Bruno Manno

Bruno is senior advisor for the Walton Family Foundation's K-12 Education Program focused on grantmaking and team operations. Before joining the foundation, he was senior program associate for education with the Annie E. Casey Foundation and before that, a senior fellow in the Education Policy Studies Program at the Hudson Institute. From 1986 to 1993, he worked in the United States Department of Education, holding several senior positions, including assistant secretary for policy and planning.

Bruno received a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from the University of Dayton and a Ph.D. from Boston College. He is the co-author or author of numerous books and articles on K-12 education policy and reform as well as philanthropy.


Child wearing medical mask in front of closed playground representing school closures and learning loss from COVID-19 pandemic.
A Donor’s Guide to Understanding the Great School Shutdown and Pandemic K-12 Learning Loss

There are promising solutions to the learning loss puzzle, but donors need to overcome the “urgency gap” between current recovery efforts and what needs to be done.

Gen Z high schoolers studying robotics and STEM education, representing Gallup and Walton Family Foundation survey of Gen Z careers in technology
Gen Z Career Choices and STEM Education

A recent Gallup survey sheds light on Gen Z attitudes and exposure to STEM education, and how donors can factor this information into their giving decisions.


Donors joining together to support social repairers; A Donor’s Guide to Rebuilding Our Communities One Zip Code at a Time
Supporting Social Repairers: A Donor’s Guide to Rebuilding Our Communities One Zip Code at a Time

In a new book, Seth Kaplan provides donors with a useful road map for supporting the men and women working to rebuild communities through a “sideways approach” to building relationships.

Child with excavator looks at bulldozer, representing donors' wish to support career education programs.
Donor support for career education programs

Here’s a career education framework spanning early childhood to high school that donors can use to guide their financial support for these programs.


Whither education philanthropy?

A report from Grantmakers for Education provides insight into the direction that grantmaker giving is trending.

career pathway
A new way forward: career pathway programs nurture civil society and advance upward mobility

Here’s how donors can foster the upward mobility of young people and strengthen the institutions of civil society by supporting career pathway education and training programs.


third places
Investing in third places

Third places are necessary for our individual and civic health. If we want to rebuild our social fabric, that should guide our giving habits.

third places
Revisiting third places in the wake of the pandemic

“Third places” suffered greatly during the pandemic, and we suffered for their absence in our daily lives.


Hidden Loss, Hidden Pain

Local philanthropies and donors can play a lead role in marshaling others in their communities to lead an effort to respond to this tragic situation. Here are five ways to help children who have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19.

post-pandemic
Post-pandemic: from “pandemic” to “endemic” giving

Post-pandemic K-12 philanthropy should focus on families and communities.