Changing Without Drifting

As we continue having discussions about Reach, Inc., it's fascinating to consider how the idea has changed.  The picture regularly becomes clearer even as we remain flexible in defining the concept.  At the start, we used our mission statement to define the program: Reach, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization that will improve literacy skills, across ages, by hiring and training struggling adolescent readers to be tutors in high-need elementary schools in The District of Columbia.  While this does explain the concept, it lacks the specificity to guide implementation.

In conversations with schools, we have gained an understanding of the specific students that would be most appropriate.  It seems that we will be working primarily with 9th grade tutors at launch (with potential to work with some 10th graders as well).  Additionally, due to their preparations for testing, schools seem most interested in our tutors working with 3rd grade students.  By exploring strong literacy research, we have also decided that our adolescent tutors will come from the bottom quartile of the literacy spectrum.  These decisions allow us to speak more concretely about program implementation.

While some aspects of the program design have come into focus, other questions have lead to more confusion.  During some conversations, stakeholders have encouraged Reach to move into schools much faster.  To this point, we continue to feel that launching a pilot program in a single school is the best launch strategy.  Additionally, we have felt pressures to change the program's content to better position ourselves for funding.  In some ways, we constantly redefine our purpose, but our mission remains the same.  

Thank you, as always, for reading.

Mark

Founder and President - Reach, Inc.

An Important Milestone...

This has been an exciting week for Reach as our idea has continued to move towards reality.  After our exciting meeting with Hyde Leadership PCS, we also met with the after-school programming manager at DCPS and two program officers at The Herb Block Foundation.  Both meetings were very successful, and it seems that we have started building the relationships necessary to begin work in DC Public and Public Charter Schools in the coming years.  It seems we will be forced to confront the pressure to move faster than planned as we want to perfect the model before trying to implement in multiple schools.

Through our continued networking efforts, we also continue to make important connections throughout the city.  In the coming months, we will be talking with The Urban Alliance, an organization that provides internships and employment for high school students in The District and Baltimore City.  Since Reach will focus on 9th and 10th grade students, it would be nice to develop a relationship with The Urban Alliance as their work focuses on 11th and 12th grade students.  Additionally, we have our first school visit scheduled next week at Hyde Elementary School (a DCPS school unrelated to our future pilot site).  We look forward to continuing to build networks that will allow Reach to grow and learn in the future.

Finally, Reach is very close to crossing our next major fundraising hurdle.  In the coming weeks, we will likely surpass $20,000 in funds raised.  While this is an important milestone in our progress towards our $50,000 goal for 2009, there is still a long way to go.  In this difficult economic climate, you can still help by recruiting new donors and providing Reach with information about possible funding streams.  We can not do this without your help.  As I've heard many times, ideas without resources are simply fantasies.  

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Founder and President - Reach, Inc.

Victory?!

Today, I met with two representatives from Hyde Public Leadership Charter School.  While nothing is official, they gave a preliminary indication that they are willing to be the pilot site for Reach's literacy program.  During the 2010-2011 academic year, we would work with 20-30 Hyde PCS 9th and 10th grade students who would be trained to tutor 20-30 Hyde  PCS elementary school students.  The two individuals I met with today plan on advocating for the program with the principals of the high school and the elementary school.  In a month or two, I will provide them with a more complete idea of our training guide and curriculum.  At that point, we will get the entire administrative team on board, and we hopefully will proceed with the partnership.  This all just became a lot more real.  Game on!

In the know?

For those of you that don't know, I work from my apartment.  Every morning, the alarm goes off, I get ready (Reach's office is business casual), and I sit down at the desk in my living room.  As you can imagine, it's not always easy to find the motivation to get down to work.  All of us are forced, at times, to work despite challenges in our personal lives.  It has been surprising to learn recently that this becomes more difficult when one works alone.  When having a bad day, who would know if I stayed in my pajamas and lounged on the couch? No one.  In recent weeks, this has been a challenge for me, so I've found it necessary to develop routines to ensure that Reach continues moving forward.  We all have personal challenges, but entrepreneurial endeavors allow no room for these challenges to take over.  Reach must keep going, and so must I.

