Our Mission

To take action to help students in Rochester, NY thrive by:

– raising critically needed funds for the Rochester City School District (RCSD): and

– bringing awareness to the systemic inequities that are a barrier to student success.  

Core Beliefs

The Rochester City School District (RCSD) is underfunded to a level that prevents it from providing the education the children of this City deserve.

We believe that given adequate funding the RCSD can provide a quality educational experience. We believe that this must be done in collaboration with the parents, teachers, district leadership and wider community of the City of Rochester. 

We share Rochester Education Foundation’s core beliefs that the greater Rochester, NY community will respond to opportunities to support Rochester city school children. That strong city schools are an economic, cultural and social imperative for the future of Monroe County.

We believe that systemic racism in our school system and de jure racial segregation in our city  has, and continues to, harm children of color in Rochester NY. These deliberately oppressive policies have led to a level of poverty for the children of Rochester which puts them at a significant educational disadvantage in comparison to the surrounding wealthy suburbs.

Our Commitments

We commit to being an antiracist program. We will do that by challenging racial bias in ourselves and others and taking action to dismantle systemic racism in the non-profit sector, in education and elsewhere in our society.

We commit to tirelessly seeking the funds that are needed for our schools to thrive.

We commit to distributing funds to the RCSD in a collaborative way that promotes agency in our community.