The National Geographic Society established its Education Foundation with the mission to promote geographical literacy to every generation through working in areas such as:

Policy Reform. The foundation is currently working with Congress on a Policy Initiative to address the lack of designated funding for geography by pushing for the inclusion of geography as a recipient of U.S. federal help similar to all other core academic disciplines.

Public Engagement. The foundation collaborated with an alliance of national business and nonprofit partners to launch My Wonderful World, a public engagement campaign that works to boost parents and educational leaders in encouraging geography education at home, in schools, and the entire community as well.

Grant Making. The Education Foundation grants awards of over $5 million every year in support of programs that promote geography education. The foundation chiefly supports the national grassroots network of Geography Alliances composed of K-12 teachers, school administrators, university professors, and others who are committed to improve geography education locally, statewide and nationwide by providing professional development, networking, and other initiatives. Other research and grant programs include the Committee for Research and Exploration that has supported over 8,300 projects and expeditions and given over $170 million in research grants universally; the Conservation Trust that supports field and public education campaigns; the Expedition Council that supports an array of projects from marine research to archaeological discoveries; and the Young Explorers Grants providing seed grants to young explorers, conservationists, and researchers aged 18-25.

Moreover, the Education Foundation website provides an abundance of information on geography available for everybody. Students and teachers can make use of relevant resources found on its homepage and tools such as standards-based lesson plans and activities on Xpeditions; ePals, a global online community of classrooms linked to one another geared towards project sharing and mutual learning; and EdNet, another online service that allows educators to collaborate with other educators, share resources, and apply for workshops.

View the education programs from National Geographic.