How to Make a Difference Even After Leaving the Classroom

This week Ali and JoDee sit down with Lillian Barkes, the co-founder and CEO of Listen To Our Future and a former educator of three years. Together, they’ll discuss how she has grown her nonprofit, staying connected to the students and teachers they serve, and the different approach they take to training their staff.

Connect with Lillian:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lillian-barkes-2b5a49126/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lillybarkes/

Connect with Listen To Our Future:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listentoourfuture/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Listentoourfutureindy

Connect with Ali and JoDee:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teachershift
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teachershift
Teacher Shift LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/teacher-shift
Ali’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisimon/
JoDee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodeescissors/

Website
https://www.teachershiftpodcast.com/

Episode Transcriptions
https://www.teachershiftpodcast.com/blog

Transcript

Ali  0:05  
Teachers are natural innovators, entertainers and problem solvers. They dream of growing old into the profession, teaching their kids kids. But sometimes career goals shift or change, and that makes opportunities outside of the classroom seem intangible questioning who am I, if I'm not a teacher, I'm your host, Alexandra Simon.

JoDee  0:31  
And I'm your co host, JoDee Scissors.

Ali  0:34  
This is The Great Teacher Resignation.

Today, our guest is Lillian Barkes. Lillian is the co founder and CEO of Listen to Our Future and a former educator of three years. Her company provides high quality tutoring to students living in under resourced communities all across Indianapolis. Welcome to the show today, Lillian.

Lillian  1:03  
Thank you.

Ali  1:04  
We're excited to have you on today. And we want to learn more about what made you want to leave the classroom to start your education nonprofit.

Lillian  1:12  
I started teaching during COVID. And my whole experience was just filled with COVID. And the district that I worked in, they did not have electronic devices for all of our students. We were not one to one. And I saw just so many things happen that year that I did not expect. That year, I lost my mother. And I poured myself really into the work that I did, because we were all quarantining. And so I saw there was a huge issue, like my kids didn't have Wifi. They didn't have computers. So I went on Facebook marketplace, and I was like, going around asking people, Hey, can anyone donate a tablet or a computer or an iPad. And I was able to get all of my students devices, so that they can learn during the pandemic. We wanted to kind of keeping involved in their lives. So I got a grant through Donors Choose, and it was like $1,000. And I was able to buy different kits for my students. And I went to all their houses, and I dropped it off. I had a food kit for them. I had, you know, just some curriculum. Fun things that they can do at home. That way they like weren't losing out on an entire year of learning. And the school that I worked at, we have a very high population of students that are labeled as economically disadvantaged. I think it was in the 87%. We had a pretty large population of ESL learners as well. So we wanted to make sure that we were meeting their needs, not just educationally but meeting the needs of the whole child. So that was my experience during the pandemic. And because of that, I was like, we need to do more. My students were not getting the educational help that they needed. So the year after we started, Listen to Our Future. That was in the summer of 2020. We started that. And we started a tutoring program, because we wanted to make sure that we know that kids, they were going places. They were going to after school programs. They were going to summer camps. They were still there. And we wanted to make sure that we were servicing them and their needs because the schools did not stop going. They kept with the curriculum. They kept with the standardized testing. That was the most heartbreaking thing I've ever experienced in my life. And so all of those experiences made me want to do more. And so that's where we started the tutoring program.

Ali  3:38  
Really great story. And I'm so sorry to hear what a difficult year you must have had, especially with losing your mom. JoDee and I have both lost our moms and can definitely relate to just how immense that difficulty must have been for you. And to think that you were helping your students in all of these ways during that time is really incredible. I wanted to ask you, so since you started in the summer of 2020, how have you grown the nonprofit?

