Families In Schools Celebrates 25 Years of Advancing School-Family Partnerships, Parent Power, and Educational Equity
This year, Families In Schools (FIS) celebrates its 25th anniversary. Since its founding in 2000, FIS has grown into a national leader in advocating for policies and practices that promote authentic family engagement, elevate parent voice, and close equity gaps.
“For 25 years, Families In Schools has proven that when parents are empowered as leaders and true partners in education, students thrive. Our legacy is rooted in fostering family-school partnerships with a focus on early literacy and ensuring families, especially those farthest from opportunity, have the tools to support their children at home and the power to advocate for them at school. As we mark this milestone, we recommit to building an education system where families are at the heart of student success.”
— Yolie Flores, FIS President & CEO
Making an Impact for Families and Their Children
Led at its inception by its first President, Maria Casillas, FIS grew out of the Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project’s Parents as Learning Partners initiative, which demonstrated that authentic family engagement drives real gains in student achievement. Those early results underscored the importance of parent leadership as a driver of lasting school improvement. Casillas served for over a decade, with Oscar Cruz taking the helm in 2011. In recognition of its impact, FIS was named a White House Bright Spot in 2014.
A throughline for the organization has been a commitment to advancing early literacy. FIS created a framework and tools for how to effectively work with families—particularly those impacted by poverty; put thousands of children’s books into the hands of families; ran summer reading challenges; and most recently, led policy efforts to address the early literacy crisis and launched the Read LA! Campaign.
Over the past 25 years, FIS has:
- Strengthened family–school partnerships and systems for continuous improvement, developing high-impact tools and curricula and training thousands of principals, teachers, and parents to work as authentic partners in support of student success.
- Built parent power to advance equitable education policy, supporting parent leaders to advocate for landmark wins, including A-G for All and Public School Choice, the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), and legislation to strengthen how reading is taught.
- Led efforts to improve early literacy instruction through policy change and community mobilization, advancing statewide reform through the passage of AB 1454, while building a parent- and community-driven movement through the Read LA! Campaign.
The Next 25 Years
“As families face layered crises, it is more important than ever to have organizations like Families In Schools defending the right to a public education and pushing for needed improvements. As an educator, I saw firsthand the ways that children thrive when schools engage their families as partners, and when parents and caregivers grow in their leadership and voice. In the next 25 years, I believe that families will continue to be essential partners to deliver on the promise of every child succeeding in schools and in life.”
— FIS Board Chair Tommy Chang, Ed.D.
Over its 25th anniversary year, FIS will share stories of impact and hold a series of events, most notably a gala on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. The event will honor educators, community, and civic leaders whose leadership has shaped FIS’s work and impact over the past 25 years. Stay tuned for our formal announcement—we hope you will join us!