Milwaukee, WI – The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation has announced that former U.S. Secretary of Education and nationally recognized education reformer and philanthropist Betsy DeVos will receive a 2023 Bradley Prize. Now in its 19th year, the Bradley Prize is awarded to individuals whose extraordinary work exemplifies the Foundation’s mission to restore, strengthen and protect the principles and institutions of American exceptionalism. DeVos will receive the award at the Bradley Prizes ceremony on Tuesday, May 16th at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
“Perhaps no single individual has done more to promote educational freedom for families across the country than Betsy DeVos,” said Rick Graber, president of The Bradley Foundation. “Betsy has been a tireless advocate for kids of all backgrounds and circumstances, from advancing policies that allow them to attend schools that best fit their needs to pressing teachers’ unions to stop blocking the re-opening of schools in the wake of the pandemic. The Foundation has been grateful to call her a friend through its decades of work on educational freedom and is proud to award her a Bradley Prize.”
As in the past, this year’s award winners were chosen by the Bradley Prizes Selection Committee, after careful review ofover 100 distinguished nominations.Each award carries a stipend of $250,000.
“Helping every child unlock their potential through the opportunity to access world-class educational options has been my life’s work,” said DeVos. “Our nation cannot succeed if we don’t do all we can to help our rising generation succeed. That’s what makes education freedom imperative, not just important. Fortunately, we’re making rapid and historic progress toward ensuring students are hostages to an outdated, broken system no more. It has been gratifying to see so many join the fight for kids, and it’s quite humbling to receive the Bradley Prize.”
DeVos served as the 11th U.S. Secretary of Education from 2017-2021. For more than three decades, she has advocated for public policy reforms that get government out of the way and allow all students the freedom, flexibility, resources and support they need to choose where, when, and how they learn.
Her advocacy has helped create new educational choices for K-12 students in more than 25 states and the District of Columbia and expanded post-high school education options for students and adult learners alike. Betsy is also an accomplished business leader. She served as chairman of The Windquest Group, a privately held investment and management firm based in Michigan. She is the former chair of the American Federation for Children, The Philanthropy Roundtable, and the Michigan Republican Party.
About The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation: Founded in 1985, the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation supports organizations that strengthen families and communities, inform and educate citizens, advance economic growth and encourage self-reliance. The Foundation’s approach to philanthropy is guided by four core principles: fidelity to the U.S. Constitution with its principles of limited government, federalism, separation of powers, and individual liberties; commitment to free markets; dedication to the formation of informed and capable citizens; and commitment to the institutions of civil society that cultivate individuals capable of self-governance.
