This proposal requests funds for two professional development activities. The first portion of the request is for funding to attend the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA)'s annual conference in November 2012. At the conference, I will be chairing a panel that will explore the policy-related engagement of private foundations in the field of K-12 public education. I will also present a paper on how foundations manage their grantees' political activities in the context of legal restrictions on foundation-funded advocacy efforts, and participate in a special Teaching Section on effective and innovative methods for teaching about nonprofit management. The second portion of the request is for funding to obtain editorial assistance for a book manuscript that I am completing as an outgrowth of my dissertation. The book draws on nearly 50 interviews to analyze how philanthropic foundations approach policy influence in the field of K-12 education in the U.S., focusing on four of the largest and most influential foundations active in this area. Both of these activities facilitate my professional development as both a teacher and researcher, as my research grounds and informs my teaching on nonprofit organizations and public policy. Opportunities to grow as a researcher and to publish my own work will not only facilitate my development as a scholar in the field of nonprofit studies, but will, most importantly, enhance my teaching by expanding my knowledge of recent empirical work, enabling me to share cutting-edge knowledge with students.