A New Era in American Education: What the EFTC Means for Your Family
It's officially a new era in American education.
Sean Clifford is President of the AFC Scholarship Fund — the national Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO) built to deploy the Education Freedom Tax Credit (EFTC), the first federal K–12 school choice tax credit in U.S. history, beginning January 1, 2027.
Sean leads the organization’s launch, operations, institutional partnerships, and donor growth strategy as it scales toward serving families across all 50 states.
Sean brings two decades of leadership at the intersection of education, technology, and public policy. Most recently, he served as Chief Strategy Officer at The Tikvah Fund a leading Jewish ideas institution, where he directed efforts to advance classical liberal arts education through national programming, partnerships, and institutional investment.
Before Tikvah, Sean founded and served as CEO of Canopy, a technology company designed to help families navigate online content, demonstrating his commitment to building practical, family-centered tools for the digital age.
Sean began his career at Baron Public Affairs, LLC in Washington, D.C., rising to Vice President and advising Fortune 500 companies, major technology platforms, and national nonprofits on federal public affairs strategy. Sean also served as an intern at the White House Council of Economic Advisers (2005–2006).
Sean is a co-founder of the David Fund and the Hadar Jewish Classical Academy, reflecting a lifelong commitment to institution-building in Jewish education and civic life. He holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (Marketing & Operations Management), an MA in Liberal Arts (Great Books) from St. John’s College, and a BA in Political Economy from Williams College.
Featured Articles from Sean
The Tax Credit That’s Changing How We Think About Education
American test scores have kept sliding even as per-pupil spending has hit an all-time high.
This School Choice Data May Surprise You
Critics call school choice a zero-sum game. They call it a win for the students who leave, a loss for the students who stay. But real-world data tells a different story.
Find out if you qualify for the Education Freedom Tax Credit
Check now for free
The Waiting Room: Why No State Has Certified SGOs Yet — and Why That’s Okay
Thirty states have said yes. The launch date is fixed. And yet, six months out, the number of officially certified scholarship organizations in America is exactly zero. Here’s why that’s the plan working and not failing.
The Families Tennessee’s Own Program Left Out Just Got a Federal Door
Tennessee already had a state scholarship program. It excluded families who teach their children at home. A law signed on May 5, 2026, opens a second, federal path that does not.
Ohio Has Been Certifying Scholarship Groups Since 2021. The Federal Credit Changes the Math
Ohio is one of the few states that was already running a scholarship tax credit before Congress created a federal one. That head start comes with a wrinkle donors in every state with a similar program will eventually need to understand: the two credits coordinate, but they do not simply add up.
The Announcement Was the Easy Part: New Hampshire’s Year Inside the Federal Scholarship Credit
New Hampshire said yes to the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit during National School Choice Week. Five months later, the legislature had to say it again, in statute. The gap between those two moments explains more about how this program actually works than either one does alone.
Find out if you qualify for the Education Freedom Tax Credit
Check now for freeBe part of what comes next
Register your interest and we’ll keep you close to the network as giving opens in 2027.