It has, however, been exciting to learn that I can personally draw energy from Reach's successes.  During the past week, we have had two significant - albeit small - events that make me feel like some real progress has been made.  First, Reach was approved for our first foundation grant.  Before we get too excited, it should be noted that the grant is a small, discretionary grant, but it will be nice to be able to add our first foundation, The MB and Edna Zale Foundation, to our list of supporters.  

Additionally, those that read regularly know that much of my work involves talking with educators, nonprofit executives, and funders all over DC.  During a lunch today with Megan Aghazadian of the DC Public Education Fund, we discussed a number of issues related to the DC education scene.  An amazing thing happened during the conversation.  I actually knew what she was talking about!  I knew the people she mentioned and the initiatives she discussed.  I knew of the people she thought I should be talking to, and I had even already met with a couple of them.  While I was actually kind of thrown off, it was a nice feeling to know that I've infiltrated the DC education scene to some degree.  Perhaps I'm no longer the outsider I was a couple months ago.  The conversation with Megan was a great one, and I look forward to learning from her vast knowledge of DC's foundations.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Founder and President - Reach, Inc.

Party Planning

In the ongoing effort to raise money and spread the word about Reach, Inc., I have found myself in multiple conversations this week about planning events. Given our small budget and inability to handle losing money throwing parties, we're starting to explore options for fundraising events. First, some former colleagues have agreed to throw a cocktail party to raise some funds for Reach, Inc. Through this event, we hope to make some money. However, more important, the hope is that this event will cultivate connections and create excitement about our new organization. This private event will likely happen in October, and I will be sure to tell you all how it goes.

In addition to friends helping us, we hope to throw our first public event in the coming months. However, this is not an area in which I have personal expertise. During this week, I spent some time learning from experience event planners about this process. Through donated space and discounted products, it seems that we could have a classy, affordable event that would serve both fundraising and PR purposes. The issue is, of course, that having an event means Reach's only employee will do the planning. This is no small task. In the coming weeks, I will begin putting together a volunteer committee that may be interested in helping. With the help of dedicated volunteers, and some guidance from an overwhelmed founder, we hope to make our first event a success. Here goes nothing!

Thanks, as always, for reading.
Mark
Founder and President - Reach, Inc.

It's Not All About The Money

It feels like a lot of what I do surrounds money, but there are other things going on at Reach, Inc.  We have a number of exciting meetings coming up in the next two weeks.  While I've mentioned some previously, it's proven difficult to actually get my foot in the door as the school year begins.  Next week, I'll have the opportunity to have lunch with Megan Aghazadian of the DC Public Education Fund.  I imagine Megan has extensive knowledge of the DC funding scene, so it will be interesting to pick her brain about the current climate.

In addition to this meeting about funding, we also have some meetings about programmatic aspects of Reach's work.  During the week of September 21st, I have three exciting meetings.  First, I will be meeting with Lisa Lazarus of DCPS.  She focus on creating partnerships with outside providers, so she is an important gatekeeper for our future partnerships with DC Schools.  I have also finally scheduled a meeting with Anne Hedman, COO of Hyde Leadership Public Charter School.  This conversation, which we hope may be the beginning of a pilot program partnership, is huge for Reach.  We hope it goes well.  Finally, I will be meeting with Professor Peter Edelman of Georgetown University Law School.  Professor Edelman has done a lot of policy work around issues of education and poverty.  It's my hope that his different perspective will help us to improve Reach's model further.

While money is always on my mind, I hope you also see that we're making strides in other areas as well.  I'll look forward to telling you about these meetings.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Founder and President - Reach, Inc.

Thirty Minutes Turns Into Three Hours

On Friday, I had the opportunity to sit down with Kevin McDonald of TROSA, an entrepreneurial residential program for people in substance abuse recovery.  In the beginning, Kevin had to convince customers to trust a brand-new moving company run by recovering addicts.  In recent weeks, I also have been dealing with questions about our model.  As it was said by one critic, "so, you want illiterate kids teaching elementary schoolers?"  Kevin and I share a strong belief in the clients we serve, and I was curious how he had dealt with those that doubted TROSA's approach.  While not surprising, Kevin's advice was reassuring.  The best way to silence critics is to create a superior product.  If the clients take pride in their work, the work will speak for itself.

