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The nonprofit New England Education Loan Marketing Corporation ("Nellie Mae") started in 1981 to act as a secondary market buyer of federally-guaranteed student loans.

In 1990, Nellie Mae created a special philanthropic fund called the "Fund for Education" to assist students from and in New England with supporting programs.

Nellie Mae was sold to the Student Loan Marketing Association ("Sallie Mae") in 1998, and a portion of the proceeds funded an endowment for the Nellie Mae Foundation, the successor to the Fund for Education, and known as the Nellie Mae Education Foundation ("NMEF") since 2001.

NMEF started to examine its "work, culture, and practices through the lens of racial equity" in 2017.

Then in 2019 NMEF changed its mission, vision and values statement to focus on equity, applying a racial equity lens to everything the organization does, and by 2020, racial equity even became the central focus of its "anti-racist" grantmaking strategy.

NMEF is now the largest philanthropy in New England dedicated exclusively to education.

It runs education-oriented events, like that time it invited children's author Nic Stone to talk about empowering children aged 12 and up to become "anti-racists" -- or the time it hosted Ms. Critical Race Theory herself, Kimberly Crenshaw, to talk about what "critical race theory and intersectionality in action look like in public education."

Plus, from 2020 to 2024, NMEF bankrolled $100 million in strategic investments, with more than $42 million in grants awarded specifically for "advancing equitable student outcomes" in New England, including 30 awards in Connecticut.

Examples of Connecticut organizations receiving NMEF anti-racist grants in 2024 include:

• City Wide Youth Coalition, an anti-racist sanctuary space for young people in New Haven, received $100,000 for a POC Capacity Building Accelerator program (through 6/29/2026)
• Connecticut Council for Philanthropy, a network of philanthropic organizations working toward a "more just, equitable, and thriving Connecticut", received $150,000 to promote equity and justice via the SOW CT initiative (through 9/29/2026)
• Connecticut Public, Inc., the state's NPR affiliate, received $25,000 for "communications" to support the New England News Collaborative (through 11/30/2025)
• Connecticut Teacher Residency Program, which is focused diversifying the teaching staff across the state of Connecticut and "demanding equity", received $5,000
• Connecticut Voices for Children, which incorporates a "deep and holistic focus on racial and ethnic equity" in all of its work, received $228,750 for advocacy (through 9/29/2026)
• CT Black and Brown Student Union, which wants to end "repressive school discipline policies" and instead "experience just and liberatory schooling," received $183,000 to build its movement (through 9/29/2026)
• CT Students for a Dream, the "largest grassroots community of immigrants and undocumented people," received $100,000 for capacity building (through 6/29/2026)
• Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership, Inc., "LEAP," which addresses the "historic disinvestment in young people of color in New Haven," received $100,000 for capacity building (through 6/29/2026)
• Make the Road States, Inc., which focuses on justice for legal and illegal immigrants, received $100,000 for capacity building (through 6/29/2026)
• State + School Finance Project, which is working to "eliminate racial and economic disparities in Connecticut education funding," received $100,000 for operating support (through 9/29/2026)
• Urban Community Alliance, formed by the merger of New Haven Family Alliance (NHFA) and Veterans Empowering Teens Through Support (V.E.T.T.S.), received $100,000 for capacity building to support families of color (through 6/29/2026)
• Waterbury Bridge to Success Community Partnership, focused on equity and engagement in Waterbury, received $100,000 for capacity building (through 6/29/2026)

Other recipients of NMEF grants in 2024 include organizations like Amalgamated Charitable Foundation ($250,000), Brown University ($1,100,000), FSG Reimagining Social Change ($1,323,915), New Venture Fund ($301,500), Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors ($274,500), and The Bridgespan Group ($3,725,000).

NMEF also funded the Anti-Racist Teaching and Learning Collective ("ARTLC") in partnership with New Haven Public Schools, to host its 5th Annual Virtual Conference entitled, "Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: From Theory to Action," in July 2025.

ARTLC works to advance anti-racist pedagogy, curriculum and practice within K-12 public schools throughout Connecticut.

It was founded as part of the 2019 efforts of multiple student groups to lobby for the passage of HB7082, “An Act concerning the inclusion of Black and Latino Studies in the Public School Curriculum” before the Connecticut General Assembly.

Now the organization, composed of teachers and educators, treats Public Act 19-12 "as the floor rather than a ceiling to race-based education reform" in Connecticut.

That's why ARTLC's Culturally Relevant Pedagogy 2025 conference for New Haven Public Schools educators was all about promoting critical race theory, and turning students into social justice warriors.

For instance, the first session taught educators that anti-racist schools focus on things like restorative justice, the role of unions, mental health, equity-oriented curriculum (e.g., Zinn Education's "Black Lives Matter at School" program), language immersion, and more.

The second session, on identity and intersectionality, covered "racial literacy and solidarity building" in education, social emotional learning to "effectively address mental health concerns from an anti-racist lens," disability justice, teaching LBGTQ+ history, and more.

Session three focused on pedagogies for social justice, advancing anti-racism through dialectical journaling; re-envisioning science, math and STEM with a pro-equity focus; and implementing anti-bias and anti-racist education in pre-K–4 classrooms.

The last session addressed social justice and youth activism, like "supporting student-led action on the climate crisis" and delivering "know your rights" sessions for illegals.

In case you're wondering what the impact of pro-equity, anti-racist pedagogy has been on New Haven Public Schools, which spends an average of $21,371 per pupil, here it is:

• 11% of elementary schoolers proficient in math;
• 12% of middle schoolers proficient in math;
• 23% of elementary schoolers proficient in reading;
• 24% of middle schoolers proficient in reading; and
• 21.2% of high schoolers are ready for college.

That focus on equity isn't really paying off as promised, isn't it?

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