The Walton Family Foundation

The Walton Family Foundation is rooted in several generations of family, where no voice is louder than the next and different opinions are valued. By applying this legacy to our work, we are redefining the way philanthropy collaborates with grantees and communities to take on some of the world’s biggest problems.

We do this by bringing diverse perspectives to the same table: caregivers and conservationists, educators and entrepreneurs, farmers and futurists, doers and dreamers. By listening to and learning from their experiences, we can reach a shared understanding and create innovative solutions that achieve true impact.

We work in three areas: strengthening the connections between K-12 education and lifelong opportunity, protecting rivers, oceans and the communities they support and advancing our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta.

Our Mission: We are a family-led foundation that tackles tough social and environmental problems with urgency and a long-term approach to create access to opportunity for people and communities.

Our Vision: To live in a world where people can accomplish anything when they have opportunity and encouragement

Website: https://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/

WFF’s work with The Harwood Institute

• Held special convening on “how change happens” with Foundation senior staff

• Supported three community public capital reports:

  • Reading Thriving, Together: A New Agenda for Education and the Community (2021)

  • Clarksville-MoCo Stepping Into the Future: A New Agenda for Education and the Community (2022)

  • Lexington’s Path to Shared Purpose: A New Agenda for Education and the Community (2022)

• Launched Harwood Ecosystem Approach in Lexington, KY

• Launched mini-community initiative in Clarksville, TN

• Supporting Harwood national communications on community-led change

JOHANNAH CHASE

Senior Program Officer

Johannah is a senior program officer for the K12 education program, leading the Catalytic Communities initiative which is focused on supporting community-driven educational change in diverse places across the country. Prior to joining the foundation, Johannah served as the Associate Dean for Innovation, Policy and Research at Bank Street College of Education, where she led an initiative to translate Bank Street’s 100 years of high quality early learning and teacher preparation experience to classrooms and communities with the greatest need. Prior to Bank Street, Johannah worked at the New York City Department of Education on Mayor Bloomberg’s Children’s First reforms. As the Chief Executive Officer of the Special Education division, she led a citywide reform to special education policy, expanding access to high-quality instruction and improving  outcomes for the City’s 210,000 students with special needs. Johannah is a former middle school  math teacher and Teach For America alumna. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell  University and a master’s from Pace University.

MELISSA REYNOLDS

Senior Program Officer

Melissa manages the Public Charter School Startup Grant Program in the K-12 Education Program. Before joining the foundation, she worked at Education Strategy Group, partnering with states and districts to build alignment between K-12, postsecondary and workforce systems. Melissa has consulted with districts, higher education institutions and states, bringing experience in building a network of technical assistance, managing communications for advocacy coalition, and designing recommendations for program improvement.