What was supposed to be a thirty minute meeting stretched to almost three hours.  Starting a nonprofit is an intense process (Kevin often talked about his war mindset).  Not surprisingly, he wanted to know why I was doing this work.  His connection to the work is much more clear.  Kevin likes to talk about his time in the "Paris Hilton Hotel," also known as LA County Jail.  He was drinking and smoking at thirteen, moved to harder stuff in his teens, and was soon doing armed robberies to support his habit.  Kevin spent twelve years living and working at Delancey Street, a program similar to TROSA.  For obvious reasons, he never has to explain why he is so dedicated to his work.

In the end, Kevin was convinced that I'm dedicated to this work.  He seemed to think I was a good guy, though those that have met him know he used much more colorful language.  He even offered to write a letter of recommendation if it would be helpful in my dealings with any potential funders.  Overall, it was a great conversation with someone I respect greatly.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Founder and President - Reach, Inc.

Learning to Have Faith

If nothing else, this week has taught me how quickly things can change.  In the last two days, we've collected over $1,000 in new donations.  I can now, without problem, make next week's payroll.  Additionally, we have continued to receive online donations that have given us a strong start for next month.  We will continue to raise money with a sense of urgency to ensure that we avoid future financial crises.

In more interesting and exciting news, I was able to meet this week with Kelly Emminger, a talented first grade teacher from DC's King Elementary School.  Kelly is an exceptional teacher, and she provided me with extremely valuable feedback about the first draft of our Tutor Training Manual.  Specifically, she pushed us to create a more balanced approach that focuses more on comprehension and less on decoding.  With her help, we will certainly be in a better position to effectively train our tutors.

Finally, tomorrow I will have the opportunity to meet with Kevin McDonald, Founder of TROSA.  As I mentioned in a previous post, Kevin is a professional hero of mine.  His work at TROSA has created structures for maintaining high expectations while building capacity to improve the surrounding communities.  Kevin's work with recovering addicts has yielded strong results through an entrepreneurial approach.  I look forward to the conversation.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Founder and President - Reach, Inc.

The Other Purpose

When I decided to start this blog, the purpose was twofold.  First, I wanted to keep people informed about Reach's progress.  Not only can we share our successes, but we can direct people here to hear our story.  Additionally, it helps me, on a personal level, to answer the question: what do you do on a daily basis?  A question that I get every day.  The second purpose of this blog is to serve as a resource for other entrepreneurs.  What are the challenges?  What do you actually have to do to start up?  What does launching a nonprofit actually look like?  This is something I felt like was sorely lacking in my previous experience and education.  It's that second purpose I'd like to speak to today.  I want to speak to the entrepreneurs.  

Everyone who has considered starting a nonprofit has heard the speech.  It's hard.  It's scary.  There will be days when you want to quit.  Sometimes it's the little things that pile up.  For the first time, I'm facing a really big wall.  Right now, Reach's bank account doesn't have the funds necessary to cover payroll next week.  Beyond the feelings of failure this brings up as an organizational leader, this is obviously scary, for me, on a personal level as well.  These are tough times.  I remain confident in our mission, but I also understand people's concerns about donating to start up ventures.  This fear will stifle innovation.  It's dangerous.

Additionally, the little problems cause bigger problems.  For example, the internet at my apartment was out yesterday.  Given the amount of work that I do online (communicating with donors, researching curricula, scheduling meetings), this was crippling.  It was incredibly frustrating to lose work time during such a high pressure situation.  It's been tough to sleep this week.  It's an incredibly lonely place to be.  There are so many people who have shown interest in Reach's work; however, there is only one person whose life is influenced so dramatically by the ups and downs.  That is the battle of the entrepreneur.  That is the scary part of this work.  I will move forward, and we will succeed.  The work is hard, and the sleepless nights are real.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Founder and President - Reach, Inc.