Disciplined Investing: Venture Philanthropy and School Improvement

• In Event: Competing Influences: Governance, Unions, and Funding Mechanisms

Abstract

Many contemporary policymakers and philanthropists interested in fixing problems in urban education look to business practices and market-based reforms. Venture Philanthropy (VP), draws its practices directly from the financial sector, using strategic investment to increase the capacity and achievement of funded organizations and to promote social goals. VP firms are increasingly a part of the education environment yet currently there is little empirical data on the specific meaning, ideas, and logic through which these organizations understand and investment in education, particularly urban education. Using Foucauldian disciplinary theory, this study used embedded ethnographic methods to examine a VP that invests millions of dollars to support not only school performance but also an urban education marketplace.

Author

• Samuel E. Conver, Temple University