SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC

Financials

From the e-filed returns the IRS publishes as XML (latest three processing years; amended returns replace the original). PDF copies at the IRS.

Officers, directors and key employees

As listed on the 990 for the year ended December 31, 2024, highest compensation first.

Address and contacts

Address (IRS master file)

101 MARIETTA ST NW STE 1650, ATLANTA, GA 30303-2790

In care of

% LEIGHTON OSULLIVAN

Principal officer (990 for 2024)

Raymond Pierce, 101 MARIETTA ST NW SUITE 1650, ATLANTA, GA 30303

Signed the 990

Leighton O'Sullivan, CFO

Phone

(404) 523-0001

Website

www.southerneducation.org

Return prepared by

SMITH & HOWARD ADVISORY LLC

Mission

THE SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION'S MISSION IS TO ADVANCE EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION FOR ALL STUDENTS IN THE SOUTH, PARTICULARLY LOW-INCOME STUDENTS AND STUDENTS OF COLOR. SEF USES COLLABORATION, ADVOCACY, AND RESEARCH TO IMPROVE OUTCOMES FROM EARLY CHILDHOOD TO ADULTHOOD. OUR CORE BELIEF IS THAT EDUCATION IS THE VEHICLE BY WHICH ALL STUDENTS GET FAIR CHANCES TO DEVELOP THEIR TALENTS AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE COMMON GOOD. SEF STRIVES TO FULFILL ITS MISSION THROUGH THE FOLLOWING CORE PROGRAM AREAS: EXPANDING EARLY LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES, ADVANCING PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IMPROVING COLLEGE ACCESS AND COMPLETION. SEF EXECUTES FIVE PRIMARY STRATEGIES ACROSS OUR PROGRAMS: LEVERAGING KNOWLEDGE OF THE FIELD: BY ESTABLISHING AND OPERATING TASK FORCES, WORK GROUPS, AND LEARNING COMMUNITIES TO ORGANIZE KNOWLEDGE AND ADVANCE NEW SOLUTIONS TO LONG STANDING PROBLEMS; PUTTING GOOD IDEAS TO A FAIR TEST: PROMOTING, CONDUCTING, AND USING DEMONSTRATIONS, PILOTS, AND EVALUATIONS TO SHAPE POLICY AND PRAC

Program accomplishments

• Southern Education Leadership Initiative Embedded across the strategies of SEF's three programmatic areas is our long-standing leadership development initiative, the Southern Education Leadership Initiative (SELI). Launched in 2004 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, SELI has now entered its third decade of cultivating leadership for educational equity and opportunity across the South. As we prepare to mark SELI's 21st year, we celebrate a legacy of 299 college and graduate students who have completed intensive training and paid summer fellowships through the program. These emerging leaders-diverse, driven, and deeply committed-represent the next generation of changemakers shaping the future of education policy and practice. Fellowship Overview The Southern Education Leadership Initiative (SELI) is an intensive, eight-week, paid summer fellowship for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students interested in advancing racial equity and improving education across the pre-kindergarten to college continuum. It is a continuation of SEF's legacy of educating leaders in the South, which spans more than a century. Our initiative recognized that there is still important work to be done to ensure that all children, irrespective of race or class, receive an excellent education. Placed in nonprofits, school districts, higher education institutions, education technology firms, or state education agencies in the South, SELI fellows spend the summer developing as leaders, engaging with valuable stakeholders, and acquiring practical job skills through direct learning experiences. Over SELI's tenure, 299 talented and diverse young leaders have conducted important research, policy analysis, advocacy, and organizing efforts for over 110 partner organizations. SELI alum can be found today working as educators, policymakers, researchers, community organizers, and committed civic leaders dedicated to improving the life chances of all children. The fellowship is delivered via three key activities: Orientation Training, Placement, and the Closing Meeting. The Orientation Training takes place in May each summer and exposes students to research and data around racial and socio-economic disparities in education, stresses the importance of education equity, offers site visits to see top issues in education firsthand, and provides opportunities to learn from inspiring leaders. Students depart from Orientation to their placement sites, where they work for eight weeks on projects to advance the capacity of their host sites, while developing their own leadership potential in the educational equity field. The Closing Meeting, held every July, presents an opportunity for fellows to share lessons learned, reflect, and brainstorm on how to continue making change as part of a network of emerging leaders in the sector. In the past year, SELI has expanded to include intentional alumni engagement, ensuring fellows are supported well beyond the summer experience. This ongoing support aims to bolster their leadership capacities and keep them connected to a broader network of changemakers. Alumni opportunities have included virtual professional learning webinars on timely topics in education and leadership, as well as the launch of a new, advanced summer fellowship exclusively for SELI alumni, developed in collaboration with Columbia University's Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL). These efforts reflect SELI's long-term commitment to cultivating and sustaining a robust pipeline of Southern education leaders. Racial Equity Leadership Network In districts all over the United States, race and class remain among the most reliable predictors of student success in school. Currently, in southern states, more than half of all the students enrolled in public school are from low-income families, with a growing number of families living in extreme poverty. The majority of public-school students in the South are also children of color, rapidly changing the demographics of large and small districts. The increasing diversity and inequities students and families confront creates an imperative for us to reimagine how we create a system that increases access and opportunity for all children to learn, develop, and thrive. We think the system we need now requires a bold and significant shift in educational leadership and practice. Leaders in every corner of our nation are being called to think, engage and act differently in the face of the complex challenges they navigate. Strengthening the will, skill and capacity of district leaders and their teams is an important lever for advancing authentic and enduring equity-centered system change. Funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies, the Southern Education Foundation, Inc. is answering this call by hosting the Racial Equity Leadership Network (RELN) to advance the capacity of district leaders committed to enduring equity-centered systems change as a solution to addressing racial, economic and academic disparities in districts across the South. Fellowship Overview and Theory of Change The Racial Equity Leadership Network is an 18-month, cohort-style fellowship program for school district leaders who are committed to addressing persistent disparities in their systems and ensuring that race and class are no longer the most reliable predictors of student success. Each RELN cohort is comprised of up to twelve (12) executive leaders (i.e., Superintendents, Deputy Superintendents, Chief Academic Officers, etc.) from school systems across the South. Over the course of their fellowship experience, RELN fellows attend five (5) two-and-a-half-day network convening's focused on the essential levers for equity-centered leadership and system transformation. In between network convening's, the fellows also receive customized coaching and webinars to support the identification of a context-specific equity challenge. Finally, fellows receive grant support and other technical assistance to implement an action plan addressing their unique equity challenge during a six-month in-district work period. The RELN leadership development model follows a double helix approach incorporating two distinct, but intrinsically linked, strands of learning, engaging, and testing over the course of the 18-month fellowship. Fellows sharpen their individual racial equity lens and receive tools to enhance their capacity for influencing education policy and practice. Because this individual development is insufficient to create sustainable change within systems, fellows simultaneously identify specific policy or practice challenges to address within their districts, receive resources for engaging with others, and observe model districts making progress towards racial equity. Fellowship Outcomes As members of the Racial Equity Leadership Network, fellows (ideally) will: 1) Deepen awareness and understanding of the historical and contextual drivers of racial inequity in schools and make connections to present-day education policies and practices that perpetuate racial disparities in student opportunity and outcomes. 2) Challenge to examine their own attitude, beliefs, and assumptions about students' ability to learn, regardless of background. 3) Establish clear steps for an explicit racial equity vision for their systems and establishing racial equity as a fundamental value that is clearly articulated and championed by all school community members, who work collaboratively to advance sustainable, equitable opportunities and outcomes for students. 4) Strengthen their ability to diagnose, and ultimately create solutions to address, the inequities that they witness in their system. Gain a peer network and professional learning community of equity-oriented district leaders throughout the South. Since its inception, the Racial Equity Leadership Network has impacted the leadership journeys of 37 executive district leaders across four cohorts. Through their participation in the fellowship, these leaders have shifted the way they approach complex challenges in their systems, applying equity-centered strategies and tools in real-time. Each fellow represented a district in the South, spanning urban, suburban, and rural contexts, bringing with them diverse perspectives and a shared commitment to advancing opportunity and outcomes for all students.
  Expenses $8,895,442 · grants $60,000 · revenue $344,526

