Milestones and Lessons Learned
At the Walton Family Foundation, we understand the patience and resolve required to build lasting solutions, ones that create access to opportunity for people and communities over the long term. But we also recognize the need to make a difference today.
Over the last five years, the foundation has worked to improve the lives of people and communities through K-12 education, ocean and river conservation and building quality of life in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Delta.
With our grantees and partners – who poured their expertise, passion and sweat into this work – we marked major milestones together.
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December 9, 2020We understand the resolve required to build lasting solutions, and the need to help people today -
December 9, 2020Highlights from our five-year 2020 Strategic Plan
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December 18, 2020Over the past five years, the region has become a more vibrant place. Now, there’s more work to do. -
December 17, 2020Key lessons we have learned over the past five years -
December 30, 2020Our rivers and oceans face significant challenges. The solutions are emerging from the communities most at risk from these threats.
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December 18, 2020We believe tomorrow’s solutions start with progress today. We find hope in progress to preserve rivers and oceans and the communities they support – sustaining nature because nature sustains us. -
December 17, 2020The Walton Family Foundation supports the parents, educators, leaders and innovators who are building better futures for their students and communities – so every child can reach their full potential. -
December 18, 2020We know what’s possible when big ideas take flight, when opportunity and potential form a foundation of hope. The Walton Family Foundation celebrates the people and communities that are making our home region more vibrant, diverse and alive with possibility.
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December 17, 2020Highlights from our 2020 Strategic Plan -
December 30, 2020Highlights from our 2020 Strategic Plan -
December 18, 2020Highlights from the 2020 Strategic Plan
Big Change Takes Time
Five years can seem insignificant when tackling big social and environmental challenges, but five years matters. As much as we want to change systems for the better and in ways that last for generations, at the end of the day, it’s about people – each teacher, farmer, fisher, artist or entrepreneur helped along the way.
Making a Difference Today
Every day matters. To the parent of a kindergartener struggling in school. To a community along a coast disappearing into the ocean by the minute. To an entrepreneur risking everything to chase a dream.
That is why the foundation tackles these challenges by planning our work in five-year cycles, to approach change with urgency, while also learning and adapting solutions for the future.
Working for Change Tomorrow
These milestones are only possible because of the tireless commitment from leaders and innovators in the communities where we work. Every day for the past five years, we have learned from them.
The foundation commits $250 million to support ocean conservation and sustainable fisheries in Indonesia and the Americas
The Building Equity Initiative launches
Quality of Life Survey reveals 95% of residents surveyed are happy with Northwest Arkansas
Support for YouthForce NOLA connects New Orleans charter high schools to the business community, the foundation’s first grant in support of new pathways to college and career
Ford Foundation and Walton Family Foundation launch $6 million effort to diversify art museum leadership
Thaden School and Brightwater: The Center for the Study of Food open in Bentonville, Arkansas
United States and Mexico sign Minute 323, a Colorado River water use agreement
Louisiana Coastal Master Plan is approved
Outdoor magazine identifies Bentonville, Arkansas, as one of the top outdoor towns, highlighting it as the best town to ride singletrack past world-class art
Parents Amplifying Voices in Education (PAVE) partners with Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (FOCUS) to bring a new high-quality school to Ward 8 in Washington, D.C.
Northwest Arkansas Vitality Report shows benefits of philanthropic investment and need for affordable housing options
Two new nonprofit lending funds – FIF and EFF – launch to increased access to facilities funding for public charter schools
Studies show bicycling provides $137 million in economic benefits to Northwest Arkansas
$100 million in grants awarded to support diverse and innovative school models and leaders
TRUE Northwest Arkansas launches to advance diversity, equity and inclusion
$20 million in grants awarded to support, retain and increase the diversity of educators nationwide
National Parents Union launches with seed funding from the foundation
State leaders and communities unite to sign the Drought Contingency Plan to conserve water in the Colorado River Basin
Creative Arkansas Community Hub & Exchange (CACHE) launches to connect, support and develop Northwest Arkansas’ arts and culture community
Coler Mountain Bike Preserve opens in Bentonville
Plug and Play opens in Northwest Arkansas to bring innovative startups from around the world to the region
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation-led public-private partnership leverages $1.25 million grant to generate $30 million in additional funding in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley
The Momentary opens in Bentonville
The Walton Family Foundation responds to the COVID-19 crisis with grants totaling $35 million
A new poll shows Americans see an urgent need to protect water amid climate change
Northwest Arkansas is ranked in the top 10 places to live by U.S. News & World Report for the fifth consecutive year
VELA Education Fund, a co-funding effort with the Charles Koch Institute, distributes $2.4 million to more than 260 entrepreneurs, parents and educators across the country to support learning in the COVID-19 era