GO Foundation Annual Report 2023 : simplebooklet.com

LEADERSHIP MESSAGE12345678910111213Our MissionOur ImpactDay in the Life as a FellowRacial Equity Report CardAlumni InterviewA New Home for Great Oaks - NYCDC Expansion GO ForumNotes From the Classroom FinancialsDonor ListBoard of DirectorsGO Foundation TeamDEAR FRIENDS OF GO,As the pandemic has ebbed, educators across the country have been drawn to high-dosage tutoring as a way to meet the needs of their students who have fallen behind. The disruption provided by the pandemic caused many parents to question whether the experience of public school was working well for their children in a way that makes returning to the status quo prior to 2020 untenable. Policymakers from Virginia’s GOP Governor Glenn Youngkin to Connecticut’s Democratic Governor Ned Lamont have embraced high-dosage tutoring for that reason.GO has rapidly added new school partners to meet the growing demand for high-dosage tutoring and as we do so, we are paying a lot of attention to the fidelity of implementation of our program. As we look around at eorts to scale implementation of this powerful educational intervention, including our own, we can see the many challenges that arise: Who is willing to take on this role and what qualifications should they have? How can you serve all children while keeping the size of tutorial groups under four students? When will a tutorial session be woven into a packed school schedule? And where can tutoring be conducted in school buildings that are already full?Since 2011, GO has faced all of these questions and others as we have grown from deploying 12 tutors at a middle school in Newark to several hundred at schools from Washington, D.C., to Boston. We are driven by the vision to provide every child in America with a tutor in order for them to realize their full human potential.MICHAEL THOMAS DUFFY PresidentADAM WEINSTEIN Board ChairmanThe mission of the GO Foundation is to provide students with access to a quality education through high-dosage tutoring. GO envisions an America where every child has the support of a tutor to enable them to realize their full human potential.GO Foundation recruits, trains, and supports a corps of young adults who are placed in partner schools to intensively tutor students as a part of a year of service through the federal AmeriCorps program. Tutors are called “Fellows” to encompass the several roles they play to both mentor and tutor the students with whom they are matched.Now in its second decade, the GO Foundation is a non-profit organization serving over 5,000 students in a growing network of public schools in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Washington, DC., with plans to expand to Massachusetts this fall. While GO originally was conceived as a Charter Management Organization (CMO), its mission is now to serve as the leading provider of in-person, high-dosage tutoring to a broad range of public school students in both charter and district schools.OUR MISSIONAt the GO Foundation, we intentionally recruit a group of tutors who reflect the diversity of the students we serve and foster inclusive learning environments for all students; 75% of GO’s tutors identify as people of color. We prioritize Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Antiracism as part of our Fellows’ arc of professional development. GO Foundation also is intentional about gender diversity and attempts to address the male-identifying teacher shortage. Lastly, our Fellows hailed from 40 dierent states in 2023.FELLOW DIVERSITYIt’s been honestly amazing, cause I’ve seen myself grow inside and outside of the classroom. CAITLINThe Fellowship is an opportunity for yourself to grow as well as to help someone else grow.CIANCIHaving people to open up to can really help a child feel more comfortable in who they are.MONROE1Having that connection with other Black males who are coming up, I understand being in that position.NELSON

