While most claim to welcome all families and to honor diversity, day-to-day practices in schools with children of color, low-income youth, and immigrant youth fall far short of the ideal. Teaching for Change plays a central role in grassroots education reform in the DC region. Its Zinn Education Project brings the history of working people, people of color, and organized social movements into the classroom. It also makes available the best selection of multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators. Curricular innovation, powerful professional development for teachers, and meaningful parent engagement are now even more critical as racial bias and injustice have emerged as urgent national issues. In our COVID-19 world, staff have reformatted lessons for user-friendliness, supported engagement with harder-to-reach families, and moved parent engagement and teacher workshops online – until the day when schools can permanently reopen.

Headquarters: DC-Ward 1

Where They Operate: DC-Citywide; MD-Montgomery County; MD-Prince George's County; VA-Arlington County; VA-Fairfax County; VA-City of Alexandria; VA-City of Fairfax

Age Groups Served: All

Population(s) Served: Low- to Moderate-Income Community Members; Men/Boys; Women/Girls; Students; Immigrants/Refugees


  • Number of volunteers who work with us annually:   6
  • Number of hours of volunteer work we record annually:   1500
  • Number of people (clients, patrons, students, etc) we serve annually:   2000

Awards & Recognition

Selected in 2010 by the National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group, coordinated by the Harvard Family Research Project, as one of twelve examples of leading innovations in family engagement, Taking Leadership, Innovating Change.

Philip C. Chinn Multicultural Book Award (2004) for "Putting the Movement Back Into Civil Rights Teaching"

Press

Budget (FY2015)

  • $3 million or higher
  • $1 million to $3 million
  • The current budget for Teaching for Change is: $500k to $1 million
  • Less than $500k

Catalogue charities range in size from $100,000 to $3 million. This graphic indicates the budget range of the organization featured here. If you see an organizational budget above the $3 million mark, that is because the featured charity has grown in size since it first appeared in the Catalogue. We proudly present on our website the work of these "growth" charities.

About the Catalogue for Philanthropy

Each year 120 expert reviewers evaluate applicants for distinction, merit, and impact. Each featured charity has been successfully site visited and its financials given the thumbs up. The Catalogue for Philanthropy charges no fees and raises funds separately to support its work. Since 2003, it has raised over $40 million for charities across the Greater Washington region.

The Catalogue for Philanthropy looks to friends like you to keep our services independent and entirely free of charge. Consider a small contribution to the Catalogue to cap off your gift and help the causes you care about get the full support they deserve!

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