How to connect with education and social impact professionals to solve local kid learning and school problems
Last October, I sat through my kid’s elementary PTA meeting on a hard folding chair under flickering fluorescent lights, listening to the principal explain that the district had cut after-school program funding by 30% that year. We had 42 kids showing up to the program every day, 28 of them reading below grade level, and no money for new leveled books or a part-time tutor. As the volunteer lead for the program, that problem landed on my lap. We’d done a bake sale the previous spring and raised $780, which barely covered the cost of snacks for three months. I walked out of the meeting with a crumpled meeting agenda in one hand, my 7-year-old daughter Lila pulling on my other arm begging for a blue popsicle from the cafeteria vending machine, and I had no idea where to turn.
That night, while Lila did her sticker homework on the couch next to me, I scrolled through LinkedIn and saw a post from a guy I’d taken one intro sociology class with in college, who I hadn’t talked to in 11 years. He’d just started a new role at a literacy-focused EdTech non-profit, and he wrote that he was looking to connect with more on-the-ground parents and teachers. I hesitated for 20 minutes, fingers hovering over the message button. I felt weird reaching out to a basically stranger asking for help. I almost closed the app, but then I typed out a short message, no fluff: “I’m a parent volunteer at Maple Elementary in Northeast Portland, and our after-school program needs 25 sets of leveled readers for kids 1st through 3rd grade. We have no budget for them. Do you have 10 minutes to chat sometime this week?” I hit send before I could overthink it.
He replied before I woke up the next morning. It turned out his organization had 30 extra sets of books that were supposed to go to a school that dropped out of the program that quarter, and they could ship them to us for free. He also connected me to a junior education major at Portland State who needed 10 hours of volunteer hours a week to graduate, and she’s been coming twice a week to run reading groups ever since. That one 5-minute message solved a problem I’d been stressing over for months.
After that, I started reaching out more intentionally. When we found out the district couldn’t fix our cracked swing set and replace our splintered old mulch for two years, I added a one-line question to our weekly PTA newsletter: “If you work in education, non-profits, corporate giving, technology startups, or community building, I’m working on a few small projects for the school and would love a 10 minute chat. No big commitments needed.” I got five replies within two days. One of them was a dad of a 2nd grader at the school I’d said hello to at pick-up a dozen times, who worked in corporate social responsibility at a local home improvement chain. He got us free mulch, free lumber for the swing set, and a crew of 12 volunteers from his company came on a rainy Saturday to do all the work. It cost the PTA nothing but a case of donuts and some coffee.
I used to think all these fields—EdTech, social impact, CSR, NGOs, startups—were full of people in fancy offices in big cities working on huge national projects that had nothing to do with my small neighborhood elementary. I thought you needed to be a non-profit founder or a school administrator to get their attention. What I’ve learned is that most people in these roles are actually looking for real, local connections to people like me. CSR teams often have budgets they need to spend by the end of the year, or they want real local stories to show their company’s leadership. EdTech startups want feedback from actual parents and teachers to make their products work better, not just test them with their own employees. NGOs want to make sure their programs actually fit the needs of kids, not just check boxes on an annual report.
There are a few simple things that have worked for me, that any parent or teacher can try. First, be specific about what you need, don’t be vague. Vague asks like “I want to connect with people in education” get ignored. Specific asks like “I need free adaptive math tools for my 3rd grade class” or “I need 10 volunteers for a one-day community clean-up at the school” get replies. Second, look close to home first. You don’t need to go to an expensive national conference to meet people. Check your parent Facebook group, your school newsletter, your city’s free Meetup calendar for local social impact or EdTech meetups, even your alumni association’s social impact group. I’ve found more helpful people in my own parent community than anywhere else. Third, keep your ask small at the start. Ask for 10 minutes to chat, not a $10,000 grant right off the bat. Most people will make time for 10 minutes, especially if you meet them where they are—offer to grab coffee near their office after work, or chat on the phone while they commute, or even meet at the school playground during pick-up.
It doesn’t always work. I’ve reached out to 15 or so people who never replied at all. One connection with an EdTech startup turned out they just wanted me to get all the teachers at my school to use their paid product, which wasn’t what I was looking for. Right now, I’m working on setting up a free summer meal and activity program for neighborhood kids whose families can’t afford camp, and I’m still waiting on a reply from a local NGO that does food access work. We don’t know if we’ll get enough snacks to cover all the kids that sign up. But even with all the uncertainty, this approach has gotten us further than sitting around complaining about budget cuts ever did. Most people who go into work in these spaces want to help. You just have to ask, specifically.
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