Top education leaders will guide $40-million fund to help states bridge the gap between evidence-based policy and effective classroom practice
Nashville, Tenn., (September 24, 2026) — Accelerate today announced the launch of the State Implementation (SIF) Advisory Board, bringing together eight leading education experts to guide expansion of SIF’s work. The board will provide strategic direction as Accelerate works to help state leaders build the implementation capacity needed to ensure their education policies deliver real results in real classrooms.
Chaired by Hanseul Kang, founding Executive Director of the Broad Center at the Yale School of Management and former District of Columbia State Superintendent, the advisory board will review results from current state partnerships, offer recommendations on measurement and program management, and connect state leaders with resources and expertise to advance their implementation work.
“State leaders hold more authority and responsibility than ever to improve student outcomes,” said Kevin Huffman, CEO of Accelerate. “This board brings together people who have actually done the work of running states and districts, shaping policy, directing philanthropic strategy, and delivering real progress for students. Their insights will help us to expand SIF’s reach and deepen the impact we’re seeing in states where we already work.”
“The states we work with are ready to lead,” said Hanseul Kang, Chair of the SIF Advisory Board. “SIF helps with the flexible resources and hands-on capacity to translate their commitments into sustained progress. This board brings together leaders who have navigated these challenges themselves and can help ensure that SIF investments translate into meaningful results for students.”
Accelerate additionally approved Nebraska as the newest SIF state, where the partnership will reach 91,000 students in grades K–3. Nebraska is working to improve early literacy outcomes by introducing high-quality instructional materials and implementing a common early literacy screener across all districts. Accelerate’s support will pair planning and implementation funding with hands-on support from expert technical assistance partners, helping the state build needed systems and provide professional learning so teachers are equipped to use screener data to identify student needs and tailor instruction accordingly.
The SIF Advisory Board includes:
- Derrell Bradford, President, 50CAN and former Executive Director, New Jersey’s Better Education for Kids
- Ken Bubp, Founder, Five Sparrows Consulting and former Founding Partner, City Fund
- Romy Drucker, Education Program Director, Walton Family Foundation, founder of The 74, and former Chief of Staff, Division of Portfolio Planning at the New York City Department of Education
- Dr. Christina Grant, Executive Director, Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and former D.C. State Superintendent of Education
- Hanseul Kang, Chair, Executive Director, The Broad Center at the Yale School of Management and former D.C. State Superintendent of Education
- Cheryl Oldham, Executive Vice President, Bipartisan Policy Center and former senior vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
- Daniel Weisberg, Chief Policy and Program Officer, Wallace Foundation, former First Deputy Chancellor of New York City Public Schools, and former CEO, TNTP
- Anne Wicks, Don Evans Family Managing Director, Opportunity and Democracy, George W. Bush Institute and former Associate Dean, USC Rossier School of Education
About SIF
Launched in 2024 with $40 million from the Walton Family Foundation, SIF has already invested partnered with eight states — Delaware, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee — supporting effective implementation of initiatives to strengthen literacy and math outcomes, expand high-dosage tutoring, and reimagine career pathways. These efforts already reach more than 3 million students.
Each SIF partnership combines three critical elements. First, states receive critical funding at the right time — a $250,000 planning grant, followed by approximately $3 million over three years to cover implementation costs that state budgets cannot always move quickly enough to address. Second, states receive hands-on technical assistance from Accelerate’s leadership team and expert partners, who work with state leaders to establish milestones, monitor progress, and solve implementation challenges. Third, independent evaluators like RAND or Mathematica study what is working, what isn’t, and why, supporting continuous improvement and ensuring that lessons from one state become a playbook others can follow.
About Accelerate
Accelerate is a national nonprofit that helps states turn strong evidence into real results for students. By aligning research, policy, and practice, Accelerate helps states scale proven strategies in public schools. Through grantmaking, research, partnerships, and state implementation support, Accelerate ensures that what works for students translates into measurable gains in classrooms nationwide. For more information, visit www.accelerate.us.
Media Contact
Debra Wexler | [email protected]
