New America Foundation

The New America Foundation is a Washington D.C.-headquartered think tank which states that it "invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing the United States ... With an emphasis on big ideas, impartial analysis and pragmatic solutions, New America invests in outstanding individuals whose ability to communicate to wide and influential audiences can change the country's policy discourse in critical areas, bringing promising new ideas and debates to the fore."

The foundation, which was launched in 1999, has as its CEO Steve Coll, a staff writer with The New Yorker magazine while the chairman of the Board of Directors is the Chairman & CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt.

Ties to Peter G. Peterson

The New America Foundation receives funding from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.

2014 Policy Brief Insisting that Colleges Align with the Common Core

In July 2014, the New America Foundation released a policy brief recommending that, rather than primary and secondary school education aiming to prepare students for post-secondary education, higher education providers should change their teaching methods in order to accommodate Common Core State Standards. The report, titled "Common Core Goes to College: Building Better Connections Between High School and Higher Education," suggests that "the widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and assessments presents a new opportunity to bridge the gap between high school and higher education." The report argues "that states' new college- and career-ready assessments should, at the very least, provide an additional avenue for students to meet minimum college eligibility requirements, qualify for state financial aid, and place into the assortment of first-year credit-bearing coursework offered by institutions."

The report concludes by providing recommendations to higher education institutions in order to align teaching methods, teacher preparation, financial aid dissemination, and course placement decisions with Common Core standards. Recommendations include that:

• Institutions with minimum standards for admission should amend those standards to include college- and career-ready assessment cut scores.
• Institutions offering developmental coursework should base this instruction upon their state's college- and career-ready standards, and determine the success of those programs using the state's high school assessments
• For those states which continue to award financial aid on the basis of demonstrated academic merit, amend any criteria relating to assessment scores to include those from the state's high school college- and career-ready assessments.

The report was funded by grants from:

• Alliance for Early Success
• Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
• Grable Foundation
• Foundation for Child Development
• Joyce Foundation
• Kresge Foundation
• Lumina Foundation
• Pritzker Children’s Initiative
• William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
• W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation

Funders

As of January 2013, New America Foundation's top donors included:

$1,000,000+

• David and Lucile Packard Foundation
• Pew Charitable Trusts
• John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

$250,000-$999,999

• Aetna, Inc.
• Arizona State University
• BlackRock, Inc.
• California Endowment
• The Nathan Cummings Foundation
• The Emerson Fund
• Foundation for Child Development
• Foundation to Promote Open Society
• Google
• The James Irvine Foundation
• John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
• [[Carolyn and Jeffrey Leonard]
• Lumina Foundation
• The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
• Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
• The New York Community Trust
• Open Society Institute
• Peter G. Peterson Foundation
• The Pew Charitable Trusts
• Bernard and Irene Schwartz
• Smith Richardson Foundation
• US Department of State
• Wyncote Foundation

Funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

New America has received at least $6,530,002 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation from "2009 and earlier" through 2013:

2013

• 740,000 for global policy and advocacy
• $200,002 grant from the Gates Foundation in order "to conduct research on the effectiveness and utility of exit exams and develop and distribute policy options for states as they develop their Common Core assessment systems."

2012

• $1,450,000 for postsecondary success
• $110,000 for postsecondary success

2011

• $530,000 for postsecondary success

2010

• $1,300,000 for global policy and advocacy

2009 and earlier

• $450,000 for global policy and advocacy
• $1,500,000 for global policy and advocacy
• $250,000 for global policy and advocacy

Personnel

Board of Directors

As of January 2013:

• Eric Schmidt: Chair
• Liaquat Ahamed
• David G. Bradley
• Boykin Curry
• James Fallows
• Francis Fukuyama
• Atul A. Gawande
• William W. Gerrity
• Ted Halstead
• Rita E. Hauser
• Zachary Karabell
• Jeffrey Leonard
• Kati Marton
• Walter Russell Mead
• Lenny Mendonca
• Steven Rattner
• Eric Schmidt
• Bernard L. Schwartz
• Anne-Marie Slaughter
• Jonathan Soros
• Daniel Yergin
• Fareed Zakaria

Staff

As of January 2013:

• Steve Coll: President
• Rachel L. White: Executive Vice President and Director, External Relations
• Andres Martinez: Vice President, Editorial Director and Director, Bernard L. Schwartz Fellows Program
• Sascha Meinrath: Vice President and Director, Open Technology Institute
• Valerie Usher: Director of Finance and Operations
• Kyle Ange: Controller

Senior Staff

• Peter Bergen: Director, National Security Studies Program
• Shannon Brownlee: Acting Director, Health Policy Program
• Kevin Carey: Director, Education Policy Program
• Reid Cramer: Director, Asset Building Program
• Jason Delisle: Director, Federal Education Budget Project
• Patrick C. Doherty: Director, Smart Strategy Initiative
• David Gray: Director, Workforce and Family Program
• Lisa Guernsey: Director, Early Education Initiative
• Leila HIlal: Director, Middle East Task Force
• Gene Kimmelman: Director, Internet Freedom and Human Rights Project
• Michael Lind: Policy Director, Economic Growth Program
• Mark Lloyd: Director, Media Policy Initiative
• MaryEllen McGuire: Executive Director, Postsecondary National Policy Institute
• Sherle R. Schwenninger: Director, Economic Growth Program and American Strategy Program
• Ceila Hartman Sims: Director, Postsecondary National Policy Institute
• Jamie M. Zimmerman: Director, Global Assets Project

Leadership Council

According to the organization, "New America's Leadership Council, chaired by John C. Whitehead, recognizes those individuals who contribute $25,000 or more to the Foundation each year. As members of the Leadership Council, they participate in the intellectual life of the Foundation in numerous ways. For instance, they are invited to attend a special annual retreat with New America senior staff, Fellows and Board of Directors, as well as a series of salon dinners across the country."

• Scott Delman
• Thor Halvorssen
• George C. Halvorsen
• Carolyn Kaplan
• Justine Kilpatrick
• Peter Marber
• Craig Newmark
• Robert H. Neihaus
• F. Noel Perry

Fellows

• Noah Feldman
• Parag Khanna
• James Pinkerton
• Mark Schmitt is senior fellow

Contact Information

The New America Foundation
1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. 7th Floor
Washington, DC 20009
Phone: (202) 986-2700
Fax: (202) 986-3696
Website: www.newamerica.net

Articles and Resources

Related SourceWatch Articles

• Anatol Lieven
• Frida Berrigan - Senior Program Associate
• Think tanks
• Miguel A. Soto-Class

External Articles

• J.H. Snider, "Mixing Advocacy, Scholarly Research and Journalism: Can the New America Foundation Square the Circle?", PR Watch, February 26, 2009.