Lillian  4:07  
Oh, goodness. So I actually just quit teaching last spring. I was running the nonprofit while teaching. My district, they have what's called innovation schools, and then you have charter schools, and then you have the public school system. And the way that they operate is very interesting. My school they wanted to go innovation. And so for a teacher that means you... they don't allow you to be a part of a union. There's just a lot of rights that you lose with that. And I kind of solid creeping its way into my school. And so I was like, I gotta get out of here. So I had to think of a way to operate still within the education system because I didn't know what I was going to do. I was only in for three years and I didn't feel like I had enough time to develop other skills. So I was like, Okay, I'm great at teaching. I know what I'm doing. So let's do this instead. So I was operating both systems at the same time, which was incredibly hard because I was working 16 hour days sometimes. I had my class and then you know, planning for that. And then I turned around and I plan for tutoring, got a staff. So last spring, we had nine staff members. And now here we are this spring, and we have 36 staff members. We recruit from our local colleges and universities. We went from having some after school program partners, you know, we started off with five. And now we are actually in the biggest school district in Indiana. We partner with our Indianapolis public schools to provide in school tutoring. We have 11 program partners, for after school. We're partnered with our public library. You know, we're just trying to be in every space that we can to make an impact in our students lives. I think a big part of the pandemic was the loss of social interaction. And our students are feeling that. I mean, here in Indianapolis, the crime rate has gone up significantly. We've seen a lot of our students be put in very traumatic situations. And a lot of that is because we were isolated for so long. We didn't have those interactions. And we're experiencing the fallout of that. So we want to make sure that we're not only there for our students, academically, but also there for them socially. I'm not sure if you are familiar with ACEs, The Adverse Childhood Experiences. It's a test that you can take, and it basically says, you know, the higher your ACEs score, the more likely you are to fall into different statistical categories that might not work in your favor. You know, experiencing death, experiencing alcoholism in the family, experiencing forms of abuse, experiencing homelessness. And so we, we know that our students go through very traumatic things like that's, that's just a fact. I think people do in general. But when you specifically work with under resourced populations that don't have the access to social mobility, you know, wealth...

Ali  7:10  
 Health care. 

Lillian  7:10  
Health care, that is a huge one. That is a huge one, if you weren't seen by a doctor during the pandemic, as a child, that's like two years, things just change. And we know that one of the biggest ways to intervene, and that trajectory that someone could potentially go down is having an adult in your life that is outside of your family that you can look up to. And we are definitely trying to serve for our students in that capacity because we just know that people need it. Our students need it, adults need it, everyone needs it.

JoDee  7:44  
You're really in tune with the student population, and really what they need. And I applaud you. Because as a person that had just emerged into teaching to be able to evaluate the situation, and what the system, the flaws in the system and be able to make a plan to help solve that. That's huge. And congrats to you for being able to recogniz  that and have those skills to be able to do something about it. A lot of the CEOs that we have interviewed, the teacher CEOs, they oftentimes start concurrently while they're teaching. It's never just like, I'm stopping, and I'm starting this. They kind of... they begin while they're in the classroom until it comes to a point where they're like, now I'm ready to just go full on with this. And it shows that once you did that you saw immense growth, which is amazing. So like, as you were teaching, you know, I know a lot of teachers have these passions and dreams to start a nonprofit, to cater to whatever gap they may see in education or society, or healthcare, or whatever it might be. What are some of the steps that you took to get into the nonprofit space and establish a nonprofit?

Lillian  8:59  
I had a lot of help at the beginning. I did not file our paperwork. You know, my partner and I, we completely did it on our own. He has experience with other businesses. So I trusted him to say like, Hey, let's do this. And it's so interesting, because the year before we started the nonprofit, we had just recently met. And he had asked me, I was graduating college, and he looked at me, he asked me like, so what do you want to do after college? And I looked at him and I said, What do you mean? I want to be a teacher, like, that's what I got my degree in. That's what I spent the last four years of my life doing. But like, as soon as I told him that I knew that something just wasn't right. It wasn't the end for me. I always knew that teaching was not going to be the end for me. And so I told him like, I don't know, I could like see myself running a nonprofit one day. And at that point, it was just like blowing smoke. I mean, I had no idea what I was talking about. But then a whole year later, we started it. We did it because of the flaws that we saw. And so I have a lot of help with that in the very beginning. A lot of it that first year was really just building, like, okay, what are we going to do? Because we actually didn't start off with the dream of doing tutoring. We actually started off as doing project based learning, with social justice at the center of that. Looking and analyzing the community on issues that the kids see. And coming up with solutions that they think are best, and putting their voice in the center of that, and facilitating whatever changes they want to make. So that's how we started. But that's certainly we just saw what was happening in our education system, because we were still in the classroom. And we were just like, we need to make sure that our students have a very strong foundation to their education, if we want them to make that social change.

JoDee  10:47  
Because you both were kind of starting from the ground up, did you just start with simple Google searches on how to start a nonprofit? And was that your primary guide? Just research in itself?

