Careers at Reading and Math

MISSION

Reading and Math Inc (“Reading and Math”) is a state-wide organisation that seeks to address critical gaps in educational achievement and economic opportunity and increase reading and math literacy among students in the US.

FOUNDING STORY

Reading and Math was launched in 2014 with a view to replicating evidence-based programs like those operated under AmeriCorps, a voluntary civil society program supported by the US federal government created in 1993.

Reading and Math operates four programs: Minnesota Reading Corps, Minnesota Math Corps, Minnesota Opportunity Corps, and Minnesota Recovery Corps.

The company’s two principal programs – Minnesota Reading Corps and Minnesota Math Corps – were respectively launched in 2003 and 2007.

Since its establishment, Minnesota Reading Corps has helped more than 200,000 children improve their reading skills, while, since 2007, Minnesota Math Corps has helped students develop maths literacy across 100 sites state-wide. 

Reading and Math is headquartered in Minneapolis, and operates regional offices in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Miami, Florida; Albany, Georgia; and throughout Minnesota.

Business model of Reading and Math

Customer Segments

Reading and Math operates several non-profit programs that are intended to help members of the community in the US.

The company’s programs seek to aid the following demographics:

  • Children and Students, comprising school children from grades K through to 12, as well as older students, wishing to improve their reading and maths literacy;
  • Low Income Workers, comprising workers in the US who earn sub-living wages, to whom the company seeks to provide training and improvement opportunities with a. view to increasing their income;
  • Sufferers of Opioid Addiction, comprising individuals suffering from opioid addiction to whom the company wishes to provide rehabilitation services.

Reading and Math serves customers in the US, primarily in its home state of Minnesota, as well as in Wisconsin, Florida, and Georgia.

The company does not provide services nationwide or internationally.

Value Propositions

Reading and Math provides value to its customers in the following ways:

  • Reputation and Standing – Reading and Math is an established organisation with a longstanding reputation for providing services reliably and effectively, and having secured a degree of trust within its target communities;
  • Government Support – Reading and Math receives support and funding from federal and state government bodies, largely in the form of grants, ensuring that its operations are relatively stable and reliable;
  • Varied Programs – Reading and Math operates four programs that seek to support members of the regional population that most require help, including children, sufferers of drug additions, and low income workers;
  • Regional Reach – Reading and Math has established a large presence in its home state of Minnesota, as well as locations in Georgia, Florida, and Wisconsin, ensuring that as broad a base as possible has access to its programs and services; and
  • Volunteer Support – Reading and Math employs a large volunteer workforce who are committed to helping those in need within their communities, and receives a portion of its funding through private donations across its programs.

Channels

Reading and Math provides its services directly to its audience through an extensive workforce, comprising paid and volunteer employees.

The company’s services are delivered across four core programs: Minnesota Reading Corps, Minnesota Math Corps, Minnesota Opportunity Corps, and Minnesota Recovery Corps.

The company’s staff work out of the company’s seven offices in Minnesota, as well as out of two locations in Florida, and single office locations in Georgia, and Wisconsin.

Customer Relationships

Through its programs, Reading and Math seeks to establish lasting relationships with those it serves, providing in-person support and assistance via its extensive workforce of paid and volunteer workers.

These employees provide personal care to children, low-paid workers, and opioid addicts with a view to changing their lives for the better.

Reading and Math operates a website at www.servetogrow.org, through which it provides information on its programs and services.

Each of its four programs operates its own website – www.minenesotareadingcorps.org, www.opportunitycorps.org, www.minnesotarecoverycorps.org, and www.minnesotamathcorps.com – through which the company provides more specific detail on its services and schemes.

The company’s websites also allow volunteers to register to help and to make donations to the organisation.

Reading and Math, and its four programs, provides contact details on its website, allowing customers and volunteers to contact the company’s staff online or over the phone in order to receive assistance, make queries, or request more information.

Key Activities

Reading and Math is a US non-profit that seeks to replicate evidence-based AmeriCorps programs.

The company oversees the activities of four programs: Reading Corps, which seeks to help students improve upon their reading skills; Minnesota Math Corps, which seeks to help students increase their numerical literacy; Minnesota Opportunity Corps, which seeks to help low-income workers acquire skills that will help them access greater earning opportunities; and Recovery Corps, which seeks to help opioid users fight against their addiction.

Through these programs the company aims to help struggling students transform into confident learners and help adults achieve economic stability.

