degrees. This project aims to address these barriers and foster their success in higher education.
Grantmaking Priorities for a Multi-Generational Approach
Housed at Michelson 20MM, the California Student Parent Pooled Fund is a collaboration between multiple funders focused on supporting student-parent work in our state.
Focusing on a multi-generational strategy, the fund supports student parents and their children by integrating best practices in early childhood and postsecondary education. It aims to empower advocates while fostering a cohesive, unified approach to student-parent initiatives across California. Grant priorities center on research, movement building, education, awareness, narrative shifts, and policy development.
Introducing the Second Cohort
We are pleased to welcome this year’s cohort!
The California State University Office of the Chancellor will develop a strategic task force to expand resources for student parents across the CSU system. Over a three-year period, the initiative will provide a comprehensive toolkit, an implementation plan for toolkit rollout, and an evaluation of all student-parent resource experiences across the CSU system.
Early Edge California will expand efforts on its multi-year project, Increasing Access to Childcare and Early Learning Programs for Student Parents in California. The project will leverage partnerships and educate policymakers on the unique challenges and needs of student parents.
Generation Hope’s California Presidents Circle will engage higher education leaders to create family-inclusive campuses through skill-building, mentorship, and systemic change projects benefiting 30,000 parenting students statewide. Rooted in the lived experience of student parents, their efforts will support the expansion of family-serving institutions.
The Pregnant Scholar is committed to strengthening state-level protections for pregnant and parenting students. This initiative will draw attention to the critical need for legal protections in California via blogs, articles, and a detailed report. It will also elevate the perspectives of student parents, unite with gender justice partners, and offer institutions practical policies and interim guidance.
Join us in celebrating these initiatives, which will generate change across California and create opportunities for student parents. Thank you to our collaborating partners: California Community Foundation, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, ECMC Foundation, Lumina Foundation, R&S Kayne Foundation, Stupski Foundation, and The Ichigo Foundation. Together, we can make a lasting impact on the lives of student parents in California.
Michelson 20MM is a private, nonprofit foundation working toward equity for underserved and historically underrepresented communities by expanding access to educational and employment opportunities, increasing affordability of educational programs, and ensuring the necessary supports are in place for individuals to thrive. To do so, we work in the following verticals: Digital Equity, Intellectual Property, Smart Justice, Student Basic Needs, and Open Educational Resources (OER). Co-chaired and funded by Alya and Gary Michelson, Michelson 20MM is part of the Michelson Philanthropies network of foundations.
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