Lillian  11:02  
Yes, lots of research. We had a few mentors along the way. And Indianapolis is a very competitive place for nonprofits. Everyone is competing for money. I feel like that's probably how it is just across the board. So you, you see a lot of gatekeeping. I'm also very young. And when I started this, a lot of people did not take me very seriously. I mean, I'm walking into conversations with very big, older people that have been doing everything in their life for years, for decades. And here I am. I'm 26. Well, when I started this, I was 23. And so it was just like, okay, like she's cute. But now, you know, because we just kept going. We just kept chugging along, chugging along, chugging along. I used a lot of resources that I had from my previous experiences to get some contracts, different things like that. And then those led to bigger contracts and bigger contracts. And while I am an educator, and I do know what I'm talking about. Then that led to Okay, she is credible. She does know what she's doing. I was very thankful I actually am partnered with the district that I had worked in. So I knew people in the district that I could say, like, Hey, this is something that I think that we need, because it worked really well in my classroom, when I was teaching. Let's implement this and other spaces too. Because we know that not all schools have equal access to resources. And so we wanted to step in as that resource to fill their gaps and to help them. 

JoDee  12:39  
It sounds like you built a lot of people's trust, which is what you did with your students and your family. So that sounds to me like a teacher brain skill where, if you want to help, if you need something, you have to build the trust first. And we know that an education rapport is one of the... it's at the top of the hierarchy when it comes to working with students. So you definitely translated that skill over to this nonprofit area for the fact that you are able to get people's trust to fund your initiative, right? 

Lillian  13:08  
Absolutely.

Ali  13:10  
Yeah. And I think with tutoring, it's such a high need right now. But it really always has been. Because to bridge those gaps and those disparities, sometimes, classroom time is not enough. You know, we just cannot take as deep of a dive with individual students, when teachers have 20 to 30 students in a class or sometimes more than that, which is extremely challenging. So I really love that you took your experience in the classroom, translated it so quickly into this work that you're doing now. And almost every teacher that we've interviewed has talked about feeling guilty about leaving the students and the families. I'm  wondering with your current role, how do you still feel connected to the students and teachers? And do you feel connected to them?

Lillian  13:59  
Yes. My last year, I think that was the best class that I ever had. Like, I never had to call the office and I had to, like really sit with myself and be like, well, maybe I could do this another year. Maybe I can live with them. Maybe I can, you know... there were just so many questions that I or like scenarios that I saw that told me to stay in the classroom. But then I just knew that I had to pursue this. There's so much more out there. And I think that teachers don't credit themselves enough for the skills that we do have, and to create other things for ourselves that make us happier. And that was a really big concern for me was like, losing those relationships because I do really care about my students very deeply. And I was telling someone the other day, I was like if I don't know every single child in our programs then that's going to be a problem. It is my last last year we serve 270 students, and I knew every single one of them. This coming year, we're expected to double those numbers, and I still plan on knowing every single one of them. With the schools that we're in, we get to have those conversations with teachers. And luckily, I was also a teacher in that same district. So I can relate to them in different ways. Whereas you know, someone coming from a, another nonprofit, you know, to do this or that, you know, they might come in, and they don't necessarily have those experiences. And so we get to talk. We get to have really great conversation. I do miss communicating with parents. That was one of my favorite things to do. Because then you get to learn a lot about the child and their home life as well. So that is something that I miss. But I think overall, I do try my best to maintain those relationships with our students.

Ali  15:44  
That's wonderful that you have made that a priority to know all of the students that are being served by your organization. Taking it kind of one step further and thinking about, you're trying to know them on this level that you're, you're overseeing the program, you're hiring the the tutors, and so you're gonna have that bird's eye view of what's happening. I'm wondering if you can tell me a little bit, I'm just curious, what your training is like for these college aged tutors? Because I've found that sometimes when you're hiring tutors, they don't receive adequate training. They can't really move the needle for student progress and student growth. So could you tell us a little bit about that?

