Children's Defense Fund HQ
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The Children’s Defense Fund envisions a nation where marginalized children flourish, leaders prioritize their well-being, and communities wield the power to ensure they thrive.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Freedom Schools
The CDF Freedom Schools® program seeks to build strong, literate, and empowered children prepared to make a difference in themselves, their families, communities, nation and world today. By providing summer and after-school reading enrichment for children who might otherwise not have access to books, the CDF Freedom Schools program plays a much needed role in helping to curb summer learning loss and close achievement gaps – and is a key part of CDF’s work to ensure a level playing field for all children. To date over 150,000 children have participated in Freedom Schools, and over 17,000 young adults have been trained as Servant Leader Interns. CDF Freedom Schools currently exist in 28 states.
Where we work
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of students who receive scholarship funds and/or tuition assistance
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls, Men and boys, Adolescents
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Each year, CDF provides college assistance and scholarships to high school students who have demonstrated resilience, academic excellence and a commitment to social change.
Number of youth who demonstrate civic participation skills (e.g., compromise, perspective-taking)
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls, Men and boys, Children and youth
Related Program
Freedom Schools
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Through CDF Freedom Schools children, youth and young adults are mobilized annually around a National Day of Social Action.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Children's Defense Fund champions policies and programs that lift children out of poverty; protect them from abuse and neglect; and ensure their access to health care, quality education and a moral and spiritual foundation. Supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations, CDF advocates nationwide and through its network of state and regional offices on behalf of children to ensure children are always a priority.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
CDF advocates for the best interests of children through rigorous research, public education, youth leadership development, and community-based programs in 30 states across the country. By providing scholarships, college preparation, and ongoing support, CDF helps high school students who have overcome obstacles and challenges in their lives. With Freedom Schools™, CDF focuses on reading enrichment, self-esteem and empowerment, and motivation for children to improve their educational performance, and to make a positive difference in their communities. Through independent research, CDF publishes reports which inform and provide evidence-based guidance to officials and policy leaders toward practices that will make a meaningful and lasting positive impact in the lives of each child.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The Children's Defense Fund is one of the oldest and most respected child advocacy organizations in the country. We are well known for developing programs that are evidenced-based and provide heavily evaluated outcomes for the children, youth and families served. CDF is a national organization with the capacity to work for children at the federal, state and community levels across the country; headquartered in Washington DC with offices in California, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
CDF reaches over 12,000 children and trains over 1,500 college-aged emerging leaders annually with its Freedom Schools program; on average 1.4 grade equivalent increase in reading skill is reported for students over the six week period. In policy, CDF has worked with nonprofit partners and community groups to bring the writing and passage of significant legislation, such as Child Welfare Service Improvement and Innovation Act, and has published numerous national and state reports, like “Ending Child Poverty Now," "The State of America's Children," and many others.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time, It is difficult to identify actionable feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Children's Defense Fund
Board of directorsas of 11/22/2022
Ms. Angela Glover Blackwell
Policy Link
Term: 2020 - 2023
Ms. Ruth-Ann Huvane
Marian Wright Edelman
Children's Defense Fund
Angela Glover Blackwell, Esq.
Policy Link
Carol Oughton Biondi
Los Angeles County Commission for Children
Lan Bentsen
Shape Tomorrow
Malaak Compton-Rock
The AngelRock Project
George Gresham
1199 SEIU
Laphonza Butler
SCRB Strategies
Deborah Jewell-Sherman
Harvard University
Martin Rodgers
Accenture
Ruth-Ann Huvane
Ivanna Omeechevarria
No affiliation
DD Eisenberg
No affiliation
Deborah Cogut
No affiliation
Carmen Rojas
Marguerite Casey Foundation
Don Darius Butler
First Missionary Baptist Church
Zachary Boyers
US Bancorp Community Development Corporation
Starsky Wilson
Children's Defense Fund
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 11/06/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.