The Kellner Family Foundation donates record CZK 159 million in 2022 to support education projects

Main beneficiaries of The Kellner Family Foundation’s donations in 2022:

·       80 Open Gate Grammar School students

·        59 Czech students at foreign and domestic universities

·        3,000 teachers who teach 39,000 pupils at 112 Czech primary schools participating in the Helping Schools Succeed project

Everyone deserves the opportunity to succeed, regardless of their origins, appearance or background. These are the values that the Foundation was built on from the outset. Through the Foundation, we strive to establish the opportunities that can transform people’s lives, and through this action, build an educated and prosperous democratic society.

Renáta Kellnerová

chairwoman of its board of trustees, The Kellner Family Foundation

The Kellner Family Foundation has a long history of funding education for children and young people in the public and private school systems. The main beneficiaries of the Foundation’s support are public primary schools participating in the Helping Schools Succeed project, Open Gate Grammar School students, and Czech university students, especially students enrolled for courses at universities abroad. The Foundation is also active in responding to crises which affect our societies and communities. Last year, the Foundation donated almost CZK 15.5 million to projects designed to help Ukrainian refugees integrate into Czech society. This aid has continued this year.

Renáta Kellnerová, founder of The Kellner Family Foundation and chairwoman of its board of trustees, introduces the Foundation’s annual report: “Everyone deserves the opportunity to succeed, regardless of their origins, appearance or background. These are the values that the Foundation was built on from the outset. Through the Foundation, we strive to establish the opportunities that can transform people’s lives, and through this action, build an educated and prosperous democratic society.”

Supporting education in the Czech Republic

Even as it enters its third decade, The Kellner Family Foundation continues to fund its own education initiatives, channelling support to young people to attend foreign and domestic universities, bringing talented students to Open Gate Grammar School, and assisting public schools in the Czech primary education system. The family’s initial foundation, Educa, and its successor, The Kellner Family Foundation, have to date donated CZK 1.85 billion to this cause.

Scholarships for Open Gate Grammar School students
In the 2022/23 school year, scholarships from The Kellner Family Foundation gave 80 students the chance to study at Open Gate Grammar School. The results of last year’s school-leaving exams show that even during the Covid-19 pandemic, students at the school excelled.

Since 2005, the Foundation has awarded CZK 765 million in 1,825 annual scholarships. These funds have enabled 384 students, including children from foster care, orphanages and emergency care facilities, and two students from Ukraine to attend Open Gate Grammar School.

Transforming education in public primary schools

In 2022, the Foundation’s Helping Schools Succeed project assisted around 3,000 teachers to support the education of 39,000 children at 112 public primary schools across the Czech Republic, donating CZK 40 million to participating schools.

In September 2022, Petr Šlemenda, previously the head of Open Gate, took over the helm of the Helping Schools Succeed project. Since the project began in 2009, the Foundation has donated CZK 408 million to support learning in reading and writing, skills considered essential for critical thinking.

Scholarships for university students

The Kellner Family Foundation has been awarding scholarships to Czech students for 13 years and encouraging young people to pursue top class undergraduate studies at universities abroad. Over this time, the Foundation has disbursed a total CZK 116 million to 239 university students. In the 2021/22 academic year, the Foundation awarded scholarships to another 59 university students, 37% of whom are gaining international experience in natural sciences, 31% in engineering and computer science, and 32% in humanities, social sciences, economics, management, culture and art. The Foundation’s long-term goal is to support people and their ambitions through opportunities for education and the chance to use their talents and knowledge in the service of developing future Czech society.

The Kellner Family Foundation has published its complete 2022 Annual Report on its website: www.kellnerfoundation.cz, https://bit.ly/TKFF_VyrocniZprava_2022.