Opportunity Trust, also known as Zest Education, is an education advocacy group that partners with local school districts while operating and providing funds for charter schools and charter-like school initiatives in Saint Louis, Missouri. Opportunity Trust also provides grants to charter and public schools within the same region. ¹

Financials

According to its 2023 tax filings, the Opportunity Trust reported $12,600,936 in revenues and $14,089,865 in expenses for a net loss of -$1,488,929, with $3,999,593 in total assets. Between the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years the Opportunity Trust saw a 10% decrease in total revenues. ² Compensation for chief executive officer Eric Scroggins in 2024 was $375,356. ³

During the 2024 fiscal year, the Opportunity Trust received $427,475 in government grants. ⁴ In 2023, the Opportunity Trust announced it had received a $35.5 million grant, paid over a five-year period, from the U.S Department of Education’s Charter School Program State Entity (CSP-SE). According to the organization, it was reportedly the first ever CSP-SE grant given in the State of Missouri. ⁵

Funding

The Opportunity Trust has received funding from national grantmaking organization City Fund, which has previously funded charter and charter-like schools. In 2019, the Opportunity Trust received about one quarter of its raised funding from City Fund, totaling $1.7 million in grants. ⁶ In 2022, the Opportunity Trust received $4,050,000 in grants from the City Fund. ⁷

In 2023, the Opportunity Trust received a $500,000 grant from the Penner Family Foundation, an education focused grantmaking foundation founded in 2015 by Carrie Walton Penner, an heir to the Walmart fortune, and her husband Gregory Penner, who was the chair of Walmart as of 2025. ^{8 9}

Activities

The Opportunity Trust claims to work with pre-K–12 schools in the Saint Louis region while developing new charter schools and carter-like school programs by working with local educators and community stakeholders. It also claims to work with existing schools in the region to advocate reforms towards local governance, leadership, planning, curriculum, and training programs. ¹⁰

The Opportunity Trust has previously supported local policy initiatives within the state of Missouri. In May 2024, it supported state Senate Bill 727 that it claimed would increase school funding, salaries for teachers, and expand charter schools. ¹¹

Leadership

Eric Scroggins is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Opportunity Trust. Prior to founding the organization, Scroggins was a science teacher and worked in several positions with Teach For America for 14 years, rising to the position of chief strategy and program officer. ¹²

1. The Opportunity Trust. “Home.” Accessed April 7, 2025. https://theopportunitytrust.org.
2. ProPublica. “The Opportunity Trust.” Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed April 7, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/821838644.
3. The Opportunity Trust. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2024. Part 7, section A, line 3.
4. The Opportunity Trust. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2024. Part 8, line E.
5. The Opportunity Trust. “$35.5M Federal Grant Awarded to The Opportunity Trust to Expand Access to High-Quality Schools.” September 29, 2023. https://theopportunitytrust.org/2023/09/29/35-5m-federal-grant-awarded-to-the-opportunity-trust-to-expand-access-to-high-quality-schools/.
6. Aldridge, Kate Grumke. “Untrusted: St. Louis Ed Nonprofit The Opportunity Trust Has Plenty of Skeptics.” St. Louis Public Radio, May 12, 2021. https://www.stlpr.org/education/2021-05-12/untrusted-st-louis-ed-nonprofit-the-opportunity-trust-has-plenty-of-skeptics.
7. The City Fund. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2022. Schedule 1, Part 2, line 5.
8. Grantmakers.io. “Penner Family Foundation.” Accessed April 7, 2025. https://www.grantmakers.io/profiles/v0/810831228-penner-family-foundation/.
9. Inside Philanthropy. “The Quiet Donors of America’s Richest Family: Three Low-Profile Walton Foundations.” Accessed April 7, 2025. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/the-quiet-donors-of-americas-richest-family-three-low-profile-walton-foundations.
10. The Opportunity Trust. “Our Work.” Accessed April 7, 2025. https://theopportunitytrust.org/our-work/
11. ^[1] The Opportunity Trust. “Creating Better Policy: Missouri’s Historic New Education Reform Legislation.” June 1, 2024. https://theopportunitytrust.org/2024/06/01/creating-better-policy-missouris-historic-new-education-reform-legislation/.
12. LinkedIn. “Eric Scroggins.” Accessed April 7, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericscroggins.