Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation
Helping a foundation increase its effectiveness in the learning disabilities field
Established in the late 1980s, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation focuses its grantmaking in three areas: art, the environment and learning disabilities (LD). Historically, Tremaine's LD-related funding had concentrated on a nationwide public awareness campaign to promote understanding of learning disabilities.
But a 2003 study commissioned by the Foundation suggested that the need for education and awareness had become less compelling. "We saw that we could be more effective by redirecting our resources toward programs that explicitly address the needs of children, educators and service agencies," says Tremaine Foundation President Stewart Hudson. "But we needed guidance to accomplish that."
Developing a new strategy for grantmaking
Tremaine engaged TCC Group to help it develop a new strategy for LD-related grantmaking. In the first phase of the project, TCC consultants conducted extensive interviews with educators, technology, and communication experts and other grantmakers, as well as Tremaine's staff, board and LD committee.
"Our purpose was to identify new LD grantmaking areas best suited to our specific expertise, perspective and budget - and then to become operational," says Hudson. Among the areas TCC recommended was early childhood education since it was a field in which Tremaine had had little direct involvement. The Foundation's board and staff recognized that early childhood education would be a good fit with the Foundation's capabilities, resources and mission.
"TCC was enormously helpful in this regard," says Hudson. "With their support, we were able to connect the dots between our interest in learning disabilities and the broader field of early childhood education." In particular, he adds, "TCC made us aware of experts and organizations that could help us refine our game plan."
TCC put Tremaine in touch with the Franklin Porter Graham Institute (FPG), a leading center of early childhood and family studies in North Carolina, among other organizations. The Institute, which helped Tremaine fine tune its strategic plan and develop a canon of best practices, subsequently became a grantee. Tremaine has also awarded grants to organizations active in LD-related teacher training, classroom applications of assistive technology, and integrating LD concerns into broader approaches to early childhood education.
Moving in a new direction to further the founding mission
With TCC's directional assistance, Tremaine recently launched a campaign to implement a Recognition and Response system, designed to help parents and educators address learning difficulties in young children. A grantee network, including the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the National Center for Learning Disabilities, FPG and a host of other national leaders in the LD field has been formed.
"I think it's fair to say we wouldn't have known of the opportunities the early childhood education movement afforded us - or even whom to speak to - without TCC's assistance," Hudson says. "They helped us understand how moving in a new direction would help us advance our founding mission." Ensuring that strategy lends itself to implementation is a hallmark of the TCC approach, he adds, "and that is exactly how things have turned out for the Tremaine Foundation in the area of learning disabilities."
