KDK-Harman Foundation

KDK-Harman Foundation was established in 2004 by Janet E. Harman. Janet named the family philanthropy in honor of her three children, Kevin, David, and Kelly. She endowed the private family foundation with over $26 million, which has grown to nearly $30 million. KDK-Harman Foundation was created to support educational opportunities for economically disadvantaged students and their families. According to Janet, “Education is an essential means towards achieving financial independence and enabling a better life for families and their future generations.  A better educated society will result in lower crime rates, a reduction to the burdened healthcare system, and increased economic productivity”.
 

The Foundation’s first grants in 2005 provided support to educational programs in Austin, Texas, the home of the Harman family. The KDK-Harman Foundation has since turned its attention to sharpening the programmatic focus of its giving and expanded its reach to include seven central Texas counties.
 

Through its research, the Foundation found that in Central Texas, gaps in student achievement between different racial/ethnic and income groups begin showing up in kindergarten. Central Texas data show that TAKS passing rates of different subpopulations are relatively close in 3rd grade, but widen by 5th grade.  By 8th grade, there are large disparities with Black, Hispanic and Low Income students passing at rates 30-40 percentage points lower than white students (E3 Alliance).
 

With this knowledge, the Foundation decided to focus its grantmaking on closing the achievement gap that exists between economically disadvantaged children and their higher income peers in Central Texas to ensure that all students receive an excellent education. KDK-Harman believes education is the essential key for economically disadvantaged families to escape poverty. Access to quality education programming can improve school readiness and subsequent chances for school success, financial independence, and social stability. In other words, KDK-Harman Foundation believes that education is the great equalizer. This isn’t a temporary fix, but a long-term solution to breaking the cycle of poverty.
 

In 2008, the mission of the foundation was revised to reflect Janet’s desire to assist Central Texas in creating a culture of giving excellence. The Foundation is actively involved in the community through its role as a host and convener of community stakeholders interested in education and philanthropy. Beyond direct financial investment, the Foundation is committed to supporting our investments in the areas of capacity building of our grantee portfolio, including board development, leadership and talent development, evaluation assistance, communications/marketing, and fundraising through our consulting arm. We hope that the outcome of this capacity building investment is an increase in our grantees’ organizational effectiveness.
 

In sum, the KDK-Harman Foundation’s long-term desired impact is to close achievement gaps for low-income students in Central Texas, preparing them with 21^st Century skills and access to quality careers, therefore, breaking the cycle of poverty for them and future generations. We seek to do this by improving student achievement beginning in the primary grades and particularly in math and science, raising graduation rates, and ensuring students are prepared for post-secondary success.