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OUR IMPACTGO’S MODEL INCLUDES EVERY COMPONENT THAT RESEARCHERS CITE AS IMPORTANT FOR STUDENT IMPACT • Low student-to-tutor ratio: In an average tutorial, a Fellow is paired with two students and is not scheduled to tutor more than four at a time. • High-dosage: Each student receives at least 90 minutes per week of small-group, high-dosage tutoring per subject oered. Partner schools may have Fellows in ELA, math, or both subjects. • Embedded in the school day: Tutoring is provided in person during the school day and is structured to allow a Fellow to connect individually with students and provide genuine mentorship.2GO FELLOWS IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING Students with a GO Fellow who began the year in the 25th percentile in math on average were boosted to the 43rd percentile. Meanwhile, the comparison group of students who did not have the benefit of a GO Fellow began the year in the 43rd percentile and ended the year in the 40th percentile.FELLOW IMPACT ON MATH PERFORMANCE Fall 2022 Average Percentile50454035302520Spring 2023 Average PercentileFellow No Fellow4/5205 15 4 27GO Fellowship alumni remain in K-12 education, non-profits, or government.FELLOWS SCHOOLS STATES EMPLOYEES85%of students say they have a positive relationship with their Fellow.GO’S MODEL HELPS STUDENTS CATCH UP9/10teachers report that fellows improve student learning.85%of school leaders say that they would like to have more Fellows in their building next year than they currently have and that Fellows’ service improves the school community.100%of Fellowship alumni believe that they made a dierence in the life of at least one student. BY THE NUMBERSA DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FELLOWI have 701 ELA followed by workshop. Both of my cohorts are dierent in positive ways, so there are dierent challenges for the dierent cohorts. For example, 701 gets their work done quickly but is much louder coming back from lunch. My morning class is a little quieter but also takes a little more time to complete their work.I help run a homework center every Thursday after school, but my main after-school activity is coaching soccer. I have played soccer my entire life, and being able to show and teach our students the beautiful game is truly a passion and joy of mine. A lot of them never even kicked the ball around before, and now some of them know more from FIFA and watching players than I will ever know. Their development, love for the sport, and passion to excel both in the classroom and on the pitch has made this experience so memorable.I usually eat lunch with my 7th grade Co-lead Ms. Rios, Ms. Eyerman, or Mr. Parker. There are a ton of great lunch restaurants around our campus that give teacher discounts, so more often than not I go to grab food and bring it back to school to eat in my classroom.My first class of the day is my 7th grade ELA class in classroom 203. Right after class, we transition into an ELA workshop, which I lead with the support of my Fellow team.7:00 am7:30 am8:00 am9:00 am12:00 pm1:00 pm3:30 pmI make the LONG commute downstairs to the school from my Fellow housing upstairs.I relay the information from my Fellow Leads meeting to my Fellow team at our morning meeting. After these two meetings, and before the students arrive, I run out with my roommate Mr. Parker to grab a breakfast bagel. I tutor two cohorts for four class periods throughout the day along with our morning and afternoon Lions Den, which serves as a homeroom period.RYAN’S SCHEDULERYAN KEIT WEERAKOONFellow LeadThese kids ... are truly hilarious and often impressive with how well they craft jokes and create fun moments at school.RYAN3

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RACIAL EQUITY REPORT CARDIn 2022, GO Foundation published its first annual Racial Equity Report Card. Hector Calderón, Chief Equity Oicer, led this project to put our DEIA statement to the test. The report card helps us stay focused on intentional growth in the DEIA space. We measure four quantitative indicators: the diversity of Fellows, sta, board, and leadership. Qualitative data, including how our sta and Fellows perceive the Foundation, is also collected. GO continues to shine a light on this important work and growth. The Equity Report Card is one of the tools we use to ensure diversity and create an environment where everyone belongs and they get what they need to thrive.HECTOR CALDERÓNChief Equity OicerDIVERSITY OF GO LEADERSHIPDIVERSITY OF THE GO BOARDDIVERSITY OF GO FELLOWSDIVERSITY OF GO STAFFWhiteHispanic or LatinoEthnicity not selectedBlack or African AmericanAsianBlack or African AmericanWhiteHispanic or LatinoAsianUnknownTwo or more racesWhiteBlack or African AmericanAsianHispanic or LatinoEthnicity not selectedTwo or more racesWhiteBlack or African AmericanAsianHispanic or Latino442.9%55.6%33.8%37%22.2%14.8%14.8%27.7%15.5%22.2%11.1%11.1%28.6%14.3%7.1 %4.6%3.7%9.2%7.5%9.2%7.1 %5ALUMNI INTERVIEWHOW DID THE FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT YOUR CAREER GOALS LATER ON? I started an education-based business built on the principles of small group and one-to-one interaction. The tenets I learned during my two years as a Fellow allowed me to navigate other roles within education and ultimately become a private tutor. I am presently becoming an author.ARE YOU IN TOUCH WITH ANY STUDENTS YOU TAUGHT OR TEACHERS YOU WORKED WITH?I am friends with some of my former students and colleagues on social media. We are spread out across the nation, and all doing necessary work in society. From time to time, I have a chance to direct-message or FaceTime with former colleagues, and it is always a joy to keep in touch.WHAT SKILLS DID YOU LEARN DURING YOUR FELLOWSHIP YEARS THAT WERE MOST VALUABLE? The ability to manage my time, prioritize the most important tasks, and meet people wherever they are to establish baseline communications. Additionally, I learned how to adapt quickly to various situations, scaold, and accommodate students with learning challenges.WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THE FELLOWSHIP TO PEOPLE LOOKING FOR A SERVICE YEAR?I’d absolutely suggest people take the opportunity to work with students for a service year. Subsequently, I’d urge them to take their commitment seriously and use all the tools at their disposal to serve the students and to further their professional development.BIGGEST ADVICE TO A FELLOW STARTING THEIR FIRST YEAR?Apply yourself to this opportunity! Make connections with your administration, the teachers, and other sta members. Prioritize your work-life balance to maintain your mental health and most importantly, have fun!FAVORITE MEMORY?We had a schoolwide trip to Temple University to explore the campus, and I had a group of students to complete a scavenger hunt with. At first, we were enthusiastically chasing down the leads, and then my students decided we should prioritize fun instead. We ended up linking up with another group and just sightseeing Temple University. We had a blast taking pictures and purchasing treats from street vendors and the bookstore. I still have pictures of our adventures to this day.

