Trivia for Charity @ Solly's

At 8:30pm (doors open at 8:00pm), on Wednesday, June 2nd, brilliant people from all over DC will gather at Solly's Tavern for a night of trivia to support Reach, Inc. After an epic battle of the minds, winners will be rewarded with exciting prizes:

1st Prize: Four passes to The Newseum - $80 Value
2nd Prize: Gift Card for Neighborhood Restaurant Group - $50 Value

We will also be selling raffle tickets - 1 for $5, 3 for $10, or 7 for $20. The big raffle prizes: Two sets of Nats tickets (each set valued at $650). Tickets are in the section directly behind home plate and include a gourmet buffet, non-alcoholic drink, and a parking pass.

There is no cover or suggested donation, but Reach will receive a portion of the night's bar take (so drink plenty) and will benefit from the sale of raffle tickets.

What: Trivia for Charity @ Solly's - benefiting Reach, Inc.
Where: Solly's Tavern - on the corner of 11th and U Streets NW
When: Wednesday, June 2nd. Doors open at 8pm, trivia starts at 8:30pm.
Why: 'Cause you think kids should be literate.

You're not that productive on Thursday mornings anyway...

Hope to see you on Wednesday night!

Mark

A Year Removed...

A new class graduated from Harvard's Graduate School of Education today. A year removed, I still work every day to "get to work." It's never easy - the pull toward the status quo never ceases - but we continue to make every effort to create change, to do something better, and to provide today's children with the opportunities they deserve.

Giving the speech at the HGSE Convocation Ceremony was a personal challenge: would I actually say what I thought needed to be said in front of such a large group? Could I speak effectively to such a large group? Would I pass out? 

A year out, there's only one question that remains: Did it matter?

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Making The Sale

Today, I found myself, once again, at the front of a classroom. In the minutes before we began, I rediscovered that familiar nervous feeling as they began filing into the classroom. I quickly reviewed my notes, reminding myself of the major points I needed to cover. As they sat down and looked in my direction, I realized all over again that I was in charge, but they were in control.

While the feeling was a reminder of my days as a teacher, the context was slightly different. My class was the entire upper school faculty at Hyde Leadership Public Charter School, our pilot site. Today, I had the opportunity to present Reach's approach to all the upper school teachers. Since we plan to hire contract teachers from Hyde, I was placing a lot of pressure on myself to get everyone in the room excited about next year's plans.

As is standard, I then forgot everything I was going to say, spoke way too fast, and totally ignored the notes I had written before speaking. Awesome. Despite my perfectionistic tendencies, overall, I was pleased with the exchange. The teachers asked some good questions at the end and several teachers made a point to speak to me at the conclusion of the meeting - both those interested in working with us and those interested in referring students. By the time I left, I was pleased with the meeting's outcome.

With each day, we take another step toward program launch. Today was a big one. It's exciting to think that one or today of the teachers that heard about Reach today may one day be working with us to create better outcomes for our future students.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Many Problems, One Source.

The creation of marketing materials is a challenging task. For the last eighteen months, I have spent almost everyday trying to learn more about adolescent literacy and develop an improved intervention. Frankly, I now know a lot about literacy development. The challenge in creating marketing materials is that all of the knowledge gathered over those eighteen months must be condensed into short, but powerful, statements. It is a task that I find supremely challenging.

In working on a concise "problem statement" with one of my board members, I found myself talking about the various factors influenced by a teenager's reading ability. Did you know:

• Those students who enter high school in the bottom quartile in reading are twenty times more likely to drop out of school than their higher performing peers.
• Advanced literacy across content areas is the best available predictor of students' ability to succeed in introductory college courses.
• About 40% of high school graduates lack the literacy skills that employers seek.
• About two third of prison inmates are high school dropouts, and one third of all juvenile offenders read below the fourth-grade level.
• About half of incoming ninth graders in urban, high-poverty schools read three years or more below grade level.

I expressed my frustration that it's tough to boil all of that information into a single statement that explains the intense need. When asked why it seemed so overwhelming, I simply said that "Every single educational outcome that we value - graduation, college success, employability, criminal offending, success in Science & Technology, and global competitiveness - all correlate most strongly with a single factor: proficiency in reading." Lightbulb. And with that, I was much closer to the short, powerful statement needed for marketing materials.

In the end, we hope to have a one page document that outlines the problem, the Reach concept, the research base, the factors that make us unique, and the details about our upcoming pilot program. Eighteen months of work on a single page. In the end, each word will be intentionally selected, and the process is challenging. With each day, the vision gains a little more clarity and our core becomes a little more defined.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

The Perfect Fit?

It's rare that I come across a funding opportunity that seems to fit perfectly. But today, I came across the following announcement:

Fiscal Year 2011 Out of School Time Programs. D.C. Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation 

(CYITC) announces funds to provide high quality out-of-school time programs to children and youth ages 5 – 24 in 

the District of Columbia during Fiscal Year 2011. The Trust seeks to support programs during the school year that 

will provide purposeful and developmentally appropriate programs to help the District’s children and youth meet 

developmental outcomes.  

Eligibility: Nonprofit organizations.  

Deadline: June 18, 2010.  

The experience of reading such funding announcements brings with it mixed emotions. On one hand, it's so rewarding to see that some major funders recognize the importance of what Reach is doing. Beyond simply looking for academic enrichment, The Trust seeks "purposeful" and "developmentally appropriate" programs. After months of work, I feel confident that we fit that bill. It is our dedication to being purposeful and developmentally appropriate that makes us unique. I look forward to sharing our plans with The Trust.

