The Leeds family launched NPESF in 2008 with a bright vision: to help build a nation with a prosperous economy and harmonious society, where all children are prepared to succeed in college, career, and life.

The mission of NPESF is to promote equitable opportunity for all children to obtain a high-quality education from birth through college and career. We base this mission on the premise that in order to achieve the Leeds' vision, all children in the United States must be provided with a great education, so that they can gain the knowledge and life skills they need to grow up to be happy, successful, and responsible citizens.

We support our mission in three ways:

We provide leadership support to the Alliance for Excellent Education, the nation’s premiere advocacy organization for promoting high school transformation. AEE wants to make it possible for every child to graduate from high school well prepared for postsecondary learning and success in life.

We sponsor the Education Funder Strategy Group (EFSG), a membership forum for leading state, regional, and national foundations focused on U.S. education policy. EFSG's goal is to help foundations work together to improve student outcomes across the continuum from birth through higher education.

We also make grants to other public charities that share our vision. We like to support organizations whose work advances what we see as some of the key drivers of effective education reform, such as learning from other education systems around the world, developing new ways to teach and learn for the 21st century, and keeping a constant focus on equity to make sure all kids receive the same opportunities to learn.