Saldaña, who assumed his leadership role at the student dropout prevention nonprofit the month before the pandemic shuttered America’s schools, told CBS Mornings Thursday that he initially had dreams of a $10 million donation that might accelerate his organization’s work in bringing additional mentors and additional support staff to campuses nationwide.

But he was off by a factor of 13.

In one of her largest personal donations ever made, MacKenzie Scott was awarding Communities in Schools with $133 million to support work across 18 states. As Saldaña told Gayle King, it will be a transformative gift to the organization:

In announcing the donation, the organization also said the funds will accelerate Communities in School’s campus-based staff work inside schools, through which they hope to “establish one-on-one relationships with students to help them navigate issues and move beyond barriers in the classroom, at home and in the community.” The funds will also support CIS in coordinting with schools and local service providers “to meet the needs of students and families, as well as providing critical resources, like food, housing, healthcare, counseling, access to remote technology and more, so that students and educators can focus on academics.”

Through the years, we’ve covered the organization’s work, impact and leadership in depth. Here’s everything you need to know about the work being done by Communities in Schools: 

—Get to Know Rey Saldaña: From Communities in Schools Alumnus to Its New CEO, Saldaña Has a Great Backstory — But That Shouldn’t Mean Other Struggling Students Have To (Read the full profile)

—A Mission to Bring Communities Into Schools: Helping At-Risk Kids with Love — and Data (Read the full article) 

—Celebrating Students: Video — Watch as Empowered Students Get a First Glimpse of Themselves and Their Lives Turned Into Art (Watch right here)

—COVID Response: When COVID-19 and Economic Fallout Put Millions of Kids in Unsafe Places, Communities in Schools Went In After Them (Read the full story) 

Go Deeper: Get the latest news about Communities in Schools, student success and equity in education delivered straight to your inbox; sign up for The 74 Newsletter.

The funding will cultivate career pathways for teachers and district leaders of color.

CZI co-founder and co-CEO Priscilla Chan announced the grants for racial diversity in education during the 49th annual National Alliance of Black School Educators conference late last week. 

“Not only do you help your students learn, but you also help them feel a deep sense of belonging in helping them become the young people who are curious, confident, and caring members of their own communities,” Chan said on Nov. 11.

From pre-service teacher education to professional , grants ranging $175,000 to $2 million will support organizations in preparing and supporting historically excluded populations in K-12 leadership.

Though , nearly half of schools are operating without any teachers of color.

CZI’s funding will also support The Hunt Institute in its policy advocacy to add 1 million teachers of color to schools by 2030 — the Institute will work with gubernatorial candidates on their education platforms and offer its in more regions. The campaign, which launched during the social justice movements of summer 2020, . 

A more diverse teacher workforce could result in for an . Having had a Black teacher, from higher expectations, experience fewer suspensions and graduate high school at higher rates. 

Some grantees will also focus initiatives on helping teachers move into district, board and state leadership, and in turn, be able to support teachers of color implementing change. 

“My experience has been you get a phenomenal principal, or you get a handful of really great teachers or you have an out-of-this-world superintendent, and then when they retire or they move on or for whatever number reason, sometimes those great initiatives fall by the wayside. This is really about creating leader-full communities where, even as people move on … the work continues because the whole community is invested,” said Jonathan Santos Silva, executive director of The Liber Institute, which works with rural communities. 

The Institute is receiving $800,000 to train Indigenous students, families and leaders to competitively run for school board and district leadership. Their new programming has encouraged thought partnerships with , the and, soon, tribal colleges and universities.

And for the Equity Institute, a Rhode Island-based nonprofit working with teachers to sustain antiracist learning and teaching environments, their $800,000 CZI grant means long-term growth. They’ll be able to hire more staff, enhance technology, evaluate and spread their work at a time it’s needed most. 

“We’re in a space and time where — because of COVID, because of the high profile incidents of police brutality and deaths at the hands of officers — that we have to be very, very intentional about how we share leadership and invite people to the table, into spaces where they have historically been neglected, isolated, disenfranchised,” Chief Impact Officer and Co-Founder Carlon Howard told The 74.

Disclosure: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative provides financial support to The 74.