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In March, Full Circle Fund’s Education Circle partnered with UC Berkeley’s PACE (Policy Analysis for California Education) on two groundbreaking conferences that added momentum to a statewide dialogue about a very controversial subject: alternative teacher compensation. The Alt Comp Dialogue project, spearheaded by emerging leader Stephen Dodson, aims to increase the dialogue about compensation systems for teachers to ensure that the money spent on schools supports excellent teaching for all of our students.

“Stephen is a young business leader who came to Full Circle Fund in 2005 with a desire to learn and a passion to improve the lives of others, especially in the area of education.” said CEO Amy Lesnick, “It is truly remarkable how, in his time with us, Stephen has developed into a seasoned advocate in education policy.”

When asked what motivates him, Stephen (who is both a Member and Board Member at Full Circle Fund) reflected, “I see education as one of the most important ways to improve the human experience. I was inspired to get involved with the Education Circle and education policy because of my personal experience going through the San Francisco public school system. It was there that I got a firsthand look at how underfunded and generally difficult the school system was. I had a relatively good experience at one of the best schools in the district, a rigorous high school with good teachers. But the resources there were still poor and it was even worse at other schools in the Bay Area. San Francisco schools were generally dilapidated; the buildings were in poor condition, and there weren’t even enough books for each person. I remember we’d spend first half of the class reading and then switching with another student because we couldn’t take them home. Now, it seems absurd!”

Stephen continued, “I didn’t fully realize until I got to college and heard about the resources that my peers from other public school and private schools had, how much mine had lacked. Experiencing a school district that (at that time) was grossly underfunded and generally mismanaged inspired me to want to make a positive different in education. With such a slow bureaucracy, it’s harder to get resources into the classrooms and to the students and teachers that desperately that need them, especially in large urban areas.”

Citing Full Circle Fund as a driving force in helping him grow as a leader, Stephen reflected, “At Full Circle Fund, I’ve had the chance to learn from other leaders. As the President of Parnassus Investments, I was coming from a small company, I worked with a small group of people who had styles I was familiar with, but at Full Circle Fund I’ve worked with people from law firms, venture capitalists, folks from startups, nonprofits, and financial services companies. It put me in the room with folks like Jeff Camp [Education Circle Chair], who was a very successful executive at Microsoft.” In addition, Stephen has developed as a team leader and project manager, “I’ve learned organizational skills, public speaking skills, presentation skills, how to take an intangible task and break it down to discrete steps. I’ve learned to partner successfully with other motivated people with very different styles.”

With all Stephen has gained from Full Circle Fund, the people stand out. “One of the most rewarding parts of Full Circle Fund for me has been the caliber of the people. To be with highly competent, highly motivated people working on something that makes a difference is extremely rewarding.”

The challenges Stephen sees ahead for the Education Circle and with Alt Comp are that the team’s goals are getting more ambitious. “Earlier in this project, the goals were smaller, the deliverables easier to meet,” he observed, “Now, after the successes we’ve had, our goals are larger and will be harder to meet.” Stephen and the Alt Comp team have added much to Full Circle Fund. We look forward to seeing how Stephen and the team tackle the challenges ahead.

Posted in Stephen Dodson, Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), Alt Comp Dialogue, Alternative Funding, jeff camp, education