Driven 2 Educate

“When I was 32 I knew I’d spend the rest of my career in education.” When Tom Vander Ark was asked by his boss to pick a children’s charity and take it to the next level, his life changed forever. He was shocked to see the dire situation in Denver schools, which made him decide to do something about it. He got involved in the Denver chamber of commerce, a children’s campaign, joined a leadership group called leadership Denver and spent a year with a diverse group of leaders. Many years later, he received an offer to become a public school superintendent in Washington State that was ready to be innovative and loosen rigid structures. He worked hard at connecting with parents and the community and his district went from the highest cost administrative district in the state to lowest cost in about 2 years.  He went on to serve as the first Executive Director of Education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Together, they started hundreds of schools and worked with scho