TEAM
Alana Lopez
Client Services Senior Coordinator
Jen Vorse Wilka
Executive Director
Sonya Heisters
Deputy Director
Whitney Ivie
Director of Client Services & Operations
Brian Postow
Software Architect
Jimmy Simpson, Jr.
Manager of Partnerships
Thelma Andree
Digital Marketing and Creative Content Lead
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.
ADVISORY BOARD
Ambika Kapur
Program Officer
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Program Officer
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Anthony Richardson
Executive Director
The Nord Family Foundation
Executive Director
The Nord Family Foundation
Ben Daley
President
High Tech High Graduate School of Education
President
High Tech High Graduate School of Education
David Ross
Global Education Consultant
Global Education Consultant
Dr. Elisha Smith Arrillaga
Managing Director
Charles A. Dana Center
Managing Director
Charles A. Dana Center
Dr. Georgeanne Warnock
Superintendent
Terrell ISD
Superintendent
Terrell ISD
John Boyd
Superintendent
Quincy School District
Superintendent
Quincy School District
John Easton
Senior Fellow, Consortium on School Research
University of Chicago
Senior Fellow, Consortium on School Research
University of Chicago
Kyra Caspary
Principal Senior Researcher
SRI International
Principal Senior Researcher
SRI International
Penny de Leon
Superintendent
Glendora Unified School District
Superintendent
Glendora Unified School District
Rashad Staton
Youth Engagement Specialist
Baltimore City Schools
Youth Engagement Specialist
Baltimore City Schools
Dr. Shelly Reggiani
Executive Director, Equity, Community Engagement, and Communications
North Clackamas School District
Executive Director, Equity, Community Engagement, and Communications
North Clackamas 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:
| Carnegie Corporation of New York | The Fund for Shared Insight |
| The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation | Walton Family Foundation |
| The David and Lucile Packard Foundation | William and Flora Hewlett Foundation |
We sincerely appreciate the participation of the following funders in two regional Student Voice Initiatives in the Bay Area and Ohio, through which participating foundations and their partner districts explore the value of student perception data for school systems and philanthropy alike.
| Career Technical Education Foundation Sonoma County | Monterey Peninsula Foundation |
| Community Foundation Sonoma County | The Nord Family Foundation |
| HealthPath Foundation of Ohio | Richmond Community Foundation |
| Marin Community Foundation | William and Flora Hewlett Foundation |
| Martha Holding Jennings 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.