Lillian  16:26  
Yes. I am trying to change the game and the way that we interact with college aged students. Because they have needs too. And I think that is something that we quickly realized. I mean, I could take my experience from college. And think about all the things that I wish I would have known before I went into the classroom. Things that I wish someone would have taught me so that way I could be more successful. My last year teaching, I actually had a student teacher from the same school that I went to. And I was able to get her in right away. And she took over my classroom by the second week, and she was planning for herself by this third week. That was something that I wish someone would have given me when I was in college. So I think taking those experiences, and figuring out okay, how can we craft, basically another program for our college age students. And so we do three days of training with them. We go over all of our curriculum. We follow the gradual release model, just like we would with our students, to make sure that the tutors are actively practicing with the curriculum with each other. You know, we have facilitation cards, so they're getting up, moving around, getting to know each other. Because they're coming from, I think we have three different colleges, right now. Students from three different colleges. And we also offer professional development every month for our staff. And it can be about anything. Anything that they want. And I I think that's where we differ in a lot of ways people try to present PD. It's just like, here's what I think is best for you. Here's your PD. Whereas we're asking them, What do you want to learn more about? They want to know about interviewing and building their resumes. And I've looked at their resumes. And some of them are really, really, really bad. Like, they might not put their phone number or their email on them. So it's just, we need to build skills. We talked about child development. We talk about the school to prison pipeline. We are very much a social justice oriented organization. We care about, you know, our students that don't have the same opportunities as their white affluent counterparts. And so we want to make sure that because this is the population that we are intentionally serving, that our staff understands why we're doing this. A lot of them go to colleges where they do talk about those things. So we're really helping bridge that line of communication with the local community. I mean, they're coming from towns all over the place. And then here, they are now in the city, where they probably don't have very much experience. And they can make a lot of assumptions depending on their dispositions. So we try to do our best to make sure that they are well rounded, educated individuals, with our professional development. We also have staff outings. We do one on one check ins with them. So during our check ins, we do it monthly. We'll ask them three things. We'll ask them how's tutoring going? We'll ask them how school is going? Because school is tough. We know. And then how's your personal life? Do you have a community that you can go to? Are you practicing self care? What do you do, like when you're super stressed out? What resources can you tap into to help you along the way? And if they have a hard time coming up with those things, then we help them build essentially a way for them to achieve different goals, to manage their time a little bit better. You know, we have different types of incentives for them. And it's all about accountability. Right? Like a lot of times someone told me that sometimes accountability feels like violation, which I I think can be very true. But if you build that relationship with someone, it starts to feel less like violation, and more like support. And that is the word that we get the most from our staff is like we feel supported here. And that is amazing. Like, we want to build that culture. And so my job is really the culture keeper and like, what can I do to maintain this type of culture for my staff, because they feel welcomed, they feel invited. Because they feel good, they can now pour into our students in that same way.

Ali  20:32  
I had a feeling you would have such a great response to that question. I just knew. I don't know, it was like this innate feeling. I was like, okay, she's, she has a plan for this. And it sounds to me like you actually have two organizations in one. It's like you're building up these young adults who are serving the students, and you're serving the students. That is an excellent model. There's an organization in my own community that does something very similar with their young adults, their high schoolers and college age students, but for athletics. It's called 18th Ward. And when I learned about that aspect of their program, I was like, yes, because building that positive culture with your tutors, will pay off indefinitely. Because they're going to tell other people that they go to college with and other friends about your organization and how it impacted them. And you're going to forever hopefully have this great pool of applicants, of young people that you can help build up while they're building up the kiddos, and they're supporting them.

JoDee  21:31  
I want to echo what Ali saying, too, is that you, you are changing the game, which is something we would like to see in public school systems. We know that the great resignation is a result of a lot of things, but a lot of it is culture and just the demands on teachers. So you're not only helping these students that come from underserved communities who saw devastation to a lot of their learning that happened during COVID. But you're developing young adults, and you're cultivating a healthy culture, with the people that are working with these young kids. And from a social impact standpoint, you are making an impact. We know that the COVID slide is real. And this is a really proactive intervention, to not only the the social inequities that we saw pre COVID, but piling COVID on top of that, and you intervening just right after it is amazing. And I think that these are the type of social impact things that we need to see more of to overcome these barriers.

Lillian  22:40  
Absolutely, it's all action based response. That's what I'm all about. I don't like sitting back and talking about it. I want action. I want to make sure that our staff are the... look like the most qualified individuals when they go to apply for jobs. So then that way, they get to decide where they get to work. And they get to decide what kind of culture they get to work in. And I think that that, especially post COVID is really, really important for our young teachers to understand. Because they are getting in and then leaving right after. I did it. A lot of my friends are doing it. And so we're just really in a hard space. And we need to do something about it.

Ali  23:19  
Well, I think we just started a conversation that could go so much deeper and it was amazing hearing about your story, about the work that your nonprofit, Listen to Our Future, is doing. And we want to just share with our listeners how they can get in touch with you. So you can find them on Instagram at Listen to Our Future. On Facebook at Listen to Our Future Indy. And then you can contact Lillian on Instagram at Lily Barkes, and LinkedIn at Lilllian Barkes, and check our show notes.

If you liked The Great Teacher Resignation, give us a five star rating and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music and Audible. Today's episode was written and recorded by me Alexandra Simon, and my co host JoDee Scissors. Executive produced by Teacher Brain. Produced and edited by Emily Porter. Original Music: Emoji by Tubebackr. Special thanks to our sponsor Paper Planes.