EdTech: Ali Medina and Nathan Bellet of The Oakland Public Education Fund On How Their Technology Will Make An Important Positive Impact On Education

ASK FOR FEEDBACK–AND BE WILLING TO LISTEN TO IT. As we’ve mentioned above, technology as only as effective as the people using it. Make sure your target audience has a chance to tell you what’s working and what could be improved.

In recent years, Big Tech has gotten a bad rep. But of course, many tech companies are doing important work making monumental positive changes to society, health, and the environment. To highlight these, we started a new interview series about “Technology Making An Important Positive Social Impact”. We are interviewing leaders of tech companies who are creating or have created a tech product that is helping to make a positive change in people’s lives or the environment. In this particular installment, we are talking to leaders of Education Technology companies, who share how their tech is helping to improve our educational system. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ali Medina, Executive Director of the Oakland Education Fund, and Nathan Bellet, Director of Information Technology.

Ali Medina, Executive Director of the Oakland Education Fund, has over 20 years of experience in designing alternative education pathways. Her leadership is based in service with a mission to bring educational equity to students in Oakland. She is a deep believer in the power of youth and their ability to make the change they want to see in their community.

Nathan Bellet, Director of Information Technology, has over a decade of experience working for nonprofits in a wide range of roles and positions–eventually becoming an “accidental techie”. He has continued to refine and focus his knowledge of online systems and database usage to increase productivity and information accuracy across entire organizations.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory and how you grew up?

Ali: I grew up in Los Angeles and am of mixed racial descent — Irish American and 5th generation Chicano. My Chicano family has roots in East Los Angeles that span over 100 years. My maternal grandparents migrated from Oklahoma in the 1930s to LA during the Dust Bowl, seeking opportunities in the construction industry to contribute to the city’s growth. My grandfatheri, Martinez, served in World War II at the age of 16 and achieved financial success in both city government and entrepreneurship.

As the youngest of four kids, I never enjoyed being told what to do. Both of my parents embody stories of the American dream, rooted in grit and work ethic. Their tenacity allowed them to seize career advancement opportunities, but their lack of higher education limited their progress. I observed many family members working hard but encountering career ceilings.

From an early age, I understood that education was the key to my own limitless success and ultimate independence. Getting to college became my top priority, fueled by the belief that a college degree would shatter the glass ceiling and allow me to live the life I had always dreamed of. Along the way, I noticed significant inequities between the college prep schools I attended and the public school system. It always struck me that the lack of resources should not hinder young people from pursuing higher education.

Attending college became the pivotal factor in shaping my life’s trajectory, and I am immensely grateful for the opportunities that came my way. I proudly became the first person in my immediate family to earn a Bachelor’s degree, subsequently obtaining a State of California teaching credential, a State of California Administrator’s credential, and a Master’s in Educational Leadership. As a first-generation college student, I take great pride in contributing to the education and empowerment of future generations of college students.

Nathan: I grew up in the Bay Area as the middle of 3 children. My family lived in both Redwood City and Walnut Creek. Growing up, I was exposed to a variety of teaching methods–including public, private, and Montessori. I grew up with medical concerns that affected my day-to-day life, but at the same time taught me how to approach life and problems from a unique perspective compared to many of my peers.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

Ali:

Fresh out of college, I began my career as a policy associate at a research and evaluation firm that was a contractor for the Department of Labor. We successfully secured the contract for evaluating Year 1 of the National Workforce Investment Act. At the age of 23, I found myself in the State of Texas, tasked with meeting Governor George Bush’s staff while he was on the presidential campaign trail.

Following the state visit, my journey led me to engage with the local Workforce Investment Board in East Texas. Reflecting on that time, I realize how lucky I was to be so warmly welcomed by the veteran staff of the WIB in East Texas and at the Governor’s office. My overwhelming memory is that they treated me with incredible respect.

I had been worried that I would be dismissed–not only because I was a woman of color, but also because I was so young. I had no experience on the ground or in the real world. And yet, I remember clearly how genuine they were with their answers and how thoughtful they were to include me in team meals. I got to experience a famous BBQ spot located on the railroad tracks through East Texas. The train conductor even stopped the train to get off and have lunch with us. Talk about a small town! Coming from Los Angeles, I was dazzled by the sense of community in East Texas. This was not the experience I had in other jurisdictions across the country. But the warm reception that I received gave me the confidence to push through uncomfortable experiences and focus on the work I needed to do.

