As schools have reopened and the challenges facing children remain as glaring as ever, education philanthropy has a significant role to play in how schools innovate and tackle many of these issues.

For several years, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) has been one of the most significant education philanthropies, but it doesn’t operate like a traditional foundation. Its focus isn’t just on grantmaking, but also actively building.

Like other philanthropies, CZI also has program officers who help make grants. These grants help build a body of research about student learning and development. CZI also works to change education systems themselves by connecting organizations and community leaders. Unlike other philanthropies, however, CZI also has a team of in-house engineers, learning scientists and product developers who help build tools and services for educators and students.