Building the Pipeline:
HOW HBCU s ARE TRANSFORMING PUBLIC EDUCATION FROM THE GROUND UP
BY DR. JAMAL WATSON
The ribbon cutting at I Dream Big Academy wasn't merely a building dedication. It was a declaration that the future of Black education in Alabama, and perhaps the nation, could look radically different. TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — On a crisp February morning, students, parents, educators, and civic leaders gathered on the campus of Stillman College to bear witness to something four years in the making.
a building that represents all of the hard work that our team put in and the representation of parents who still enrolled their children before we had a building." That leap of faith speaks volumes about the hunger for quality education in communities across Alabama's Black Belt and about the ambitions of a $20 million initiative that backers believe could transform public education far beyond the state's borders.
“Our work is all about empowering local leaders who are transforming education in their communities,” said Marlon Marshall, CEO of City Fund. “HBCUs are natural partners in this work. They've been engines of excellence and innovation for generations, and these partnerships represent exactly the kind of bold, locally driven solutions that can help improve entire city school systems.” The investment arrives amid a wave of major philanthropic commitments to HBCUs. MacKenzie Scott donated more than $700 million to HBCUs over a three-month stretch, including a $19 million unrestricted gift to Dillard University and $38 million to Xavier University of Louisiana. Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank pledged $50 million to Atlanta's HBCUs in October 2025. And Bloomberg himself committed $600 million to support medical schools at four HBCUs: Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.
In December 2025, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the education
nonprofit City Fund jointly committed $20 million, $10 million each, to fund a national initiative supporting HBCU- charter school partnerships. The United Negro College Fund is serving as a key partner. Together, they are wagering that America's historically Black colleges and universities, institutions that have anchored Black communities for generations, are uniquely positioned to reshape K-12 education from the ground up.
And Stillman was just the beginning.
“It's a culmination of four years of work to finally see a dream come to reality,” said Dr. Angela Lang, co- founder and executive director of I Dream Big Academy. "There's actually
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