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At the start of the school year, the Great Oaks Charter School of New York City (GO-NYC) was finally able to expand to serve 11th graders—a milestone that facility constraints had long delayed. Until this year, GO-NYC operated out of the second and third floors of a commercial oice building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. GO Fellows, who are so critical to the school’s model, had lived in apartments in Bushwick, Brooklyn, a 45-minute subway ride away. After securing a $5M loan in June of 2023 from the Community Development Finance Institution, BlueHub Capital, the GO Foundation undertook an ambitious construction project: to refurbish a six-story old Catholic school/convent that had been empty for years and where building maintenance had been deferred for decades. With the help of the non-profit charter facility experts at Civic Builders, GO led an 8-week crash renovation project to turn that building into a fully functional middle and high school, which included a gym and new cafeteria as well as housing for the three dozen AmeriCorps members and an oice for the sta of the GO Foundation. In August, students, sta, teachers, and GO Fellows began teaching, learning, working, and living in our new home at 240 Bleecker Street in the West Village. As we complete our transition from Charter Management Organization to tutoring provider, the GO Foundation has assumed a singular relationship with GO-NYC. GO Fellows have taken up residence in the building’s top two floors, formerly the convent where the nuns who taught at the school had lived. For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic four years ago, the GO Foundation sta now have a permanent oice to work from. The close relationship between the Foundation and the School continues to provide a singular opportunity to regularly observe firsthand what is working—and what isn’t—when it comes to high-dosage tutoring.A NEW HOME FOR GREAT OAKS - NYCThe GO Foundation launched its program in Washington, D.C., with the backing of the District’s Oice of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) and the non-profit CityTutor in the fall of 2023. In September, 48 Fellows began tutoring across eight schools: Digital Pioneers Academy, Cardozo High School, Plummer Elementary School, Turner Elementary School, and four Center City charter school campuses. Perhaps no other public school district in the country has embraced high-dosage tutoring as much as Washington, D.C. In that city, elected oicials, school leaders, and philanthropists, acting on the mounting evidence regarding the eicacy of tutoring, have helped to catalyze an ecosystem to support its development. As GO prepared to establish its program in D.C., local leaders cautioned that past D.C. tutoring initiatives faltered because tutoring providers were unable to recruit enough tutors. GO managed to meet the demand for tutors in the district by oering a unique benefit: a place to live. GO oers communal housing – including furniture and utilities – in the neighborhoods where tutors are serving. While costly, this is fundamental to the program and allows the organization to recruit Fellows from all socioeconomic backgrounds. In April 2023, GO had the honor of hosting a roundtable conversation focused on the importance of providing housing with GO Fellows and D.C. civic leaders, including Dr. Christina Grant (Superintendent of the Oice of State Education for D.C.), Alexis Squire (Former Chief Service Oicer, Executive Oice of Mayor Muriel Bowser – Serve D.C.), and Cat Perretti (Executive Director, CityTutor DC). GO Fellow Betellihem Ghebretinsae expressed that “The GO Foundation is …pursuing the idea of housing as a right.” Alexis Squire added, “You don’t have to think about housing. You can think about how you are going to change the world.”Over the past year, Fellows have demonstrated that they are indeed thinking about how they are going to change the world. In September, GO Fellows Yathzelly Ortega and Leo Batista represented GO at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, exemplifying leadership as they engaged with AmeriCorps CEO Michael Smith and other policymakers. Fellows have also contributed to their communities in myriad other ways, from volunteering at their local libraries to painting community murals. GO hopes to deepen its impact in Washington, D.C., in future years and build a pipeline of talented D.C.-based educators. In her closing remarks at the April event, Ms. Squire addressed the incoming cohort of Fellows, saying, “From being an educator, you can be a school principal or be in leadership … or you can be the head of a non-profit or the next Chief Service Oicer … that is the beauty of this experience.”D.C. EXPANSION7You don’t have to think about housing. You can think about how you are going to change the world.ALEXIS SQUIREFormer Chief Service Oicer, Executive Oice of Mayor Muriel Bowser – Serve DC

