Boulder Fund Grants Multimillion-Dollar Investments to 11 Leaders Advancing Opportunities for Youth and Communities of Color
Education Leaders of Color’s 2025 Boulder Fund recipients include changemakers leading transformative programs in education, youth empowerment, workforce development, criminal justice, and economic and social mobility.
Los Angeles, CA – March 17, 2025 – Education Leaders of Color (EdLoC) is proud to announce the recipients of the 2025 Boulder Fund, a multimillion-dollar grant program investing in innovative leaders of color committed to ensuring young people of color have opportunities to build generational wealth and thrive. Since its inception in 2018, the Boulder Fund has committed $ 6.9 million in grants, supporting 50 organizations nationwide.
Grants were awarded to leaders who offer novel solutions to persistent barriers of systemic oppression, marginalization, and misrepresentation in communities of color across the nation, which include solutions to increasing access and interest in STEM, leadership and professional development for educators and youth, financial literacy for high school students, and more. These grants fill a particular vacuum in funding, as many institutions have recently rolled back funding and programming aimed at addressing racial inequities across the nation.
“In a time when philanthropy, educational institutions, media, and corporations are incentivized by our social and political landscape to deprioritize racial and economic justice, EdLoC remains resolute in investing in leaders offering in transformative solutions that advance opportunity for communities and young people of color through the Boulder Fund,” said Sharhonda Bossier, CEO of EdLoC. “Whether acknowledged or ignored by the greater philanthropic community, systemic inequities continue to hinder societal progress. The Boulder Fund invests in leaders and solutions that our young people, communities and country need to succeed.”
The 2025 recipients reflect the EdLoC’s membership network, comprised of fellow founders, CEOs, entrepreneurs, PhDs, and more from 40+ states and the District of Columbia, driving progress at the local, state, and federal levels.
The 2025 Boulder Fund recipients are:
Ethan Ashley, Co-founder and CEO of School Board Partners
Maia Blankenship and Dr. Erika McDowell, Co-CEOs of Black Wildflowers Fund
Gisele Castro, CEO of exalt Youth*
Jonathan Johnson, Founder and CEO of Rooted School Foundation*
Dr. Laura McGowan-Robinson, Founder and CEO of Diversity in Leadership Institute*
Devin Morris, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Teachers’ Lounge, Inc.*
Tanesha Peeples, Founder and CEO of The Roots Initiative
Gabriel Reyes, Founder and CEO of FLi Sci
Sarah White, Founder and Executive Director of the South Dakota Education Equity Coalition
Andrea Wolfe, President and CEO of Mass Insight Education & Research
*Two-time recipient
“The Boulder Fund has been catalytic to supporting the world's first-ever randomized control trial examining the effectiveness of direct cash assistance to high school students,” said Jonathan Johnson, founder and CEO of Rooted School Foundation, an organization that hosts The $50 Study, a direct cash transfer program where high school students receive $50 per week for 40 weeks as part of their mission to build evidence-based approaches to closing the racial wealth gap. “Our early findings show that students receiving these transfers miss fewer days of school and demonstrate improved financial capability. Through the mentoring and collaboration the Boulder Fund offers in the application and selection process, our organization was introduced to additional donors, secured more financial support for The $50 Study and expanded our reach to more schools and students,” said Johnson.
“Nationwide, leaders of color are driving progress in their communities—expanding educational access, strengthening economic opportunity, and breaking cycles of poverty,” said Nancy B. Gutiérrez, EdLoC Board Chair. “But too often, they are left to do this work without the resources they need. Now is the time for philanthropic institutions to join us in investing in leaders closest to the challenges and best suited to catalyze generational change in their communities and our country.”
For more information, please visit https://www.edloc.org/the-boulder-fund.
About Education Leaders of Color
Education Leaders of Color (EdLoC) invests in and brings together values-aligned leaders of color and catalyzes the multi-sector and multi-racial collaboration needed to ensure young people of color have the opportunities to build generational wealth and thrive. Our Network of senior leaders represents the communities of color we serve. We have members in over 40 states and the District of Columbia, and a large proportion of our members are first-generation college graduates, Pell Grant recipients, and first-generation Americans. Together, we are shaping solutions and driving progress on some of the most pressing challenges in American life.