By J. Gregory Dees and Beth Battle Anderson
In December 2000, New Schools Venture Fund was debating the role it should play in helping one of its for-profit investees, LearnNow, attract new capital. A $20 million venture philanthropy fund, New Schools invested in for-profit and nonprofit education ventures that targeted a vulnerability in the K-12 education system. LearnNow, a charter school management company, was wrestling with the need to balance the aggressive growth demanded by most for-profit investors with its commitment to providing quality education for students in low-income communities. This tension and LearnNow’s struggles to raise money highlighted a question that was always on New Schools President Kim Smith’s mind: Should New Schools, a public charity seeking to improve K-12 education, be investing in for-profit ventures?
Source: Stanford Graduate School of Business
Harvard Business Publishing, Prod. # SI7A-PDF-ENG, 2001
http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/web/product_detail.seam?E=73328&R=SI7A-PDF-ENG&conversationId=6589