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At the beginning of August, 200 Fellows and sta members gathered on the campus of the University of Bridgeport for a weeklong training experience to prepare for the start of the school year. This was GO’s first whole cohort, in-person Forum since 2019, and our network has grown significantly since then. The 2023 Forum focused on building a service mindset, preparing Fellows to make meaningful connections to their students, and understanding the importance of tutoring within the education system.GO sta members introduced our “Develop, Mentor, Instruct” model to Fellows and led sessions on key skills such as creative problem solving, seeking out and responding to feedback, building authentic relationships with students, and engaging students in the excitement of learning. Fellows learned the key policies and procedures associated with AmeriCorps service, heard from previous Fellows about the importance of budgeting and taking advantage of AmeriCorps benefits, and reflected on impact data from the previous school year.The event also featured outside experts including Dr. Anne Shields, a professor at the Relay Graduate School of Education, who shared research on cognitive development that Fellows should apply to their service. Match Charter School founder Mike Goldstein and GOLCS Executive Director Jared Taillefer led a session on “Phoning Home” to help Fellows understand the importance of frequent communication with parents, along with best practices from their decades of experience.To help Fellows get to know each other better, the Forum also included fun evening activities and a trip to the Bridgeport Adventure Park, where Fellows conquered a challenging rope and zipline course. Our Fellows left Bridegeport feeling inspired to begin serving in their communities.GO FORUM8Student learning is often broken down into sequential skills. There are valid reasons for this practice. For example, without mastering two-digit addition, it is diicult to master three-digit addition, and without addition, multiplication is much harder to grasp. Learning software is built on this premise: Academic learning in core subjects is divided into a multitude of measurable skills. Learning software tracks students’ progress as they master skills and pinpoints where they get stuck. It is a major accomplishment that AI-enabled technology has successfully broken K-12 student learning into small bite-sized pieces. But humans, especially adolescents, are social and emotional beings. Their non-academic needs must be met for them to reach their full potential as learners.During the 2022-23 school year, the GO Foundation, in partnership with GO-NYC and Professor Bowen Paulle, was awarded a grant by Accelerate to study the impact of changing tutorial dosage. The GO Foundation research team varied the amount of tutoring that students received by replacing some academic tutoring with a structured mentoring program focused on student-tutor relationships that engaged students’ social and emotional needs. At the heart of this study was a hypothesis that “the secret sauce” of high-impact tutoring involves finding the right balance between leveling up students’ academic skills and explicitly meeting their social and emotional needs.As we dug into our research, we realized that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs provides a comprehensive framework that is aligned with our approach. In essence, kids must feel welcome and comfortable, they must exert eort and show interest in the material, and they must feel confident enough to reveal and narrate their misunderstandings. Only then can tutors – who we refer to as “GO Fellows” – address their misunderstandings. This approach is particularly relevant in post-pandemic education, where mental health is identified as a top barrier to accelerating student learning according to a recent report from McKinsey & Company. By meeting students’ core needs, we create an environment that empowers students to thrive academically and personally.Students must master academic skills, but the environment in which they do this should be intentionally designed to accelerate their academic growth. It’s hard for a child to learn or articulate where they’re stuck if they do not feel safe, welcome, or like they belong in a space. A positive learning space motivates kids to excel and makes it easier for adults to identify and address gaps in student learning. At the GO Foundation, we are testing this hypothesis by training Fellows in mentoring skills and allocating a portion of tutorial toward explicitly focusing on helping students express themselves and their needs.As the country grapples with unprecedented learning loss for a generation of students, eective interventions are critical. The challenges we face require novel solutions. We hope to contribute to the growing field of knowledge by exploring what makes high-impact tutoring eective in our practice and sharing what we’ve learned.NOTES FROM THE CLASSROOMLESSONS LEARNED FROM OUR RESEARCH IN 9JONAH LIEBERTBy meeting students’ core needs, we create an environment that empowers students to thrive academically and personally.Director of Data and Research

