Megan Tompkins-Stange, Policy Patrons: Philanthropy, Education Reform, and the Politics of Influence

Abstract

"Policy Patrons offers a rare behind-the-scenes view of decision making inside four influential education philanthropies: the Ford Foundation, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. Through a series of confidential interviews, Megan E. Tompkins-Stange explores the values, ideas, and beliefs that inform these foundations' strategies and practices"--Back cover. "Prying open the policy window" : philanthropic influence in education policy -- "These are the new players" : continuity and change in education philanthropy -- "There are basically two kinds of foundations" : conceptualizing foundations' policy involvement -- "How do you establish a bottom-up versus top-down mix?" : Managing grantees and selecting partners -- "We wish there was an app for that" : framing problems and evaluating results -- "It's singularly because of Gates and Broad" : critiques and implications of foundation activism -- "Should we critique the player or the game itself?" : Philanthropy and democracy -- Appendix: table of respondents.