On the other hand, I know the realities of the current funding climate. Recently, familiarity trumps anything else when it comes to grant applications. Since we're new, I recognize that - regardless of the strength of our model - we may not receive funding through this, or any, opportunity. No funding institution wants to waste money right now, and investing in an unproven entity inherently holds that risk. One day, we will be proven. That will, undoubtedly, bring its own challenges. For now, I only hope that The Trust sees the power in our model and its alignment with their wishes.

In the end, this is only one funding opportunity. We will pursue it, and many others, in the coming months. It will involve a significant investment of time. Whether it leads to a grant, we don't know. Only time will tell.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

Why I Do This...

While social entrepreneurship is about innovation and  determination, for most of us, it also involves a healthy dose of rage. When it comes down to it, my work is driven by a single belief: all people are equally valuable. Sadly, a trio of violent events in and around Washington DC recently showed how far we are, as a society, from valuing all individuals equally.

On March 30th, four people were killed and five injured in a drive-by shooting in Southeast Washington DC. Several weeks later, the murder of DCPS Principal Brian Betts drew national attention. Finally, most recently, nearly everyone heard about the murder of Yeardley Love, a lacrosse player at the University of Virginia.

Simply examining the media attention given to each of these events tells us something about the way we value the individuals involved. Specifically, it's worth noting that Love's murderer, George Huguely, has been analyzed far more than any of the other alleged killers. People stated, over and over, that they were surprised he would do this. Did we expect this behavior from the others accused? I shudder to think that murder would be expected from anyone.

Friends Meeting of Washington - a Quaker meetinghouse - hangs a sign outside that asks, "How does your life help to remove the causes of war?" In my mind, all murder is war. We should respond with disgust to each and every killing, not simply to those that surprise us due to the wealth and privilege of those involved. Each of the accused killers came into contact with many of us - in schools and churches, group homes and neighborhoods. We failed to effectively influence the killers and to effectively protect the victims. We failed to value every individual in a way that create hope and confidence rather than fear and rage.

We cannot afford to help only the young ones, or the motivated ones, or the ones that "want to be helped." We must reach out to every individual. If we don't, we will fail in removing the causes of war, and we've seen what that means too frequently in recent weeks.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

A Big Transition

A week ago, at Reach's most recent board meeting, we had an in depth conversation about our cash flow needs in the coming months. As we inch toward program launch, our financial needs will increase significantly as we incur our first program costs. To this point, our costs have been low. During this year's first four months, we've doubled our cash reserves; however, the board indicated an interest in accumulating a semester's worth of reserves before entering into contracts with teachers and tutors. So, what does that mean?

For me, that means an intense increase in fundraising. By August 1st, we will need to raise an additional $50,000 to ensure that we can meet our financial obligations during our pilot program. With the assistance of the Board, we are aggressively looking to cultivate relationships with donors who have shown interest in supporting educational initiatives. We are certainly going to be busy in the coming months, and I look forward to sharing our work with interested donors throughout the city.

We got a solid start this weekend when we raised over $1,000 at two events. On Friday night, we welcomed both old and new supporters to Town Tavern for Philanthropy Friday. In addition to the small cover charge that went to Reach, we raised over $400 through the sale of raffle tickets - congratulations to Provi ($50 to Maddy's), Julia ($50 to McCormick & Schmick's), Christine ($50 to Ireland's Four Fields), and Matt ($100 to Matchbox) on their big victories! On Saturday, Reach received a cut of the proceeds from Nerd Nite DC at DC9. Both were exciting events, and we appreciate the financial support created. It was a great weekend, and we look forward to building on this momentum in the coming weeks.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark

A Busy Weekend

Friday Night: Come on out to Town Tavern for Philanthropy Friday. For $5, you get $2 domestic bottles and mixed rails from 6pm - 9pm and $3 domestic bottles and mixed rails from 9pm - 11pm. The proceeds from the night will go directly to Reach, Inc. Additionally, we'll have raffle tickets for sale - 1 for $5, 3 for $10, and 7 for $20. We have a number of prizes available:

• $50 to Maddy's Bar & Grille
• $50 to McCormick & Schmick's
• $50 to Ireland's Four Fields
• $100 to Matchbox

Saturday Night: DC Nerd Nite takes place at DC9 again this Saturday. A combination of intellect, booze, and entertainment, DC Nerd Nite provides three short lectures on totally "nerdilicious" topics. All the proceeds from this month's event will go directly to Reach, Inc.!

By the end of the weekend, we'll have a little money in the bank and (hopefully) a lot more people that are excited about our work!

Thanks, as always, for reading!

Mark

And Miles To Go Before I Sleep...

It's 11pm, and my day is not yet done. 

This evening, we had a meeting of Reach's Board of Directors. 

The good news: Our Board members ask great questions, and they are demonstrating a true interest in creating a strong and sustainable organization.

The intimidating news: The task is large. Part of tonight's meeting involved a better definition of our cash flow needs. As a new nonprofit executive, these conversations can sometimes be scary. We've officially moved from the stage when any progress is considered success. Now, we have ambitious goals, and it's my responsibility to make sure they get met. It's intimidating, but I expect to succeed.

There's lots of work to do, but it'll have to wait until tomorrow...

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Mark