Alana Lopez
Client Services Senior Coordinator
Jen Vorse Wilka
Executive Director
Logan Rowland
Analyst
Sonya Heisters
Deputy Director
Brian Postow
Software Architect
Jimmy Simpson, Jr.
Manager of Partnerships
Max Dugan-Knight
Associate Manager of Data & Analytics
Whitney Ivie
Director of Client Services & Operations
CAREERS
We value a passionate commitment to improving schools. We have a deep belief in the power of data and analysis to improve decision-making. We believe that successful employees want to make the world a better place and are motivated to seize opportunities to do so.
We believe that committed individuals will grow and develop in an environment in which they are trained, mentored, and supported. We value hard work and productivity, but also recognize the importance of maintaining a work-life balance.
We believe each employee has a strong sense of ownership for the work that they do, and the work of YouthTruth as a whole. Strengths of YouthTruth’s work culture are entrepreneurialism, accountability, teamwork, collegiality, diversity, and mutual respect.
Open Positions
We currently have no open positions.
ADVISORY BOARD
Ben Daley
Provost
High Tech High Graduate School of Education
Crystal Hayling
Executive Director
The Libra Foundation
David Ross
Global Education Consultant
Dr. Elisha Smith Arrillaga
Executive Director
The Education Trust—West
Fay Twersky
Vice President
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Co-founder of YouthTruth
Vice President
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Co-founder of YouthTruth
Georgeanne Warnock
Superintendent
Terrell Independent School District
Superintendent
Terrell Independent School District
John Boyd
Superintendent
Quincy School District
John Easton
Senior Fellow, Consortium on School Research
University of Chicago
Kathy Gomez
Former Superintendent
Evergreen School District
FUNDERS
YouthTruth generates revenue from fee-for-service contracts and support from philanthropic organizations.
Philanthropic support allows us to scale our operations and impact while keeping pricing affordable for school clients, develop new products and services, and build organizational infrastructure. In addition, funders sponsor school districts and charter networks to participate in YouthTruth.
We sincerely appreciate the generous financial support provided by the following funders:
| The Fund for Shared Insight | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
| Stuart Foundation | The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation |
| Houston Endowment | The Whitman Institute |
| The Children’s Trust | The California Endowment |
| Foundation for the Mid South | The San Francisco Foundation |
| Stupski Foundation | W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation |
HISTORY
YouthTruth was born out of a conversation between the Center for Effective Philanthropy and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation back in 2008. The Foundation was seeking to hear from more voices – and one that was missing was the voice of the people whose lives they were trying to affect: the students themselves!
The key characters in this origin story are Phil Buchanan, president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, Fay Twersky, director of the Effective Philanthropy Group at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and former director of Impact Planning and Improvement at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Valerie Threlfall, former vice president at the Center for Effective Philanthropy and founding director of YouthTruth from 2008 to 2012.
YouthTruth is based on the simple but powerful premise that when you get timely feedback from those you’re trying to serve, and really listen to that feedback to make changes, you get better.