Founded by Michael and Lowell Milken in 1982, the Milken Family Foundation strives to discover and advance inventive, effective ways of helping people help themselves and those around them lead productive and satisfying lives. The means most conducive to achieving these goals is through education. The belief that young people are not only our greatest natural resource, but our greatest national resource has been the guiding philosophy behind our groundbreaking education reform initiatives. Whether founding the nation’s preeminent teacher recognition program, promoting excellence through academic achievement, preserving and expanding a cultural legacy or pioneering the nation’s most successful comprehensive education reform system, MFF continues to champion strategies that elevate education in America and around the world. Our initiatives: - Strengthen the profession by recognizing and rewarding outstanding educators, and by expanding their professional leadership and policy influence. - Attract, develop, motivate and retain the best talent for the teaching profession. - Stimulate creativity and productivity among people of all ages through programs that encourage learning as a lifelong process.