The George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit operating foundation, was founded by filmmaker George Lucas in 1991. Growing up, Lucas was curious and creative – but at school, he often felt bored. Years later, after becoming a father, he once again found himself focused on schools’ untapped potential to truly engage students and inspire them to become active, lifelong learners. He decided to invest in making a difference and created the Foundation to identify and spread innovative, replicable and evidence-based approaches to helping K-12 students learn better.

The Foundation works to strategically accomplish its mission in two primary ways:

A comprehensive website and online community that increases knowledge, sharing, and adoption of what works in K-12 education. They emphasize core strategies: project-based learning, comprehensive assessment, integrated studies, social and emotional learning, educational leadership and teacher development, and technology integration.

A division of the Foundation dedicated to building evidence for what works in K-12 education. They conduct and fund rigorous research with university partners, research firms, and leading educators to identify and test effective, innovative K-12 educational models that can be replicated and taken to scale.