As a DC social worker, Mark Hecker had a brilliant idea ten years ago to address the literacy challenges facing teens and young children. Since then he has built an effective organization that is not only tackling the literacy issue in an innovative way, but has expanded to offer opportunities in life skills and leadership, book authorship, and services that address the evolving and expanding needs of Reach’s teens as they look to post-high school life in college or careers.
I was fortunate to learn about Reach over three years ago through a regional grant-making organization. Mark’s grant proposal stood out to me, and to our entire organization, because he had a unique, intelligent solution to an endemic problem. (He won our grant.) I have gotten to know Mark since then and I am continually impressed by the way he actively seeks to improve both Reach’s program offerings and execution, but also his own skills as a leader, manager and innovator. The students are at the center of everything he does, and I marvel at the level of caring and commitment he brings to Reach. I have enjoyed meeting several of Reach’s dedicated and impressive employees, as well as a number of the Reach teen tutors. It has been great to have the chance to watch several students over time, first to see them as they are tutoring younger children, and then to applaud them as they earn college scholarship money and as they present books that they have authored themselves. Reach is undeniably a life-changing organization.
The philosophy behind Reach is brilliantly simple - increase literacy in high school students by teaching them to tutor elementary students. When I learned of this idea over 10 years ago, it was a simple YES. I have been excited to support Reach all these years and excited for its future. When I see an idea such as this come to fruition, and I see the payoff in the students it serves, I am even more committed to the mission. Reach's work not only benefits the students in the classroom, it is the intangible benefits that often leave a more lasting impression. High school students who take responsibility for their actions, model appropriate behaviors, and find pride in their work because they see how those behaviors and actions impact the elementary school students they serve, lead those high school students toward adulthood with more skills and insights than most. When I interact with a shy 9th grader who is afraid to look adults in the eye, then two or three years later they walk up to shake my hand and show me the children's book they've authored or talk to me about the college and post-high school plans, I know Reach works.
And this organization cannot work without dedicated staff. I have been excited to see the staff of Reach commit to these students, grow in their profession, and push themselves to think more critically everyday. Reach's team truly cares for every student, and each student knows it.
So it is this combination of a simple yet brilliant idea, paired with tough kids and a dedicated staff that creates the "special sauce" that makes Reach stand out among other nonprofits in this field.
Joining Reach became the single most pivotal choice in my career. I’d been looking to grow my experience in direct service to youth, while lending my skills in partnership development and communications to an organization that was doing real social change work. I wanted to be a part of a team I could believe in, and be proud of. I also wanted to be more selective in my job search, drilling down to a few organizations whose culture allowed employees to bring their full, authentic selves to the work.
With Mark Hecker’s thoughtful, informed and inspirational leadership, our small team created a dynamic culture and practice of intellectual growth and unconditional professional support. We made the time to revise and refine our ideas about diversity, equity, inclusion and created a set of organizational values that we were expected to align with our practice in schools. The Reach office became a safe space for us to challenge each other, share ideas openly, innovate and learn. As someone who worked full-time in the office, as well as off-site as a coordinator in Schools, I observed how this approach to managing our team could impact our interaction with students. I was a stronger, more patient and kind, and creative educator for my students because of what I learned from Mark and my colleagues - and because I felt supported and valued.
This is critically important for me because my experience at Reach has set the bar extremely high for what I expect a professional experience to be. And now, as a supervisor at another organization, I often reflect on my time at Reach and try to create an environment where my team members can thrive as I did.
I have had the privilege of working with Reach Incorporated since 2016 as an adviser and coach to the Executive Director and the Development Manager. As a consultant/coach who works with numerous nonprofits, I am in the unique position to truly understand how Reach compares to peer organizations - both within the local DC area and beyond, as my team serves nonprofits throughout the country and even internationally. I can confidently say that Reach is one of the very best organizations I have ever worked with, in every aspect. Given my embedded role in numerous nonprofits, people often approach me to ask for advice on organizations to support with financial contributions where they know their gift will really make an impact and be put to good use. Reach is my answer every time. I can confidently direct donors to Reach because I know the organization from every angle - the program structure/model and impact, the financials of the organization, the culture of the staff and office, and have even met numerous young people who have participated. In every which way I've observed Reach, it is a model for what a well-thought out and executed program can do to truly break a cycle of literacy challenges for many young people. Reach has amazing outcomes -- not just outputs (# of students served) but OUTCOMES (how those students lives are changed) that has proved time and time again that this program truly delivers a solution to a problem facing many young people, especially from low-income communities. I am truly in awe of the creativity, dedication, and thoughtfulness of the Executive Director, who is also the founder, in the way he has approached building this program over Reach's 10-year history as well as how he leads his team to create a culture of caring for young people that they often say they do not find anywhere else. I highly encourage others to learn more about Reach and its great work.
Review from Guidestar
I worked at this organization for just a couple months and it became abundantly clear within that short amount of time that the organization was steeped in white supremacy culture as the executive director/founder of the organization is paternalistic, committed to power-hoarding, gives the appearance of democratic decision-making that is in fact based solely on his individual desires of what is "best" for the organization, models a very hierarchical structure with just 6-7 staff members, and devalues other ways of thinking, understanding, working, and strategy-development. In addition, the two positions that were director-level were held by white staff - the ED and the program director - when the program worked solely with people of color, mostly Black youth. I worked closely with the ED as the curriculum manager and observed the literacy program at different sites. I have worked in several programs (and developed programs) across the country and this was by far the worst-running program I've ever witnessed. While the idea of increasing literacy is solid, the model that is currently in place is unsound. Often times students were not reading and the program instructors who are in charge of instructing teens and students were often late to sessions or absent altogether. Since the program only lasts one hour, being only five minutes late poses a huge problem based on the amount of time students and teens can read and engage in critical dialogue - they could be up to 15-20 minutes late. The position claimed to care about social justice and racial equity but there was no evidence of this commitment based on the way the organization and program operated. In my first week, a Black teen tutor was kicked out of session (despite her desire to remain) because she wore a head wrap under the misguided belief that to wear a head wrap is "unprofessional." Staff didn't see a huge problem with this, citing that they give program instructors full leeway to create the culture they want. As I was developing curriculum, the ED told me not to create curriculum that really pushed the young people to think about the conditions they're subjected to in school settings as they had funders to consider. The young people of color I met were amazing and the model of allowing them to write books is phenomenal - this was something the young people advocated for. While I realized within the first week that this was a poor cultural fit for me, joining this organization was a great learning experience as it really reinforced in my consciousness how whiteness and the unwavering desire to uphold dominator culture will always undermine even the best efforts to bring about change.