what we do
Ignite/ed helps forward-thinking education and philanthropic organizations solve critical challenges, launch innovative programs, and invest for impact. We apply a data-informed approach and an equity lens to improve the tools, strategies, programs, and approaches utilized in K-12 education to ensure all students can meet their full potential.Partner with us to:
Identify and test innovative solutions and programs to address complex challenges
Strategize how best to measure student learning and school quality
Design impactful grant programs and competitions
Conceptualize research and evaluation projects
Coach and develop your mid-level managers to prepare them for more senior roles
Understand the use of new technologies and tools in learning, including Artificial Intelligence and Chat GPT
testimonials
Danielle has been a fantastic partner in our work to push the field of education forward, shepherding grants and learning opportunities for the education field that are forward-looking and impactful, both at the organizational level and for broader systems change. Fast and very smart, Danielle is equally qualified to convene highly technical experts to work through solutions to key challenges in the market and to lay the groundwork for ambitious conversations about the impact of emerging technologies on students and schools.
Ulrich Boser — Founder and CEO, The Learning AgencyDanielle is an invaluable partner in designing new grants programs with an equity lens. She demonstrates a relentless commitment to centering the needs of students and families, while also being willing to take risks in advancing a new approach to grant making that focuses on the experience of grantees – big and small. Her thoughtfulness, data-driven insight and problem-solving have been core to our team’s success. Danielle is a true partner in the philanthropy space, one that supports and advocates for the grantee, while simultaneously pushing us to do our very best for students and families. Parents, students, and grantees have an advocate in Danielle.
John E. Deasy, Ph.D — President, Bezos Family FoundationI have had the opportunity to collaborate with Danielle both when she was a leader at the KIPP Foundation as well as in her capacity as founder of Ignite Ed. I deeply appreciate that Danielle is truly energized by team work and discussing and working through problems as a group. She is extremely strategic and forward-looking and has a unique ability to consider innovations through both a high-level systems changes lens and a granular, tactical nuts-and-bolts lens. She is easy to communicate with and eager to ask questions and share her thoughts.
Molly Minick — Education Consultant, AstroTelos, LLCWe so appreciated Danielle’s responsiveness and ability to learn our context quickly. In a complicated time for our organization, she was able to name our assets and challenges, articulate key decision points, and suggest clear next steps to help us move with respect and care. Most important for us, her written analysis brought our team together around key decisions and work we needed to prioritize.
Lisa Vahey — Co-Founder, Honesty for Ohio Education
about us
Danielle Eisenberg is the Founder and CEO of Ignite/ed. Her favorite work lives in the space between idea and launch. She has deep experience in the K-12 education space with a commitment to ensuring that the tools, strategies, and interventions we put in front of ALL students are evidence-based and impactful.With clients, she is hyper-focused on plans that have logic-model level clarity around intended short- and long-term outcomes; and methods to evaluate whether the solution is meeting those outcomes. She applies her significant experience in developing early- to mid-career managers into senior leaders to establish successful work continuity.Select clients include: The Walton Family Foundation, Charter School Growth Fund, Friends of Breakthrough Public Schools, The Primary School, and Meeting Street Schools.Prior to founding Ignite/ed, Danielle spent over a decade in senior leadership at KIPP Public Schools, running the national Research & Evaluation team. In this role, she implemented tools and systems to capture and make sense of a holistic set of high-quality data on school and network practices as well as student and alumni outcomes. She oversaw the network's K-12 assessment strategy, comprehensive stakeholder survey design and implementation, and managed all evaluation efforts from program evaluation through longitudinal randomized control trials and quasi-experimental designs to measure long-term impact. More recently, she served as Acting CEO at Breakthrough Public Schools steering the organization through a set of leadership transitions and crises.Danielle is an active community member, serving as School Board Chair of Breakthrough Public Schools, on the Overseas STEM Committee for the Cleveland Jewish Federation, and as a writing coach for MindsMatter. Danielle holds a BA from Washington University and an Ed.M. from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. When not working or volunteering, Danielle is parenting three very spirited children with diverse learning needs and exploring the art of gardening.
Photo by Katie Malone
Informed Philanthropy
Ignite/ed provides valuable insights and guidance to philanthropic organizations that aim to make a positive impact on education. Consulting services include strategic advising; landscape analysis and trend research; designing, executing, and progress monitoring grant programs; and developing funder relationships and partnerships.Select work includes:
For a new investment mechanism: Secured approval for over $7M in grants; including building a $5M collective pot with multiple funders to stand up a new grants program working to provide families with better access to data that empower them to support their children’s education.
