Monthly Archives: November 2009

A Little Bit of Everything

By Mark Hecker | November 30, 2009

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! While I hope you all got to relax, I spent much of my holiday weekend working on my application for the Echoing Green fellowship. The application is almost complete, and I’m proud of the way I’ve been able to represent myself and Reach, Inc. While I work [...]

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Quick Hits

By Mark Hecker | November 23, 2009

I had the wonderful opportunity to share lunch today with Bruce Stewart, the former Head of School at Sidwell Friends. Bruce has a wealth of experience, and I was please that I was able to spend some time with him. We spoke about the “tragedy” that is the DC Public School System, and I very [...]

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Gaining Credibility?

By Mark Hecker | November 19, 2009

Gaining credibility in the nonprofit world is a fascinating process. While I am constantly learning, and the model is always getting better, there is little substantive difference between the Reach model now and the model as it stood last week. However, our fundraising success in the past week makes us suddenly more legitimate as an [...]

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Breaking Records

By Mark Hecker | November 17, 2009

Yesterday was, perhaps, the best day in Reach’s young life. A Reach supporter, Karin Johanson, graciously agreed to host a fundraising dinner. After a delicious meal, I was given the opportunity to talk about Reach with those assembled. Generally, I speak for a couple minutes and allow time for a couple questions. Last night, I [...]

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Big Money, Small Money

By Mark Hecker | November 12, 2009

Sometimes lunch changes the way you think about the world; today was one of those days. This afternoon, I was given the opportunity to attend the annual luncheon for The Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers. The event was an exciting networking opportunity. I enjoyed having the opportunity to meet nonprofit leaders like Deb Gottesman of [...]

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How are we different?

By Mark Hecker | November 9, 2009

When speaking about Reach’s launch efforts, it is imperative that I be able to set Reach apart from the other program’s currently working Washington DC. I regularly hear about the work being done by The Higher Achievement Program, Heads Up, Horton’s Kids, and For Love of Children.  All four of these programs do good work, but [...]

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Mixed Signals.

By Mark Hecker | November 6, 2009

Who to believe? I often find myself going from meeting to meeting. In these encounters with educators, administrators, and funders, I often hear contradictory statements about DC’s education scene. A school can be both the best and the worst, depending on who is speaking. Some people love the scrappy upstarts, while others truly believe in [...]

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Endings and Beginnings.

By Mark Hecker | November 2, 2009

While we’re still so new, it seems odd that Reach is starting to experience some of our first endings. As we have finally completed all the steps necessary to register Reach with all the necessary authorities, we will no longer need the services of Aryan Moniri and Vijay Singh, our attorneys through Skadden Arps. They [...]

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