With the SMART Model’s growth comes the need to preserve and strengthen its legacy. To secure the future of the SMART Model (School Health Model for Academics Reaching All Transforming Lives) as a normative asset in schools and to fulfill its mission of “Reaching All, Transforming Lives,” Melanie Ginn, President and CEO, and Stace Ginn, CFO/Corporate Counsel, of Ginn Group Collaborative (GGC), have formed the SMART Student Health and Wellness Foundation, a public foundation, 501(c)(3) organization.

The Ginns are donating the SMART proprietary business model to the Foundation to protect its integrity, growth, and scalability in perpetuity. The SMART Foundation will enable GGC and the SMART Model’s many national partners to maintain and grow support across the wider philanthropic community. GGC has donated the licensure for the exclusive use of the SMART logo, brand, acronym, and business elements of the Model to the Foundation to support and protect the Model and as part of a national credentialing and certification process.

The Ginns will continue to provide their vision, leadership, and advocacy by devoting their time and energies on a pro bono basis to the Foundation. They will continue to advocate for the Model; expand its clinical and academic efficacy; recruit expertise from the health, education, and private sectors; and establish the infrastructure needed to maintain existing clinics and catalyze the growth of new sites. Under this strategy, GGC will protect and inform the SMART Model’s unique design as sustainable and data driven. This approach has driven its singularly effective and swift success as an engine for health and academic achievement. SMART now has a permanent home where it can be secured and protected for the future and where key stakeholders can continue to play a role in its success as long as possible, while cultivating the next generation of leadership. The SMART Foundation will enable other foundations, corporations, and private individuals to directly provide grants and donations to fund SMART expansion. The SMART Foundation will also provide the capacity for the Model to continue to stabilize and become normative, creating more opportunities for innovation, scaling, and expansion.