National Education Equity Lab

Former Obama administration U.S. Department of Education senior advisor Leslie Cornfeld is Education Equity Lab’s founder and CEO. ⁴ Cornfeld has devoted her career to advancing the critical race theory-influenced concept of equity, called equity the “most important civil rights issue of our time, ^{7 8} and said that colleges need to “radically redefine merit” in college admissions. ⁹

In 2021, Education Equity Lab received a $200,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. ¹⁰ In 2020, the Lab received a $500,225 grant from the left-of-center Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. ¹¹

History and Leadership

National Education Equity Lab was founded in 2019. ¹² Former Obama administration U.S. Department of Education senior advisor Leslie Cornfeld is Education Equity Lab’s founder and CEO. ⁴ Cornfeld has devoted her career to advancing the critical race theory-influenced concept of equity and has called equity the “most important civil rights issue of our time. ^{7 8} In 2022, Cornfeld said colleges need to “radically redefine merit” in college admissions. ¹³

Previously Cornfeld was a two-term advisor for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I, later D), a civil rights prosecutor, Harvard University professor, and senior aide to former U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY). She has worked on the Brookings Institution Task Force for Next Gen Community Schools and is a trustee for the left-of-center Children’s Defense Fund, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the left-progressive Alliance for Excellent Education, and Harvard University’s Center for Law, Brain and Behavior. ¹⁴

Former Obama administration U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and founder of the left-of-center Children’s Defense Fund Marian Wright Edelman are on National Education Equity Lab’s board of directors. ¹⁵

Activities and Funding

National Education Equity Lab is a left-of-center education-focused organization that operates a pilot program for high school juniors and seniors ¹ from low-income backgrounds to take college courses for free. ^{2 3} Students who complete these courses earn widely transferable college credits. ⁴

The organization aims to help colleges identify prospective students in predominately minority communities ¹⁶ and has operations in more than 120 high schools in 90 cities in 30 states. As of April 2022, it has reached more than 10,000 students. ^{4 5 6}

As of 2022, Education Equity Lab has offered courses from the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, ¹² Harvard University, ¹⁷ Brown University, Cornell University, ¹⁸ Georgetown University, ¹⁹ and others. ²⁰

Education Equity Lab is partnered with New Visions for Public Schools, United Way of New York City, the left-of-center New York Community Trust, Open Horizon, Strive for College, American Talent Initiative, Poetry in America, and The Common Application. ²⁰

Funding

National Education Equity Lab receives its funding from foundations and individual contributions routed through the left-of-center pass-through organization ActBlue Charities. ²¹ Individuals who donate $25,000 to the group are invited to join its National Education Equity Leadership Council. ²¹

In 2021, Education Equity Lab received a $200,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. ¹⁰ In 2020, National Education Equity Lab received a $500,225 grant from the left-of-center Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, ¹¹ $25,000 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, ¹⁰ and a grant from the New York City COVID-19 Response and Impact Fund. ²²

Education Equity Lab reported revenue of $500,000 and expenses of $174,859 in 2019. ²³

The organization has also received grants of $1.5 million from the McCance Family Foundation, $1.1 million from the Leonard Hill Charitable Trust, $1 million from an anonymous donor through a donor-advised fund, and support from billionaire Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Foundation. ¹⁶