Reflecting on 2025, our caring community and partners helped the Alliance for Education center equity and continue providing the necessary infrastructure to make remarkable progress.
This year has brought significant change, and our students and families have experienced those impacts deeply. When families can’t afford groceries because of inflation or federal politics, or when a teacher leaves midyear because the system is too stretched, our students feel it the most. The tidal wave of shifts this year has revealed our collective strength and proved that Seattle can care for every student. We need your help before 2025 is over to continue responding to each need.
This year, your partnership helped the Alliance for Education center equity and continue providing the necessary infrastructure to make remarkable progress:
- Raising and distributing $250K for emergency groceries during the pause of SNAP support. This is in addition to the other 12,440 instances of support we met in 2025 so far. Those dollars turned into full cupboards, warm coats, and a little more breathing room for thousands of Seattle families.
- Sustaining a community of 268 diverse and qualified educators who now teach in 87% of our highest-need schools, with an 80% retention rate after five years. This means students aren’t losing teachers year after year, and the classrooms with the most barriers have strong, well-prepared educators.
- Co-hosting a packed candidate forum that brought 150 people together with the Seattle Mayor, City Council, School Board and King County Executive candidates. South End voters had a real chance to talk about what matters to them, hear directly from leaders and make informed choices at the ballot box.
- Bringing funders together to support the district’s new Strategic Plan. This investment unlocked new data and insights that helped school leaders understand what students need, how resources are being allocated and determine what strategies can be scaled —so every student can confidently read, write and do math at grade level.
But here’s the truth: we’re navigating the same financial challenges as other nonprofits across the country, and we’re facing real pressure as needs and requests for support in our city keep rising. The Alliance is the only nonprofit organization intentionally supporting Seattle students across all 104 schools in the district. It will take more than encouragement and grants to continue this vital work.
Individual donations are what sustain the systems, tools and people who make this work possible behind the scenes. Your support fuels the tools that help us reach families in crisis and connect with communities. It funds the necessary staff who partner to deliver resources daily. We need your assistance for the simple but essential ability to keep our doors open and our support available for students in real time. That’s what your gift makes possible.
Our students’ needs are urgent, and we need your help to continue meeting this moment, facing increased federal attacks on public education and divestment in programs that are proven to increase educational outcomes. Each day, we witness compelling evidence of the impact that a strong partnership with the Alliance brings to schools:
- Principals who can focus on meeting learning goals instead of spending time hiring and onboarding tens of new teachers each year.
- Schools that are well resourced with programs, teachers and staff who are positively impacting school culture and increasing academic rigor.
- Families who no longer have to choose between rent, food and transportation to school.
- Students who show up ready to learn and dream big about their futures.
That’s what you’re investing in when you give to the Alliance: not just a program, but the infrastructure of equity, ensuring we are going beyond aspirations, and continue to function as a reliable organization that produces fair outcomes for every student, every day.
We may not always appear to be in need, but we’re asking you to invest in the Alliance — the staff, tools and systems that ensure our vital work endures despite economic challenges.
Will you make a year-end gift to keep this work going strong?
Whether you choose a one-time donation or a recurring gift, every dollar you invest in the Alliance for Education creates a meaningful difference in the lives of Seattle’s students, families and educators.