Goals:

The Kenneth Rainin Foundation supports emergent and early literacy programs in Oakland, California and related research at a national level.

Giving Guidelines for Emergent and Early Literacy Programs:

The Foundation supports organizations that:

• Serve children in Oakland, California
• Have nonprofit status
• Serve children from disadvantaged economic backgrounds, primarily ages 2 to 7
• Have a research-based approach to improving literacy or reading/writing readiness
• Have a clearly outlined plan to achieve goals and objectives
• Have evaluation tools in place to measure and document progress

Process for Education Program Awards:

The Foundation will consider proposals by invitation only from public non-profit institutions or government institutions whose focus is emergent or early literacy-related. Program proposals will be reviewed by our staff and the Board of Directors.

Giving Guidelines for Emergent and Early Literacy Research:

Criteria include the academic merit of the proposal, the relevancy of the proposal to the emergent or early literacy fields, and the excellence of the investigator and the research environment. Preference will be given to research that focuses on San Francisco Bay Area populations. Eligibility is restricted to research done in the United States.

Process for Education Research Awards:

The Foundation will consider proposals by invitation only from public non-profit institutions or government institutions whose focus is education-related research. Research proposals will be reviewed by our staff, the Board of Directors and an advisory panel comprised of peers in the field.

Visit our Resources page for volunteer opportunities to help empower Oakland children through literacy.