Dear John,
 

Today is Giving Tuesday, a day when people across the country come together to support the organizations building a better future. At 50CAN, that future is rooted in a simple promise: we can create a world where every child is surrounded by educational opportunity, no matter their address.

This year, given falling student achievement and parents demanding something different from the education system, delivering on this promise has felt particularly urgent. Across our network, from Colorado to Connecticut and Tennessee to Hawaii, parents are letting us know they want stronger literacy and math programs, more tutoring, and the freedom to choose the education that works best for their kids.

Supporters like you have made our work possible and turned that momentum into real progress:

• From supporting literacy pedagogy across the country to millions of dollars for afterschool programming in Colorado and Georgia, our network’s executive directors achieved 29 policy wins last year across our Believe in Better framework.
• Thousands of students gained access to high-impact tutoring through initiatives like Louisiana’s universal tutoring program, with 50CAN VP of Policy Liz Cohen taking a leading role in the nationwide effort. 
• Over 100 emerging leaders in the education sector were trained through our National Voices communications fellowship and our parent advocacy fellowship, FIRE.

We cannot do this work without you and I thank you for building the future with us, today and every day.