FRED Returns to Charter School Facilities

In 2018, the Charter School Facility Center was launched at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools with the help of US Department of Education dissemination grant. As part of that grant, we issued a newsletter from FRED (Financing and Real Estate Development). When the grant expired, we moved the Facility Center to our new home – FRED.

Our goal is to help develop a robust Facility Ecosystem nationally and locally to ease the facility challenges.

We do this by:

  1. Helping increase the number of schools ready for facility projects,
  2. Sharing unbiased information on funding and financing opportunities for schools,
  3. Supporting state and federal policy regarding facility funding and financing,
  4. Advancing systemic and scalable real estate development related solutions, and
  5.  Develop a community of practice of schools, practitioners, and policymakers to bring more ideas to reality.

Let us know if you have any other ideas for FRED. Enjoy.

OUR TEAM OF ADVISORS

Mark Medema

Mark Medema is the President of FRED. He launched the Charter School Facility Center at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. He enjoys the sprints of financing and the marathons of advocacy. Previously, he helped Equitable Facilities Fund and Building Hope grow their businesses. He started in the charter sector back in 2001 replicating the first handful of KIPP schools.

Contact Mark

Jana Lavin

Jana Wilcox Lavin has spent most of her career striving to ensure that every child, especially those most underserved, has access to high-quality education. She was most recently the CEO of Opportunity 180, a Las Vegas nonprofit that aims to put students on track to be college and career-ready. Jana is a tenacious leader driving systemic impact through strategic policy, philanthropy, and equity-focused innovation. She is a deep believer in all kids and their potential.

Katie Piehl

Katie Piehl is also the founder of Bloomwise which is driven by a passion for future generations and the urgency to address climate change by supporting climate-minded organizations. With expertise in strategic design, regulatory navigation, and problem solving, we assess environmental impact and provide actionable steps for improvement. Katie has a background in education and public policy and brings experience in innovation and sector transformation. She’s skilled at navigating complex environments and is committed to purpose-driven work.

Contact Katie

SPONSORS