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 STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIESREVENUES AMOUNTSContributions & Other Revenue $1,439,947 Government Grants $4,859,157 Management Fee Income $898,984 Other Income $1,413,589 TOTAL $8,611,677 EXPENSESSchool Program Services $7,840,233 Management and General Services $802,724 Fundraising $424,379 TOTAL $9,067,336 CHANGE IN NET ASSETS -$455,659 NET ASSETS – BEGINNING OF YEAR $1,457,346 NET ASSETS – END OF YEAR $1,001,687FINANCIALS$10,000,000$8,000,000$6,000,000$4,000,000$2,000,000 FY23 FY22 FY21REVENUES EXPENSES NET ASSETS10 11DONOR LISTCHAIRMAN’S CIRCLETEACHER’S CIRCLE FELLOW’S CIRCLEAccelerateSusan & Ira AkselradGerald AllenBarr FoundationMary & Michael BrabeckMichael & Marianne BrownCarnegie Corporation of New YorkCityBridge EducationJay CrossThe Johnson CompanyKohlberg, Kravis & Roberts (KKR)Joe & Elizabeth McDonald Adam & Jodi WeinsteinMichael Thomas DuyJames FraserAquila Leon-SoonMichael & Maria McGregorLiliana Polo-McKennaLou & Amanda ShipleyLynn Stanley & Marty LinskySusan StroudElie BilmesElizabeth CaseMolly GurnyDJ HartiganSherry KingBowen PaulleRosa PietanzaJulie SimpsonJosh StevensJoshua ThomasesDiana Turk

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ADAM WEINSTEIN, BOARD CHAIRMANManaging Director and Head of Firm Operations for New Mountain Capital, a private equity firm based in New York City, and founding member of the GO Foundation board.GERALD ALLEN CEO and Founder of the executive search firm The Allen Rose Group, Inc., based in New York City, and Co-founder of Patient Care Staing, Inc., a healthcare recruitment and traveling nurse agency in midtown NYC.SUSAN MUSTOKOFF AKSELRAD, BOARD SECRETARYAttorney specializing in labor and employment issues, founding member of the Great Oaks Charter School of New York City board, and former public school teacher in Philadelphia. DERRICK DIGGSFormer President and Director of Development for Diggs Construction and advisory board chair for Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN).MIKE BROWN, BOARD TREASURERCo-founder and Managing Director of Journey Strategic Wealth, a national registered investment advisor firm. Former trustee of NJ public school and East Harlem Tutorial Program.LILIANA POLOMCKENNA, ED. L.D. Founder and Principal of the consulting firm Leading from Within and previously CEO of Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow, a youth education and workforce organization.PEGGY SHAUGHNESSYManaging Director, Business Operations at Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts, a global investment firm based in New York City, and previously Managing Director at Goldman Sachs.CHARLOTTE ADJCHAVANICH Senior Vice President of Consumer Engagement for Parlux and previously served as a senior marketing executive with companies that include Revlon, Inc., L’Oréal UK, and ScienceMagic.Inc.SUSAN STROUDSenior Fellow at the Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service at George Washington University and part of the team that launched AmeriCorps; previously was Assistant to the President of Brown University, founding director of the Swearer Center for Public Service and Campus Compact, and worked for the Ford Foundation.MICHAEL THOMAS DUFFY, PRESIDENTAdjunct professor at the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and former Chair and Commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.BOARD OF DIRECTORS12 13GO FOUNDATION TEAMMICHAEL THOMAS DUFFY Founder and PresidentJEAN LOMBARDI Chief Operating OicerSHERQUANA CHARLES Director of FinanceVANESSA CEAS Vice PresidentHECTOR CALDERÓN Chief Equity Oicer MICHIELLE CORPUZ RecruiterELIE BILMES Chief Program OicerNUSRAT ARJU Talent Acquisition CoordinatorNORA CORRIGAN Fellow Experience CoordinatorDEBORAH DAGIAU Director of Human ResourcesJ’KOI HAILSTOCK Recruitment Specialist ALEX JACOBS Deputy Director of Program ImplementationRICHARD DENOR Deputy Director of Youth Development ANNE HARROLD Director of Teacher Residency BRIANNE KELLYPRENSA Deputy Director of Development JEUNET FIDELINO RecruiterCJ INGERSOLL Recruitment Specialist TIFFANY KWONG Deputy Director of AmeriCorps ComplianceGRACE LEE Talent Acquisition Strategist LORI MORILLO Senior Business Manager DAREESE TOLSON Deputy Director of Program Implementation (DC)JONAH LIEBERT Director of Data and Research JENNIFER PERKINS Director of Partnerships CHRISTY VENABLE Director of Federal Grants KHADIJA MARKS Director of Fellow Development DARIUS ROSE Director of RecruitmentELIZABETH WARNER Communications Coordinator

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GO Foundation Annual Report 2023

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