Nathan:

Nothing too major really stands out. But I will say, the first project that truly set the tone for my career was when I was tasked with the conversion of a paper-based registration process into one that was fully online. It was a daunting assignment at the beginning, but through that assignment I discovered how much I love optimizing processes and harnessing the power of technology to improve inefficient systems.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Ali:

In the early 2000s, toward the beginning of my career in education, I was invited to a Leadership Institute at my first school district. The Superintendent was a well-respected person of color known across the state, who had a huge number of professional and academic credentials. It was the first time that I had worked closely with a person of color in a position of leadership, which was pivotal for me. He also had the most diverse leadership body that I had ever seen: Four Assistant Superintendents of color and two women.

During the Institute, I will never forget that he personally took a minute to come up to me to say he saw potential in me, and that he hoped I would pursue my post-secondary work in education. I decided right then and there that I was going to pursue my credentials and Masters degree. Twenty-five years later, I still remember where we were standing and what I was wearing. I carry that around with me and try to remember that interaction in moments of doubt and when my imposter syndrome flares up.

There were also two professionals that really took a huge interest in growing me as an Educational Leader early in my career in education. I worked closely with my mentor, Terry Porter, while I grew my career in the same district. As a woman of color from Baton Rouge, LA she had a lot of wisdom and shared experience working her way up the career ladder. She really took me under her wing and taught me about fundraising, networking, and how to build a coalition of supporters for our work in the district. She gave me project assignments that were forward-facing and a lot of opportunity to meet with the leaders of districts and the County Office of Education. She was never stingy with sharing the spotlight and knew that building up young women of color was her responsibility as a mentor. With her mentoring and recommendation, I became the youngest central office district administrator at the time hired in the district. I was only one of a handful of administrators of color throughout the district.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Ali:

“Your Network is your Net Worth”

-Gale Porter

I saw Gale speak in 2011 at Stanford about her book Your Network is Your Net Worth, and that has stuck with me over the last 13 years. She told a story from her book about how she was on her first Virgin Air flight and struck up a long conversation with the gentleman sitting next to her in Coach. They talked all about her career and the experience of Virgin Air and why it was so innovative and transformational in the airline industry for their customer base. At the end of the flight, he revealed that he was Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Air. He offered her a job right then and there.

I love that story and took so much from it. I believe that relationships are the most consistent source of meaning in our lives and work. I think that we need to be part of a community to thrive, and that my community truly is my net worth.

Nathan:

“Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad.”

-Babylon 5

Both at work and in life, I have found this quote a helpful way to remember that if the big problem standing before you is too big to face, start with the smaller problems to lessen the whole.

“​​Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

-Einstein

Basically, the inherent idea is that rather than focusing on the things you can’t control or the things that seem insurmountable, focus on what you can do. Don’t get stalled because the world is always moving forward. If you stall, you get left behind.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Ali:

I love StrengthsFinder and believe my 5 top strengths are a perfect reflection of who I am. The top 3 are:

• Positivity — This is a great motivator for organizations and can get others excited about what they are going to do.
• Connectedness — I believe there are few coincidences and that all events have meaning. There is a link among all things.
• Context — I learn and think about the past to understand the present. (I was a history major in college!)

Nathan:

• Patience — Never assume that someone will understand you or what you are trying to tell them. As frustrating as it may be, just accept that you may need to go over things many times. This tends to be especially true when you are trying to explain new technologies to people who don’t have that background!
• Adaptability — Things change. Often in ways you cannot predict or control. The only way forward is to adjust and adapt, instead of getting stuck in the past or how things “always have been”.
• Curiosity — Always keep an open mind about what could be possible and give it a try, you might surprise yourself.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the tech tools that you are helping to create that can make a positive social impact on our educational systems. To begin, what problems are you aiming to solve?

Ali:

Sadly, it’s a fact of our world that some students come to school with less and need more. Fortunately, many private charities and generous individuals want to help via charitable gifts and donations.

And yet, with many state codes designed to regulate public funding processing, there’s an immense amount of red tape and hoops for these kind folks to jump through–or rather, for the understaffed, underfunded school administrations to try to jump through in order to access these donations.

Our goal is to make it simple for public schools to access charitable grants and donations, and be able to use their funding the way they want–to change outcomes for their students.

I worked in public school districts for 13 years, and was also a CBO partner in public schools for 17 years. I can say firsthand: it is extremely difficult to process funding that is not public funding in school districts. In California, the Education Code is designed for public funding processing, and does not allow a simple pathway for private donors to contribute directly to public schools. Without our services to solve this problem, Oakland students would lose out on millions of dollars a year in charitable giving.

Nathan:

Information and data can be overwhelming and inaccessible to untrained users, or require significant time and investment to make it useful to the final end users in the school. Many schools are also not equipped to raise money or manage the systems required to use these funds effectively. We put in the investment in the technology and then open up access to the schools that need it.

How do you think your technology can address this?

