Monthly Archives: March 2010

Nelson Mandela: An Inspiration for Reformers of Urban Education?

By Mark Hecker | March 29, 2010

To challenge my thinking about leadership, I’ve recently started reading the autobiographies of game-changing leaders. Most recently, I read Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela. What I found most inspiring about Mandela was his refusal to allow incremental gains to distract from the larger goals of his movement. During his days as a young [...]

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What Does a Budget Really Mean?

By Mark Hecker | March 25, 2010

For a variety of reasons, I’m currently in the midst of revising and reformatting Reach, Inc.’s budget. For me, this process brought up two important questions: Why do we treat budgets like rule books when they are really planning documents? Why do we think so negatively about any money not spent on programs? With regard [...]

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Reach, Inc. welcomes Mike Young!

By Mark Hecker | March 22, 2010

Today’s Press Release: March 22, 2010 Today Reach, Inc. announces that Mike Young is joining the organization as its newest Director. Young brings extensive experience in program management and nonprofit administration. In March 2008, Mr. Young left Hope and a Home, a local nonprofit that empowers low-income families with children to create stable homes, after [...]

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Improvement vs. Mastery

By Mark Hecker | March 18, 2010

As you all know, Reach’s program model consists of three components: training, tutoring, and compensation. Currently, I’m working on the creation of our compensation system. In this exercise, it has helped to revisit the different evaluation systems I have encountered in my professional career, both in social work and in education.  In social work, progress [...]

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Quick Hits

By Mark Hecker | March 15, 2010

#1) Save the dates: Wednesday, June 2nd, Solly’s Tavern, Trivia Night for Charity: Come drink beer, answer questions, and raise money for Reach! Wednesday, September 29th, Co Co. Sala, Reach, Inc.’s Launch Party. Come enjoy delicious drinks for discounted prices while celebrating the launch of Reach’s pilot program. (* date is tentative and subject to [...]

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Reframing the Discussion

By Mark Hecker | March 11, 2010

Yesterday, I had a great discussion with Mary Beth Fresh, the Director of Strategic Alliances at First Book. First Book has had great success in cause-related marketing campaigns. Through these campaigns, they create revenue, increase name recognition, and drive website traffic through corporate partnerships. While many of First Book’s relationship are national in scale (Cheerios, [...]

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Is the best good enough?

By Mark Hecker | March 8, 2010

In a recent article, Jay Mathews described MATCH Charter Public High School as “one of the nation’s most successful inner-city charters.” Having spent last year in Boston, I got to learn a little bit about MATCH. While they have done impressive work creating academic gains with a challenging population, the school’s success is not unqualified. [...]

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The Power of We

By Mark Hecker | March 5, 2010

During a conversation with a Reach supporter recently, I heard someone say, “it really feels like we’re making some progress.” Then, looking at me sheepishly, he went on, “I guess I shouldn’t be saying we. You’re the one doing the work.” At that point, I happily told him that I thought he was entirely incorrect. [...]

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Reach, Inc. welcomes Karin Johanson!

By Mark Hecker | March 1, 2010

Today’s Press Release: March 1, 2010 Today Reach, Inc. announces that Karin Johanson is joining the organization as the newest member of our Board of Directors. Johanson brings with her a wealth of experience building organizations within the world of electoral politics. Currently, Ms. Johanson is a principal at Dewey Square Group in its grassroots [...]

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