RedefinED Atlanta’s 2026–2028 Strategic Plan
Today, Metro Atlanta’s 805,000 public school students navigate systems that too often reflect and reproduce longstanding inequities. Communities are ready for progress, yet promising solutions remain disconnected and out of reach.
Our region is at a pivotal moment, and so is RedefinED Atlanta. Our 2026–2028 Strategic Plan lays out a focused strategy for deepening our role as an insight leader, advocate, convener, and funder, working alongside communities to ensure many more students gain access to high-quality public schools that support choice-filled lives.
The charge is clear: Ensure 12,000 additional students have access to trajectory-changing public schools.
Why Now?
The data is unequivocal:
- Metro Atlanta now ranks 50th out of 50 major U.S. metro areas for economic mobility.
- Student outcomes remain deeply uneven across and within districts—where a child grows up still predicts their access to opportunity.
- Educator talent pipelines are strained.
- System alignment is inconsistent.
We believe that great schools, aligned systems, and strong community partnerships can change the odds for students and strengthen Metro Atlanta for generations to come.
The 2026–2028 Fund: A $36-million commitment to students, systems, and long-term mobility
To achieve our goals, RedefinED Atlanta is raising and deploying $36 million over three years across three interconnected portfolios:
- Schools & Talent
- Policy & Advocacy
- Communications & Convenings
Our strategy and fund focuses on four priorities that will take us from challenge to change. Together, we will move our region closer to a future where every student has the opportunities they need to grow, achieve, and thrive, regardless of their zip code.
Three-Year Strategic Priorities
Advance System Improvement
Strengthening the ecosystem conditions that enable sustainable student success.
We work with districts, policymakers, and community partners to improve the policies and environments that shape every child’s school experience. This includes:
- Addressing gaps in talent, governance, and school support systems
- Partnering on accountability systems that keep student outcomes at the center
- Aligning community voice with system-level opportunities for impact
- Catalyzing policy shifts that expand access to high-quality public schools
Major Initiatives and Investments
- Launch and sustain four active, aligned working groups made up of DC360 taskforce members.
- Partner with TNTP to enhance teacher and instructional culture in the Metro Atlanta area.
- Partner with schools to implement Georgia Milestones Assessment System (GMAS)–aligned benchmarks and data-informed instructional practices
- Increase achievement and access for students with disabilities through investment and policy strategies.
- Establish a pipeline for long-term policy work, including comprehensive research in partnership with others.
- Advocate for student-centered decision-making in school closures and consolidations.
The Impact
Launch & Grow Trajectory-Changing Public Schools
Expanding access to high-quality district, charter, and innovation schools.
We seed, support, and scale public schools that show strong academic growth, close gaps, and prepare students for postsecondary success — with a focus on those furthest from opportunity.
Our work includes:
- Identifying promising school models and community needs
Recruiting and supporting high-impact school leaders - Providing funding and technical assistance for school launch, expansion, or replication
- Building long-term public support for innovative, high-quality public school options
Major Initiatives and Investments
- Innovation schools: Drive equitable student achievement and a cohesive network of trajectory-changing public schools by cultivating an innovation school pathway in one metro district.
- High-impact school leaders: Invest in one new, proven, mid-level program that supports the bench building of leaders for the expansion or replication of high-quality schools.
- Teacher certification pathway: Establish a high-quality teacher certification pathway to support metro Atlanta teacher pipelines.
- New Schools: Support the launch of 2-3 new trajectory-changing K-12 public schools each year and develop a strategy for school expansion and replication.
The Impact
Elevate Insights & Galvanize Around Best Practices
Turning data and community knowledge into action.
As the region’s insight leader, we help partners understand what works and identify where change is most needed. We do this by:
- Learning What’s Working: Conducting research and gathering insights from schools, communities, and system data.
- Sharing What’s Working: Surfacing trends that guide investments, priorities, and policy decisions, and sharing findings through strategic communications, convenings and more.
- Driving the Conversation: Unifying stakeholders around a shared charge for student success.
Major Initiatives and Investments
- Community Dialogues: Build a pipeline of engaged and informed stakeholders.
- A.R.I.S.E. Fellowship Program: Build a pipeline of informed advocates to advance system improvement.
- Annual Speaker Series: Enable the conversations that drive equitable student achievement across the Metro Atlanta ecosystem.
- Data-Driven Instruction: Partner with metro area schools to implement GMAS-aligned benchmarks and data-informed instructional practices.
- Atlanta Schools Data Project (ASDP): Further develop and promote the Atlanta Schools Data Project as an accessible source of information for the Metro Atlanta community.
The Impact
Invest & Activate
Mobilizing resources and partners to accelerate student success.
Meeting our three-year goals requires sustainable, aligned investment. Through our $36M, three-year fund, we:
- Deploy grants to schools, partners, and initiatives tied to our strategic goals
- Engage funders, educators, and civic leaders in coordinated regional action
- Build organizational capacity to deliver on systems-level work
- Track and report how investments create and influence lasting change
Major Initiatives and Investments
- Schools and talent dashboard (ROI): Develop and implement a performance-based school investment model, and use district and school-level data to monitor and share student outcome insights with stakeholders.
- Policy and advocacy dashboard (ROI): Align the community portfolio to policy goals to promote stronger engagement and alignment to schools, talent, and ecosystem development work.
- Raising and leveraging philanthropic dollars to support ecosystem priorities: Establish sustainability to ensure both present and future revenue for the organization. Translate strategic plan initiatives to build support and enhance local philanthropic investments.
- Strengthening board and internal operations for scale and sustainability: Evaluate organizational structure to build sustainable infrastructure, enhance agility and decision-making, strengthen stewardship and transparency, and create a scalable operating model.