Lumina Foundation

Philanthropy: the Foundation actively supports the philanthropic sector as well as organizations involved in the field of post-secondary Education. Foundation executives and employees are active with philanthropic organizations in indianapolis, where the Foundation is headquartered, and in the vicinity of the district of columbia, where it has a satellite office. Foundation executives and staff members also serve on the boards of local, national and international charitable organizations. for example, the Foundation's president and ceo serves on the board of ditchley Foundation in the united kingdom, as past chairman and trustee emeritus of the council on foundations, and on the boards of act and the central Indiana corporate partnership. Other Lumina staff serve on boards such as the nellie mae Foundation, indy chamber, the arnolt center for investigative journalism at Indiana university, and the firefly children and family alliance Foundation.

Research and publications: the Foundation conducts substantial nonpartisan research and analyses on issues affecting post-secondary Education and makes this research widely available at no charge. The Foundation released its benchmark report, "a stronger nation: learning beyond high school builds american talent," as an online data visualization tool. This report, based on federal data, offers a compelling case for the need to dramatically increase the share of americans with workforce certificates, college degrees, and other high-quality post-secondary credentials. The tool, which was widely shared through media pitching and social media outreach, offers state-by-state analyses of the Education levels of each state's residents, highlighting the work that must be done to achieve educational attainment of 60 percent. The Foundation released two issues of focus magazine, a publication which highlights significant issues facing post-secondary Education.

Conferences and convenings: the Foundation convenes post-secondary Education leaders, policymakers, researchers, and others who are influential and actively involved in efforts to expand access to and success in post-secondary Education, particularly among difficult-to-reach populations such as students of color, adults who delay their pursuit of Education beyond high school, first-generation students, and students from low-income families. These convenings are focused on bringing together stakeholders around a range of topics with the objectives of learning, building, sharing, and acting. Topics covered range from overcoming barriers to post-secondary Education to increasing rates of persistence and completion among students who enroll in college or other post-secondary programs.