Let's work together

so every Young Person can enjoy a livable and lovable life

First Quarter Strategies partners with leaders creating the holistic, humane solutions young people need to thrive in challenging times.

REPORT RELEASE

A Landscape Scan of Research on the K-12 Education of Young People in the United States Who Experience Foster Care, Incarceration, and/or Homelessness

First Quarter Strategies, with funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, conducted a comprehensive landscape scan examining research on K-12 education for young people experiencing homelessness, foster care, and/or incarceration in the United States. Led by Stephanie Malia Krauss in collaboration with Maddy Day, Thaddeus Ferber, and Danielle Wallis, this groundbreaking report analyzes over 400 research publications from 2010-2024, including over 200 studies directly focused on K-12 educational experiences.

Report

Executive Summary

First quarter strategies works with leaders at every level in philanthropy, policy, and practice to help youth thrive

services

STRATEGY

Advising
Audits
Strategy Design

RESEARCH

Landscape Analysis
Root Cause Analysis
Needs Assessments

NETWORKS

Communities of Practice
Funder Networks
Multi-Sector Partnerships

FACILITATION

Portrait of a Thriving Youth
Profile of a Graduate
Issue Campaigns

CREATION

Program Design
School Design
Resource Development

Focus AREAS

Youth Thriving
Adolescence and Early Adulthood
Whole Child Approaches
Science of Learning and Development
Healing-Centered Policy and Practice
School-Community and Education-Youth Development Partnerships
Educator and Youth Development Workforce Issues
Future of Work and Learning
Human-Centered Design and Systems Thinking
Working with Youth Furthest From Opportunity

Project Examples

Staff Consultant for the Youth Transition Funders Group (YTFG). This funder network focuses on investments that support the wellbeing and well-becoming of young people ages 14-25 in the US. This work includes providing direct and collective support to funder members, delivering a learning agenda, and planning events.
Strategy Support for the Science of Learning and Development (SoLD) Alliance. This project with the SoLD Alliance supported a national vanguard of education and youth development leaders as they worked to transform the places where children learn to be aligned with the science of learning and development. Through a strategy step-back process, we considered the full range of activities SoLD can do given the level of change underway and an emergent and rapidly changing future.
Backbone Facilitation for a Multi-Funder Initiative Focused on Special Student Populations. This multi-funder collaborative was co-facilitated by Maddy Day LLC and Associates. It focused on US field and funder knowledge- and base-building, research collaboration, and federal policy that supports the educational success of students who experience homelessness, foster care, and/or the criminal justice system.
State Strategy for Bringing Education + Youth Development Leaders Together. This project united Virginia education and youth development leaders to establish the Commonwealth Alliance for Thriving Youth and a Portrait of Thriving Youth. Continuation work has included the ongoing facilitation of the Alliance and the development of a shared policy agenda focused on middler schoolers.
Senior Fellow and Advisor on Older Youth, Youth Mental Health, and Positive Youth Development. I advise and assist Education Northwest, Children's Funding Project, and Boston University in efforts focused on alternative education, positive youth development, and building social capital.

Are you a funder. NETWORK OR NATIONAL NONPROFIT?

I co-design and advise on strategy for networks (e.g., Connecting Credentials), funder groups (e.g., YTFG workgroup), learning communities (e.g., JFF Leadership Academy), and cohort experiences (e.g., Students at the Center Distinguished Fellows). I can partner with you on special projects, field research, publications, tools, or resources. For example, check out this report on youth readiness, funded by the Ford Foundation; this brief on competency-based education and equity, funded by Lumina Foundation; this ecosystem map of competency-based education in higher education, funded by the Gates Foundation; and this economic well-being investment framework, written for YTFG.

Are you a district or school leader?

I am an educator with a background in pedagogy and school design. I taught elementary school, coached middle school sports, and led an education nonprofit that ran a high school for older youth (Shearwater) on a technical college campus. I can help imagine and design alternative and youth-centered learning models (e.g., EPIC Schools in NYC), and work with your team to prioritize and pursue wellbeing from classroom to board room. We can strategize and plan for how to implement the 10 whole life practices from my book Whole Child, Whole Life, or engage with your families and community to develop a portrait of a thriving youth.

Are you An industry or Credentialing leader?

While my work started with youth, I spent a decade partnering with industry, corporate, and credentialing leaders to serve and support young adult workers. I can work with you to research and design ways to prepare for and support these young workers. This can include customized research, interviews, workshops, and resource creation. Through my work at JFF, I co-led these types of efforts with several groups, including the Hilton Foundation, Lumina Foundation, and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Are you a state or community leader?

I help start and staff statewide partnerships, and community collaboratives focused on child and youth well-being and thriving. Together, we can work together to develop and drive an issue campaign, build an action agenda, start or run a coalition, or plan your next strategy. I can support your team with initial design, technical assistance, or ongoing facilitation. To see what this can look like, read this piece on my work with partners in Virginia or explore this Virginia education network.

Are you a different type of leader?

Do you want to work together but don't fit into the groups above? No problem. Reach out! I want to hear from you and talk about what we can do together. If you are a news or media outlet and want to do an interview or use me as a source for a story, send me an email at info@stephaniemaliakrauss.com with details and your deadline.