The Florida Legislature created the Florida Education Foundation as a direct support organization to the Florida Department of Education in 1984. The Foundation was created to manage external resources for the benefit of pre-kindergarten to 12th grade education. The Foundation’s endowment was established with a generous gift from Mary Murdock in 2012.

In 2015, the Foundation, under oversight of its Board of Directors, underwent a strategic planning process to determine areas where a private sector foundation can influence change and improve education outcomes. That process identified three major areas of work that currently define the Foundation’s efforts: