When it comes to reforming education, one local nonprofit that supports charter schools wants parents and families to have a seat at the table.

The Mind Trust announced Wednesday that it is establishing a two-year fellowship to develop a parent advocacy organization — and seeking candidates to be a part of it.

The goal of the fellowship is to empower families — particularly low-income families and families of color — to advocate for changes in their publicly funded schools, said The Mind Trust executive director Brandon Brown.

Indianapolis – (January 23, 2019) – The Mind Trust, an Indianapolis-based education nonprofit, today announced a search for its next Education Entrepreneur Fellow to design and launch an independent parent advocacy nonprofit organization in Indianapolis. The Education Entrepreneur Fellow will spend two full years creating a city-wide strategy for engaging and empowering Indianapolis parents to advocate for the changes they believe are needed to ensure that every student, no exceptions, has access to a high-quality school.

Indianapolis – (January 17, 2019) – Today, Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) released findings that, on average, Indianapolis charter schools and Indianapolis Public Schools’ (IPS) Innovation Network Schools are providing students with significant learning gains relative to traditional public schools within IPS (IPS TPS).

“Together, the achievement gains in Indianapolis charter schools and Innovation Network Schools confirm the promise of empowering talented educators in exchange for rigorous accountability,” said Brandon Brown, CEO of The Mind Trust, an Indianapolis-based education nonprofit. “These findings also contribute to the growing body of evidence supporting IPS leadership’s bold strategy of partnering with Indianapolis’ charter school sector to create Innovation Network Schools.”

Indianapolis – (January 11, 2019) – The Mind Trust, an Indianapolis-based education nonprofit, today announced that it has received three grants totaling $24.42 million from The City Fund, Lilly Endowment Inc., and the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation to support the growth and success of high-quality schools and education talent pipelines in Indianapolis over the next two to three years.

These grants bring the total funding raised by The Mind Trust in 2018 to nearly $30.4 million. With these funds, The Mind Trust has secured 55 percent of the funding it hopes to invest in Indianapolis over the next three years. Since its founding in 2006, The Mind Trust has raised over $108 million to reinvest in schools, leaders, and organizations that improve education opportunities for Indianapolis students. Approximately 54 percent of this funding has come from local Indianapolis sources.

Indianapolis—(November 5, 2018)—The Mind Trust, an Indianapolis-based education nonprofit, has launched the application for the third year of its partnership with the Relay Graduate School of Education, a nationally-recognized, nonprofit graduate school of education that provides next-level training and leadership development for educators, principals, and school systems leaders.