How to connect with education, EdTech and social impact professionals as a parent or teacher
It’s 8:15 pm, my two kids are asleep upstairs, there’s a goldfish cracker crumb stuck between the G and H keys of my laptop, and I’m staring at a blank email draft I’ve been deleting and rewriting for 20 minutes. I need help. A year ago, I started a small free book program for the three low-income apartment complexes within 10 minutes of my house, none of which are within walking distance of a public library. We started with a cardboard box by the mailroom, and now we have 120 kids signed up, regular reading nights, and a growing list of needs I can’t fill on my own. Right at the top of that list: free e-book licenses for kids who only have access to a parent’s old phone, no physical books at home. I’d cold-emailed three big EdTech companies, got two generic “check out our national partnership program” form letters and one no response. I’d scrolled through three different parenting Facebook groups, asked for connections, and got seven sponsored ads for reading tutors and one comment from a lady selling essential oils. I had no idea where to find people who actually worked in education, nonprofits or EdTech who cared about small, local projects like mine.
A week later, I sat through a PTA meeting about fundraisers for the playground, and on my way out, another mom who runs the school’s food pantry mentioned a free monthly meetup at the downtown startup incubator for people doing mission-focused work in education. I almost didn’t go. I’m just a parent with a cardboard box of books, not a real organization. But I had a free Tuesday night, so I got a babysitter for $15 and drove downtown. The meetup was in a drafty co-working space, there was lukewarm coffee in paper cups, and about 15 people there: a guy who ran a local after-school NGO, a 26-year-old product manager at an education startup focused on literacy, a CSR rep from a regional bank that does local community grants, and a few other people working on small community projects around the city.
I ended up lingering by the coffee pot after the opening talk, and the CSR rep asked what I did. I told her the exact truth: I have 120 kids in three apartment complexes, we give out free books, and I can’t afford to buy enough new chapter books or pay for digital access. She wrote her email on a napkin and told me their bank had a small grant program for local groups, maximum $5,000, application was two pages, no 20-page impact report required. The product manager from the startup heard us talking, and she gave me 150 free licenses for their literacy app on the spot. Her company set aside 20% of their licenses every year for community projects, she said, but almost no small local groups ever reach out. They usually just go to big school districts. By the end of the night, the NGO guy had connected me to two retired teacher volunteers who wanted to help run reading nights, something I’d been needing for six months.
That first meetup changed everything for my project, and I’ve learned a few simple things that work for connecting with people in these spaces, whether you’re a parent with a small community project or a teacher looking for new tools to bring to your classroom. First, skip the big national conferences and cold emails to CEOs. Start by searching “[your city] startup meetup education social impact” on Eventbrite or Meetup.com. Most mid-sized cities have at least one free monthly meetup through a local startup incubator or community college, and almost all of them let anyone drop in for free. Second, when you introduce yourself, lead with a specific, small need instead of a big mission statement. I used to lead with “I’m working to improve literacy access for low-income kids” and people would nod and walk away. Now I say “I run three small free libraries in local apartments, and I’m looking for free digital licenses for kids without books at home” and people have a concrete thing to help with. Third, if you’re reaching out on LinkedIn, skip the generic “I’d love to pick your brain” request. I just send one line: “Hi [Name], I saw you work in education community work here in Austin, I run a small free literacy program for local kids, would love to connect if you ever have resources to share.” I get a response about 70% of the time, which is way higher than I ever expected. Fourth, most companies have unadvertised small programs for local projects. EdTech companies almost always have extra licenses for community groups, CSR departments usually have small grant pools that don’t get a lot of applicants, so just ask directly. You don’t need a registered nonprofit to qualify a lot of the time, either – I’m still just an unincorporated group, and I’ve gotten two grants already.
It’s not all perfect, of course. I went to one meetup that was just a bunch of people selling overpriced educational products to teachers, so I left after 20 minutes. I’ve sent a dozen connection requests that never got answered. I still don’t have anyone on my team who knows how to get accessible books for kids with dyslexia, which is my biggest gap right now. Last month, I had to turn away 10 kids who signed up for reading nights because we didn’t have enough snacks or chairs.
Last week, we had our first fall reading night, and a mom pulled me aside to tell me her 8-year-old son had been using the literacy app every night after homework, and he just moved up a reading level at his school. That’s the whole point, right? I still only spend a couple hours a month on meetups and connection requests, it fits around my kids’ soccer practice and my part-time tutoring job. I don’t know if this little project will ever turn into something bigger, but it’s a lot easier doing it with other people than I ever thought it would be, trying to figure it out alone at my kitchen table late at night.
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