One of the core values of The Lynch Foundation is to invest in our children with funding, education, and local community support. Boston’s youth often find that class, race, and economic status restrict their access to key resources that can affect their growth and development in the community.
In order to combat disparities these children and their families face, The Lynch Foundation hosted a Philanthropy Roundtable of influential Boston public and private leaders in 2015. The goal was to discuss the community benefits of pooled funding for educational “harbor master” organizations.
Launching the Boston Schools Fund
We were blown away by the overwhelmingly positive response we received at this Roundtable. The Lynch Foundation decided to leverage the momentum by recruiting a highly talented and motivated founder to support the development of a business plan and providing a substantial seed funding to launch the Boston Schools Fund.
After launch, the Boston Schools Fund was able to raise an additional $15 million. This allowed the organization to focus its full attention on its main goal: providing Boston youth with equal access to high-quality education in their community.
As of 2021, BSF has helped to create 8,000 new high-quality seats at 38 public, charter, and Catholic schools across Boston.
The Fund has also created Boston School Finder, the first and only school search tool that merges information on all Boston school choices available to families. This makes understanding local education options accessible for parents and families ensuring that their children have the chance to enter places that support and provide for their unique needs.
We’re continuing to see positive growth as BSF casts a spotlight on the need for educational information and access in Boston. It has over 33,000 users and 3,000 newsletter subscribers.