Caroline Altman Smith
Caroline Altman Smith, a senior program officer for The Kresge Foundation’s for Education Program, helps oversee the Education team’s domestic grantmaking, which awards funding to higher education institutions and national nonprofit organizations that are working to improve access and success for underserved students in undergraduate education.
Caroline proactively seeks out innovative ideas and programs that increase postsecondary degree completion and works with grantseekers throughout the proposal process. Caroline helps manage the Education team’s grant portfolio and shares information about research, best practices, and other resources in the field with grantees. She also manages most of Kresge’s grants to the “Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count” initiative.
“I believe that increasing educational opportunity is the key to helping people achieve their full potential,” Caroline says. “A first-generation student who earns a college degree changes the trajectory of his or her family forever. Education is one of the most powerful anti-poverty tools we have, and it’s a privilege to help implement Kresge’s new strategy, so that more students can realize the enormous benefits of higher education.”
Before joining Kresge in 2008, Caroline served for five years as a program officer at the Lumina Foundation for Education in Indianapolis where she worked to create college opportunities for low-income, minority, and first-generation students to enter college and complete their postsecondary degrees successfully.
A graduate of the University of Virginia, Caroline holds a master’s degree in philanthropic studies and a certificate in nonprofit management from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. She currently serves on committees for Independent Sector and Grantmakers for Education, and as an instructor at The Grantmaking School. Previously, she chaired the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy National Board of Advisors.