Ali:

We like to say that we play matchmaker between schools and donors. Created based on 20 years of experience, our technology is efficient and egalitarian. Through our tech solutions, principals and teachers can easily receive grants and donations via the Ed Fund through a simple, streamlined process that allows them to focus less of their time on paperwork and more on teaching, learning, and impact.

Nathan:

Our tools are about enabling school staff to have the ability to access funding and services that allow them to provide the best programs possible for their students. We want to make sure that the support systems they are accessing are clear and accessible and are not serving as roadblocks to their programs.

We create technology that is giving clients more and more access to their live data and the ability to leverage that information. It is also accessible to all public schools in the district regardless of physical location or ability to fundraise.

Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about education?

Ali:

See above. Also, I went to college at UC Berkeley. That was my first time experiencing public education. I loved everything about getting a first-class college education at a public university. I was prepared for the coursework through my parochial education– but, I realized quickly that a lot of my peers were not as prepared. As a history major, the focus of my final thesis was on the creation of Ethnic Studies Departments in college campuses in the 1960s. It was such a rich experience to dive into the experiences of students that were hungry to learn more about their culture and how that could impact our educational system moving forward.

How do you think your technology might change the world?

Ali:

Currently, our work is focused on improving educational resources in Oakland. But the possibilities for similar systems to evolve based on our tools in other districts and states are limitless.

Keeping the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?

Ali:

I have learned that our strategic vision is only as good as our ability to articulate it. We used to be the best kept secret in Oakland, and that was a failure of our lack of communications.

We also have a duty to be good stewards of charitable gifts. There must be absolute trust from our donors and our clients in our accounting and finances–and if we do not offer systems that are easy and meet the needs of educators, they will be rendered useless.

Nathan:

It is easy to collect data for the sake of collecting data without having a plan for how to use and leverage it. So when designing a program, it is important to decide on what you are going to do with the data. Are you running a process, answering a question, etc. If you are collecting data with no purpose, then you are wasting resources that can be directed elsewhere.

How do you envision the landscape of education evolving over the next decade, and how does your technology fit into that future?

Ali:

We fully expect all textbooks to move to digital and eliminate the need for large textbooks. This is going to make it absolutely necessary for all students to be fully connected to the Internet and have access to a computing device for learning. Our kids in Oakland have a headstart on this because of our #OaklandUndivided program. It will be absolutely vital that broadband be available in low income communities within the next decade to accommodate learning.

Nathan:

As with all things, the ease of technology-based connectedness will change how education is delivered. It will also give students access to resources that were previously unavailable.

Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, can you please share “Five things you need to know to successfully create technology that can make a positive social impact”? (Please share a story or an example, for each.)

1 . IT NEEDS TO BE ACCESSIBLE. You are often giving your tech to a wide variety of people with different backgrounds and experiences. Ideally, you build the systems and tech to work in a natural fashion that will lead people to what they need.

2 . IT NEEDS TO SOLVE A TANGIBLE, STRAIGHTFORWARD PROBLEM. Especially when you are first starting out, don’t try to do too many things at once. Focus on one thing you can fix, then the next, then the next.

3 . GET BUY-IN. Creating our technology and successfully implementing it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our organization, partners and donors–as well as the schools we work with who were eager to make use of this solution.

4 . MEASURE RESULTS. Don’t just measure what you’re doing, but be sure to also measure the impact it’s having. This will help you make sure you’re being effective, and will also help you garner continued support.

5 . ASK FOR FEEDBACK–AND BE WILLING TO LISTEN TO IT. As we’ve mentioned above, technology as only as effective as the people using it. Make sure your target audience has a chance to tell you what’s working and what could be improved.

In the realm of EdTech, there’s often data collection involved. How do you ensure the ethical handling of user data, especially when it concerns students?

Nathan:

We don’t collect much student data. We restrict the information we collect to a minimum needed to deliver a program. We also ensure that this information is not used to populate email or mailing lists. All our systems with personal information are protected by passwords and multifactor authentication. In addition, staff computers are on device management software.

If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?

Ali:

“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit”

- Nelson Henderson

There are so many incredible gifts that past generations and current leaders have given to us. We are being touched by contributions of those long gone. And we can do so much lasting work that will have an impact on generations to come with very simple decisions. It’s not hard to leave a legacy of positive change.

Nathan:

“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”

-Rabbi Hillel

You can’t be sitting back ignoring what’s happening around you. If you know the world is broken in some way, it’s your imperative to take action in whatever way you can. I may not know how to fix the world, but I build technology for the people that are working to fix the world. If you follow that path, it may take you in directions you don’t expect.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

Ali:

I’d love to meet Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama. I think they both offer so much perspective on what it means to be both a high-powered woman in the public eye and also a mother. I am so curious how they stay/ed centered and also what they did to keep centered. What would they do differently? What perspective has time given them? Any advice?

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Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success in your important work.