What it must file and when

IRS records say it files Form 990 or 990-EZ. Based on its last return; a smaller organization may file the 990-N. Its accounting year ends in December, so each return is due on the 15th day of the 5th month after that.

IRS record

EIN

13-5562388

Tax-exempt status

501(c)(3): Charitable, religious, educational or scientific organization

Foundation status

Publicly supported organization (170(b)(1)(A)(vi))

Donations deductible (Pub 78)

Public charity, 50% deduction limit

Exempt since

1942

Accounting year ends

December

Files

Form 990 or 990-EZ

Category (NTEE)

Education (B010)

Assets (IRS master file)

$36,382,579

Income (IRS master file)

$28,596,269

Filing history

990-N: the IRS bulk file holds only the latest e-Postcard per organization; earlier years come from archived copies of that file since 2020 and can have gaps (the IRS e-Postcard search lists every one). 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF, 990-T: every e-filed return in the IRS e-file index since 2019; XML for the latest three processing years, amounts from the IRS Statistics of Income extracts before that. PDF copies and determination letters at the IRS (search EIN 13-5562388).

Questions about SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC

What is the EIN of SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC?

The employer identification number (EIN) of SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC is 13-5562388.

Is SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC tax-exempt?

Yes. The IRS lists it as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) since 1942.

Are donations to SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC tax-deductible?

Yes. It is listed in IRS Publication 78 (Public charity, 50% deduction limit).

Which annual return does SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC file?

Form 990 or 990-EZ. Based on its last return; a smaller organization may file the 990-N.

When is the next return of SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC due?

The return for tax year 2025 (the year ending December 31, 2025) is due May 15, 2026. Form 8868 extends it by six months; the 990-N cannot be extended.

When did SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC last file with the IRS?

The latest return in the IRS public files is the 990 for the year ended December 2024.

Who is the principal officer of SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC?

The 990 for the year ended December 31, 2024 names Raymond Pierce.

Who are the officers and directors of SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC?

The 990 for the year ended December 31, 2024 lists 16 people; 8 received compensation from the organization, the highest $402,271 (Raymond Pierce, President).

How much revenue does SOUTHERN EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC have?

On its 990 for the year ended December 31, 2024 it reported revenue of $14,669,225, expenses of $10,833,231 and total assets of $36,382,579 at year end.

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