Knowledgeworks Foundation
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
WE HELP OUR PARTNERS IN STATES AND SCHOOLS WORK TOGETHER TO ALIGN POLICY AND PRACTICE, REIMAGINING WHAT EDUCATION CAN DO THROUGH PERSONALIZED, COMPETENCY-BASED LEARNING - AND WHAT IT MUST DO TO PREPARE STUDENTS FOR A LIFETIME OF LEARNING.
- Income
- $3.7 million
- Spending
- $13.6 million
- Spent on programs
- 68%
- Reserves
- -0.2 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 84%
- Employees
- 61
- Volunteers
- 11
- Highest pay
- $396,155, president & ceo
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Weak: 13 out of 100. Higher than 0% of charities in its peer group (education, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
0 of 35Spendable reserves are negative: it owes or has committed more than it holds.
Debt
5 of 20It owes 72% of what it owns.
Living within its means
0 of 15Spending exceeded income by 266% of income.
Income trend
0 of 15Income fell 42% on the year before.
Spending floor
8 of 1568% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 45 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 74% of charities in its peer group (education, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2511 of 11 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (5)
- $2.8 million spent. In FY25, KnowledgeWorks advanced learner-centered education nationwide through direct partnership, capacity-building, and field leadership focused on personalized, competency-based learning. The organization supported more than 30 school districts, engaging approximately 6,000 educators across 125 schools and positively affecting an estimated 62,000 students in multiple states. Through its statewide and regional systems change efforts, KnowledgeWorks led and supported multi year cohorts in South Carolina, North Dakota, Arizona, Southwestern Pennsylvania, and Nevada. These initiatives helped education leaders align policy, practice, and community vision to build more learner centered education systems. KnowledgeWorks also strengthened educator and leader capacity by designing and facilitating professional learning for teachers, school leaders, and district teams. This professional learning focused on instructional practice, assessment literacy, learner agency, and the implementation of competency based models, and it included workshops, coaching cycles, learning cohorts, and leadership development experiences. The organization provided hands on coaching and technical assistance to district and school teams to support the planning, piloting, and scaling of personalized and competency based learning approaches, with a particular emphasis on sustainability and local ownership. In addition, KnowledgeWorks developed and disseminated tools, frameworks, and learning resources to help educators and systems redesign learning experiences, assess mastery, and strengthen alignment with durable skills and graduate competencies. The organization also convened educators, state agency leaders, community partners, and other stakeholders to promote cross sector collaboration, share promising practices, and support coherence across K-12 education systems. (Expenses $ 3,757,358 including grants of $ 124,721)(Revenue $ 358,329) OTHER SERVICES : SEE SCHEDULE O
- $1.4 million spent. In FY25, KnowledgeWorks supported states and diverse education stakeholders in advancing policy change and improving policy implementation to drive systems transformation. The team presented at national conferences including the Education Commission of the States National Forum, EducationFirst National Forum for Assessment and Accountability, Grantmakers for Education, the Aurora Symposium, the National Council on Measurement in Education, NewTech Network, and SXSW EDU, as well as at regional convenings in states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan. The team also delivered a keynote and workshops at the Montana Office of Public Instruction Summer Institute. KnowledgeWorks advanced its legislative work in states including Nevada and Minnesota by providing strategy guides and supporting the development of bills to advance student centered learning. The organization continued its longstanding partnership with Kentucky, translating policy concepts related to local accountability and vibrant learning into concrete proposals through white papers and four instructional videos. KnowledgeWorks produced multiple resources to support policy implementation, including innovation guides for Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Montana, and a policy primer to assist Montana districts plan and support policy implementation. Work also began on North Dakota's innovation guide, set for release in FY26. The organization expanded its policy reach into new content areas, such as high school transformation, through a six state network launched in partnership with the National Association of State Boards of Education. Legislative tracking continued to be widely utilized by partners and informed high quality webinars. In collaboration with FullScale (formerly Aurora), KnowledgeWorks published new policy maps documenting the state of competency based education across the country. Additional FY25 publications included the third edition of the State Policy Framework for Personalized Learning, a federal transition memo for the incoming presidential administration, an analysis of state graduation policy trends, an updated sustainability framework for long term education change, and a feasibility study on performance assessment through the EduDream Research for Equity Hub scheduled for launch in FY26. KnowledgeWorks also supported systems transformation efforts through strategic planning with Avonworth School District (PA), the Nevada Future of Learning Network, and Engagement sustainability planning.
- $1.3 million spent. In FY25, KnowledgeWorks continued to exercise national thought leadership on the future of learning through publications, partnerships, and stakeholder engagement. The organization released Envisioning Educator Roles for Transformation, which explored potential future educator roles that support learner centered experiences, and Looking at What's Ahead for Education, a compilation of insights from recent futures research. Each publication was accompanied by a webinar. The team secured funding to produce a forecast on the future of learning tailored to the Greater Pittsburgh region. Additional funding supported the facilitation of the Columbus Foundation's community of practice that will advance a community-based, learner-centered education ecosystem. The Strategic Foresight team delivered presentations, workshops, and webinars for wide range of partners including ASCD, CASEL, the Institute for the Future, the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board, the North Dakota Personalized Learning Institute, Remake Learning, Penn State's K 12 Sustainability Summit, Salzburg Global Seminar, SXSW EDU, and several school districts and universities. The team also provided advisory support to international and national partners, including World Savvy and Google, CoSN's Driving K 12 Innovation Advisory Board, the New Zealand Ministry of Education, the National Economics University in Vietnam, and the SEV Foundation in Turkey. Across these engagements, the team supported exploration of future possibilities and ways of shaping the future of education. (Expenses $ 3,757,358 including grants of $ 124,721)(Revenue $ 358,329) OTHER SERVICES : SEE SCHEDULE O
- $3.8 million spent. OTHER SERVICES : SEE SCHEDULE O
- Includes Lead for Learners Network, Evaluation, and Grantmaking programs. In FY25, KnowledgeWorks strengthened the core infrastructure of the national Lead for Learners network. The organization completed the second year of facilitation for the network's steering committee and codesigned innovative supports to empower educators engaged in systems transformation. More than 60 educators participated in the creation of the Portrait of a Leader, and two year long Emerging Leaders cohorts were launched, providing leadership development for over 40 educators. KnowledgeWorks also successfully transitioned the network to a new online community platform, improving usability and supporting future network growth. The evaluation team advanced organizational learning in FY25 by supporting evaluation projects in key geographies, strengthening internal evaluation practices, and contributing to sector thought leadership. The team conducted evaluation work in North Dakota, Arizona, South Carolina, and Nevada. It also created a comprehensive thought leadership evaluation framework to better measure KnowledgeWorks' influence across the field. Additional contributions included publishing articles, hosting webinars on the impact of personalized, competency based learning over the past five years, earning media mentions, receiving recognition from partner organizations, and presenting findings through webinars and conferences. In FY25, KnowledgeWorks provided approximately $528,000 in grants and contributions to 35 organizations.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since June 1991.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.