Reading and Math administers the expansion and replication of its programs across Wisconsin, Georgia and Florida, as well as across its home state of Minnesota.

Key Partners

Reading and Math Works closely with a range of partner organisations and institutions that support its development and delivery of programs across the US.

These partners can be organised broadly into the following categories:

  • Supplier and Vendor Partners, comprising suppliers of equipment, materials, and technologies that the company is able to put to use in support of its core programs, as well as third-party providers of other services that support the company’s corporate and organisational activities;
  • Government Partners, comprising various government bodies and agencies, through which the company secures funding for the replication and advancement of its programs regionally and nationally;
  • Non-Profit and Institutional Partners, comprising a range of educational institutions, charitable organisations, and other no-profits with which the company collaborates on the development and implementation of its programs; and
  • Strategic Partners, comprising other organisations and entities with which the company collaborates on projects in support of its core operations.

Reading and Math includes a number of institutions among its partners, including American Indian OIC, Latino Economic Development Centre, Ramsey County Minnesota, Pillsbury United Communities, East Side Neighbourhood Services, and Project for Pride in Living.

Key Resources

Reading and Math’s reputation and business model is dependent on its ability to effectively administer and advance its programs in the US.

As such, the company’s key resources are its fund and funding partners, its supplies and suppliers, its volunteer workforce, its partnerships, its physical network of offices and facilities, and its IT and communications infrastructure.

Reading and Math notably operates offices across Minnesota, Georgia, Florida, and Wisconsin. Its relationships with various government bodies are essential in its procurement of funding.

Cost Structure

Reading and Math incurs costs in relation to the development, implementation, and advancement of its programs.

This includes the procurement of supplies and equipment, the procurement of external services, the operation of its offices and facilities – including occupancy and utility costs, the management of its partnerships, the maintenance of its IT and communications infrastructure, and the payment of salaries and benefits to its paid personnel.

Revenue Streams

Reading and Math is a non-profit organisation.

It acquires funding for its services and programs through volunteer donations and through the procurement of state and federal grant money.

The company does not make its financial figures available online.

Our team

Lindsay Dolce,
Chief Advancement Officer

info: Lindsay Dolce (“Dolce”) has served as Chief Advancement Officer at Reading and Math since joining the company in September 2015. She is responsible for leading the company’s efforts in advancing the replication and expansion efforts for the Minnesota Reading Corps model and the Minnesota Math Corps model in new communities across the US. Dolce began her career in 1998 as a staff assistant for J. Robert Kerrey in the US Senate. In 2011, she joined the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office as a rule 13 associate. She went on to serve as a judicial law clerk for the Honourable Jeffrey L. Bushur in the Circuit Court of Jackson County from 2002 to 2003, following which she was an associate at the law office of Susan Saper Galamba from 2005 to 2006. Dolce joined Early Learning Ventures in 2007 as a senior program manager for policy and business development, and prior to joining Reading and Math, she served for more than three years as Executive Director at Serve Colorado.

Valerie McCullough,
Chief Operating Officer

info: Valerie McCullough (“McCullough”) has served as Chief Operating Officer at Reading and Math since joining the company in October 2017. She is responsible for leading much of the company’s day-to-day activities. McCullough has held a number of senior roles at government programs and non-profit organisations. From 2000 to 2004 she was an Executive Director at Minnesota Dollars for Scholars, following which she served as Director of Finance at the University of Phoenix and Apollo Group. She went on to serve for more than a year as an Executive Director of Insight School of Minnesota and Apollo Group. Prior to joining Reading and Math, McCullough served consecutively as Director of Student Affairs and Campus Operations and later Director of Strategic Sourcing and Procurement at Rasmussen College.

Paul Schulz,
Chief Program Officer

info: Paul Schulz (“Schulz”) joined Reading and Math in January 2018 as its Chief Program Officer. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the company’s various programs in the US. Schulz has previously held a number of management positions. From 2005 to 2007, he served as and employment facilitator, job developer, and programs supervisor at Pillsbury United Communities. In 2007, he joined EMERGE Community Development, where he served in several roles over the course of more than eight years, including spells as Director of Employment and Training, Senior Director of Operations, and Vice President of Business Development, Enterprise Operations, and Strategic Initiatives. Prior to joining Reading and Math, he worked as a consultant before briefly serving as National Program Officer for Family Income and Wealth Building at Local Initiatives Support Corporation.