Education
Innovation
Philanthropy
Sustainability
Targeted Impact
The Sullivan Family Charitable Foundation (SFCF) was born from a passion for equitable education and a deep commitment to transforming lives.
We began our journey in 2007 with a visionary seed gift and a simple belief: that every child and educator deserves the opportunity to thrive.
Over the years, our foundation has grown—both in scale and in impact—by forging lasting relationships, nurturing creative solutions, and supporting small nonprofits that are making a real difference.
The Sullivan Family Charitable Foundation transforms lives by funding programs and institutions that advance opportunity and equity for individuals, families, and communities.
In carrying out our mission, we support organizations that:
We believe that genuine impact comes not only from providing funds but also from cultivating partnerships, engaging in collaborative projects, and actively supporting grantees through board service, site visits, and professional expertise.
This hands-on, personalized method sets us apart and underpins every initiative we launch. Our multi-year grant commitments are designed to move the needle where it matters most.
We actively seek opportunities to join forces with like-minded funders, educators, and nonprofit leaders who share our commitment to multilingual learners and educational equity.
Whether co-investing in initiatives, co-creating professional development programs, or building learning communities across organizations, we know that lasting change is more powerful when we work together.
We welcome partnerships with:
Nuestro trabajo está hecho con pasión y corazón.
We continue to invest in initiatives that create dynamic learning environments, from dual language lab classrooms to professional development programs in urban public schools.
Our commitment extends beyond funding; through regular site visits, collaborative partnerships, and open communication, we ensure that every dollar contributes to measurable, sustainable impact.
Juntos, hacemos la diferencia.
At The Sullivan Family Charitable Foundation, we are driven by the vision of a more equitable and inclusive future.
We support organizations that innovate in education and empower communities—especially those working with multilingual learners and underserved populations.
By nurturing long-term relationships and championing collaborative projects, we strive to make a lasting difference in the lives of educators, students, and families.
Juntos, hacemos la diferencia.
Trustee and Board Member
Mr. Sullivan (Pat) currently serves as a Managing Director at Aton Partners, a management consulting and investment firm for medical device companies.
He has led highly successful medical device and diagnostics companies from the early concept stage through to commercial launch and exits.
Es un liderazo que transciende fronteras.
Prior to serving in his current role, Pat was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Insulet Corporation, a diabetes device company, from 2014 to 2018. He also served as Executive Chairman of Hologic Corporation after its merger with Cytyc Corporation in 2007 where he served as Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer. In his time at Cytyc, Pat brought the ThinPrep Pap Test through the FDA approval process and shepherded the IPO in 1996.
Pat has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Perkin Elmer and Genprobe, Incorporated. He has served on the United States Naval Academy Foundation’s Board of Directors since April 2021.
Prior to his career in business, Pat served in the U. S. Navy as a nuclear propulsion officer onboard the USS TRUXTUN (CGN 35).
Mr. Sullivan holds a Bachelor of Science, with Distinction, from the United States Naval Academy and a Master of Business Administration, with Distinction, from Harvard Business School. He and his wife, Carolyn live in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Executive Director
Margaret (“Maggie”) credits her high school Spanish teacher for instilling her interest in bilingual education. Her coursework included “Exploración Cultural,” a class where Maggie worked alongside a first-grade teacher in a bilingual school in Framingham, Massachusetts. She dreamed to “teach in Latin America” after college.
Siempre ha tenido pasión por la educación.
She began her teaching career in Puerto Rico, teaching Title I Ninth grade Spanish in Guayama, then Elementary English in Cayey.
Prior to returning to the field of public education, Maggie worked as a Professional Medical Representative in Northern California (Sacramento) and as an Economic Analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency. She then returned to the classroom in Washington, D.C. as a Spanish Dual Language first and second-grade teacher. She also worked as an instructional coach for Spanish literacy in a bilingual charter school.
In 2020, Maggie obtained her Ph.D. in the Applied Linguistics and Language Education (ALLE) program at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her dissertation research, titled, “Bilingual in a Monolingual District: Stakeholder Perspectives on Equitable Access to Dual Language Programs” explored the similarities and differences of parents, policy-makers, and school leaders and access to dual language education (DLE) programs in a local school district.
Maggie has a Master in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) from the Fletcher School at Tufts, where she studied Development Economics and International Monetary Theory and Policy. She has a B.A. from Skidmore College with a double major in Spanish and Economics.
Maggie lives in Chevy Chase, MD, with her husband, three bilingual daughters, and a menagerie of pets.
Trustee and Board Member
Mrs. Sullivan (Carolyn) grew up as a middle child in a family of 9. Her mother was a French teacher; her father was a United Church of Christ minister.
Her parents imbued in their children a love of travel and languages – Carolyn opted to pursue The Teaching of German as her major in college. She studied at both Macalester College and the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Because there were so few German teaching positions available in the mid-70’s, Carolyn went on to become a flight attendant and focused on her love of travel with Northwest Airlines for several years. She then married Patrick J. Sullivan and worked as a full time substitute teacher for the San Diego Public Schools, where she occasionally substituted in German.
Carolyn es una apasionada por la diversidad y los idiomas.
She later went on to study Human Resources and earned a Master’s Degree from Loyola University in Chicago.
She then married Patrick J. Sullivan and dedicated her time to raising their three children.