For a large family foundation: Ran a discovery process to uncover trends in the future of assessment and measurement. Funded and judged grants competitions involving emerging technology (e.g. Large Language Models, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning) and its impact on education.
For a community foundation: Advised staff on grant-making as part of a committee focused on improving STEM education overseas.
Strategic Data Projects
Ignite/ed engages in a range of Strategic Data Projects that provide pathways to overcoming organizational questions or barriers when more information or data is necessary to forge a solution. Building from research and analytic phases, this work can include Theory of Change development, logic models, implementation plans, pilot projects, and methods to continuously evaluate whether solutions are meeting intended outcomes.Select work includes:
For a venture fund: Designed and implemented a pilot project to answer critical questions about the K-12 alumni labor market and postsecondary education outcomes.
For a regional charter network: Developed the first survey of alumni, using an inclusive end-user design, and integrating the findings into core programmatic strategies.
K-12 Assessment and Measurement
Ignite/ed has extensive experience in K-12 assessment and measurement. In addition to advising on holistic assessment strategy and tools, we have considerable knowledge of innovative measurement products and frameworks and the applications of emerging tech to the assessment and measurement space.Select work includes:
For a large national charter network: Revamped the national K-12 Assessment Strategy for KIPP Public Schools, balancing accountability and comparability needs with local context and curricula. Sourced and implemented a national Norm-Referenced Test and an Assessment Management Platform across hundreds of schools.
For a foundation’s education innovation program: Managed the Future of Measurement portfolio as part of the Innovation Team for the Walton Family Foundation, identifying areas where philanthropy can move the field towards a vision of a more personalized, flexible educational system that works for all students and caregivers.
Research and Evaluation
Ignite/ed provides a wide-range of research and evaluation services, from topic-specific landscape reviews and research reports to qualitative research (case studies, focus groups, stakeholder surveys) to more extensive and rigorous impact evaluation oversight and design.We provide the following types of research & evaluation services:
Landscape Review and Ecosystem Mapping: Produce landscape reviews on specific topics that can include recommendations and connections to key experts, products, and funders.
Evaluation Design and Management: Support learning agenda creation, development of clear KPI's and evidence frameworks, evaluation design, evaluator selection, data acquisition, federal grant processes, and project oversight.
Survey Design and Administration: Design survey strategy to capture meaningful information for key stakeholders, with a focus on creating equity of voice and ensuring data is actionable.
School Reviews: Conduct quantitative and qualitative data capture and review, synthesizing findings into actionable deliverables and meaningful discussions.
Selection Processes: Support design work for competitive processes (e.g. vendors, grantees) utilizing best practices and aligning to programmatic goals.
Select work includes:
For an advocacy non-profit: Conducted empathy interviews with key staff and board members to document organizational pain points and potential solutions, for use in a board retreat.
For a public/private school partnership: Led the development of a new middle school’s graduate profile and researched and recommended best-in-class curriculum and assessment products that aligned with the profile.
For a venture fund: Conducted a landscape scan of the current status of State Longitudinal Data Systems and whether they could be utilized to answer questions about the postsecondary and labor market outcomes of US K-12 graduates.
For a school system Oversaw the design and implementation of quasi-experimental and randomized control trial evaluations; including multi-year evaluations intended to meet federal What Works Clearinghouse Standards. Developed and managed RFP processes for external evaluation partners, recruited school participants for multiple studies, and led communication efforts around evaluation outcomes,
For a K-8 Charter School Network: Built the logic model for a new alumni department’s core initiatives, and oversaw the expansion of a Salesforce database to incorporate key metrics for progress monitoring and outcomes tracking.
Coaching and Development
Ignite/ed helps organizations develop early- to mid-career managers, with a focus on ensuring successful execution of new initiatives. This service can be provided through a coaching engagement for individual emerging leaders in whom organizations want to invest or can be embedded as part of a broader project.Select work includes:
For a school network: Developed dozens of early- to mid-career managers into organizational leaders by providing direct coaching, management support, and stretch opportunities based on data about employees’ strengths and areas for growth. Designed processes and coaching for project managers aimed at ensuring the development of clear logic models and evaluation plans for new initiatives.
For an education nonprofit: Hired and onboarded eight employees to create a diverse programmatic team charged with improving high school and postsecondary outcomes for K-8 graduates. Co-created individualized development plans with each employee.
For an education adjacent nonprofit: Provided ongoing coaching for new nonprofit leader, focused on setting organizational priorities while addressing staffing challenges.
contact
We would love to hear from you.
thank you
We will be in touch soon.