Vision: That every child has equal access to a quality education.
Mission: Our mission is to advance K-12 educational freedom, with a focus on securing financial support for families so they may access the quality education of their choice.
ACE Founders
ACE Scholarships was founded in 2000 by Alex Cranberg, Charlie Gallagher, Ralph Nagel, John Saeman and the late Ed McVaney and John Walton to provide low-income parents with the freedom to choose the K-12 schools that are best for their children.
The founders’ vision was powerful but simple: that all children have access to great schools. The founders’ commitment to launch ACE was formed through many years of frustration with a lack of reform within the public school system and unsuccessful legislative efforts to provide publicly funded vouchers to families for private school.
They were also keenly aware that low-income students lagged far behind students of other incomes and that overall, American students continued to fall further behind students in other countries.
Guiding Principles
The founders were driven to launch ACE by these primary convictions:
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The American public education system is flawed
The founders were well versed in education reform dating back to the early 1980’s when A Nation at Risk was published. Milton Friedman’s book Free to Choose was also an inspiration to them, as were pioneering education reform efforts in Milwaukee and Cleveland.The founders’ greatest inspiration was the late John Walton, who through his philanthropy encouraged leaders around the country to do something about an education system that doesn’t work for all kids, particularly students of color from low-income families. He was an early proponent of, and investor in, programs that provide immediate relief to students through privately funded programs offering private school choice. As Ralph Nagel put it, “the education of our children is the most important issue in our country and giving parents the ability to choose a school that works for their child is the simplest and most impactful reform we can champion.”
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Free enterprise and democracy work.
Each of the ACE founders grew up in middle-income families and benefited greatly from the benefits of competition in business. Their personal life stories became the foundation of their belief that all families should be able to choose the academic environments that are right for their children. In every area of life where we have competition, products and services improve. Free enterprise breeds competition, which leads to innovation and efficiency and creates an accountable, customer-focused culture. If parents are able to leave, schools will work harder to keep them. This conviction was forged through the founders’ personal beliefs that America is the greatest country in the world and that democracy, free markets and competition work, allowing anyone to achieve the American Dream. Ed McVaney observed, “Free markets work and should be the basis of our education system because parents can then choose the right school for their children.”
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Parents know the best education environment for their kids.
The founders believed that parents, not government bureaucrats, know what is best for their children. Cranberg explained, “ACE was created to empower parents to choose the best school for their children. Our mission is to ensure that parents and children have the ability to figure out which place fits them best.” Every child is different. Parents know their children the best and are therefore the best decision-makers for their children. The founders were impartial to the choice parents make, instead believing parents know best. ACE, therefore, does not limit the private school choices for parents or seek to influence parents in the choices they make other than financial eligibility, as defined by the federal Free & Reduced Lunch (FRL) guidelines. Over subsequent years, the ACE governing board has relaxed these financial requirements for families to better serve the communities we serve. However, in the spirit of our founders’ vision, in every circumstance, ACE families have significant financial need. Typical ACE families of four currently earn around $40,000 annually and an ACE scholarship covers at most only half of a student’s tuition, with a current cap of $2,000 for K-8 and $3,000 for high school. The ACE model expects parents to pay for a portion of their child’s tuition, and we know this comes at a great financial sacrifice. We also know that by having skin in the game, families are more invested and likely to succeed. As Cranberg reflected on this dynamic,“If they are coming to the table with their children, with their hopes, and with their money, I don’t see how we can fail them by not at least coming to the table with some funds.”
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Private schools offer great value and have open seats.
During their initial investigation into how to improve education in America, our founders were struck by the quality and care that small private schools offer. These are not the elite college-prep schools that today charge $20,000 or more for tuition. Most private schools are small, humble enterprises with tuitions currently in the $8,000 to $12,000 range, but were able to do amazing things for kids. And these were schools with open seats and a willingness to serve low-income students who had been previously struggling in public school. “You could see that there was tremendous hope. That there were places in Denver where people were doing wonderful things with kids that weren’t supposed to be having wonderful things happen to them,” Cranberg recalled. The founders learned that the majority of private schools were faith-based and that in addition to finding a school that shared their family values, families chose such private schools because of safety and access to quality academics. Today, more than 85% of ACE partner schools are faith based. Over the past twenty years, as ACE data have demonstrated, year after year, that private schools offer all children a great education. ACE students usually enter their private schools one or two years behind grade level, but within three years at their new schools, catch up and thrive.
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All people are created equal and deserve an equal chance to pursue the American Dream.
The founders subscribed to the great American principle underlying both our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution: all people are created equal. They saw the large discrepancy in educational outcomes between white students and students of color in public schools, and knew better was possible. This “achievement gap” is not only a stain on America’s education system but a root cause of countless other social ills, and our founders believed school choice would help eradicate it. The founders were therefore intentional in establishing ACE support as a need-based scholarship, not a merit-based scholarship. They believed that families with financial need should have equal access to quality private K-12 options to help level the playing field throughout society. The founders did not place additional academic or other requirements on the family, above and beyond whatever requirements their school of choice has in place in order to further this vision. This vision paved the way for ACE to enter tax credit states in later years (Louisiana and Kansas, currently), as all publicly-funded tax credit programs nationally are need-based. Alex Cranberg said, “ACE serves as a reproach that demographics are your destiny, that if you’re poor that it explains your likely output in life.” John Walton, founder of the Children’s Scholarship Fund, declared “educational choice is the last great civil rights issue of our time.”
Leadership Team
ERIK BILLINGER
Chief Development Officer
JO MENDOZA-BRINKERHOFF VP of Marketing & Events
JASON DIFRAIA
President
KIRSTEN EASTWOOD VP of Scholarships
JEFF EHMANNChief Program Officer
JACKIE GUGLIELMO VP of Services
MARK MCLAUGHLIN
Chief Technology Officer
MIKE PRITCHARD
Chief Financial Officer
NORTON RAINEY
Chief Executive Officer
Development & External Affairs Staff
LAUREN AULENBACH Director of School & Family Engagement, ACE Texas
SINDY BECKERLE National Foundations Manager
TINA BURKE Director of Development Operations
LIZ (COLE) FITZGERALD VP of Development, ACE Colorado
ALAN COX National Communications Director
KARI HEBBLE VP of Development & Planned Giving
DACIA HENSHAW National Director of Marketing & Public Relations
MICAH HIROKAWA President, ACE Hawaii
AJ KUHLE President, ACE Kansas & Missouri
JON LINEBERGER President, ACE Texas
HALLE MATHUES Human Resources Director
ASHLEY NELSONPresident, ACE Louisiana
BRITTANI O'BRIEN President, ACE Colorado
GABBY PORTERDirector of Community Outreach
LISA RUSSELL President, ACE Montana & Wyoming
THE RIGHT SCHOOL CAN CHANGE THE STORY FOR A CHILD IN NEED
Donate Today »EVERY CHILD DESERVES
A GREAT EDUCATION
That’s our stand. At ACE Scholarships we’re committed to helping lower-income parents provide that opportunity to their children. Our mission is to advance K-12 educational freedom, with a focus on securing financial support for families so they may access the quality education of their choice.
