成人快播

Dan Carroll has served on the 成人快播 board since 2013. He served as an officer and treasurer before stepping into the role of board chair in 2016. Dan has been an invested ally and critical supporter for 成人快播鈥� work through both an exciting period of growth as well as a challenging period of change.

Throughout it all, Dan has remained focused on ensuring 成人快播 is in the best possible position to address the early literacy crisis in the US.

Now, as 成人快播 launches into the next four year strategic plan and prepares to celebrate 20 years of service to students and communities nationwide, Dan and the 成人快播 national board听look forward to a bright future.

In this pivotal moment in 成人快播鈥� history, I sat down with Dan to get an inside view of his experience as a 成人快播 board member and learn more about what 成人快播 has in store for the years ahead.

---

Addressing the literacy crisis at its core

Q: To get us started, can you share with me a little bit about your education and career background? How did you come to the work you currently do?

A: I went to college at Harvard then went to Wall Street and focused on technology banking. I spent enough time in California to know I wanted to stay here so I attended Stanford Business School and then began a career in venture capital and private equity. I spent the next 22 years working on private investments in Asia, living in San Francisco and Thailand. In 2011, I decided to take a couple of years off to travel less (for business) and learn more about nonprofits.

Q: How did you come to the work you currently do with 成人快播?

A: I had been involved in several independent school boards and was looking for a way to get more involved in education. A fellow school board member at University High School in San Francisco served as chair at 听and encouraged me to get involved in that organization.

I served on the TFA鈥檚 Bay Area board from 2010-15, where I was first introduced to the technology and education reform movements. I enjoyed being a part of the work because it attracts people who are mission-driven and smart, but focused on serving others. Hence, our reliance on our amazing volunteers and AmeriCorps members.

I was introduced to 成人快播 by Cathy Dean and Will Evers, two close friends who were active in the national and Bay Area organizations. 成人快播 seemed to be dealing with challenges that TFA faced earlier in its development鈥攁 dynamic young organization in a state of transition, moving from a regional to a national scale.

What struck me as most powerful about 成人快播 at the time, and still today, is the leverage that comes from addressing developmental challenges early. Giving third and fourth grade students the tools to succeed in school, as opposed to trying to help at the high school level, just made more sense to me. The idea of learning to read before you read to learn was definitely my 鈥淎ha!鈥� moment with 成人快播.

---

A data-driven approach

Q: Why did you decide to support 成人快播 as a board member?

A: When I joined 成人快播鈥� national board, I had a real interest in digging deeper into how nonprofits operate. All board members are financial supporters of an organization, but I felt I had the time to get to know the national leadership team and the inner workings of the organization. During my time on the TFA Bay Area board, I had also gained some experience in the evolution of national and regional organizations, which I thought would be directly relevant to 成人快播.

Funders are also always searching for data-driven models, and 成人快播 definitely has that. 成人快播 showed strong regional success, had the data to back up their work听(demonstrated through third-party research by MDRC), and had a vision for multiplying the program at a national level. I ultimately saw my role as helping to implement our vision for growth and scaling to increase 成人快播鈥� impact.

---

听Dedicated board and leadership

Q: What does a board member actually do?

A: Each board role is unique, but the primary role of everyone on the board is to serve as fiduciaries for the entire organization. Boards are tasked with engaging organizational leadership and ensuring the long term health of the organization. This starts with financial health; raising funds, attracting investors, and ultimately inspiring others from our networks into the group as investors. We serve as stewards of the organization鈥檚 funding, seeking diverse, well balanced sources of revenue and whenever possible building financial reserves. We also attempt to shield the organization from the natural ups and downs of the marketplace.

In setting strategy and supporting the organization鈥檚 operations, the board works with the management team through a group of committees, including development, finance, and program. But our primary relationship is with the CEO, who is the only employee at 成人快播 who reports to the board. Our most important job is to recruit, sustain, guide, and provide advice to the CEO. The relationship between those two are a very good indicator of any nonprofit. It鈥檚 truly hard to find an example of an organization that鈥檚 doing well where the board and CEO relationship is difficult or strained.

---

Positive opportunities for growth and innovation

Q: What excites you about 成人快播鈥� future?

A: I鈥檓 very excited about the new leadership at 成人快播, (especially with our new CEO, Karine) and the energy she brings to the organization. We have developed a , which also helps in building depth and a rock solid foundation for 成人快播!

I鈥檓 also incredibly excited about the potential to embrace technology in a more robust way. We鈥檇 love to take the core one-on-one model and find ways to leverage the resources around us in Silicon Valley to drive further impact.

Finally, and very importantly, I鈥檓 passionate about our commitment to driving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and building DEI into 成人快播鈥� new strategic plan.

Q: What is a lesson you have learned in your career that has guided you well?

A: You learn much more from your mistakes that from your successes. When you鈥檙e successful, people make up many explanations for why things worked out so well. When something doesn鈥檛 work, the learnings are often painfully obvious but always incredibly valuable.