Think Together
changing the odds for kids
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Educational Programs
Think Together offers programs and services in four focus areas to meet the needs of school partners and students:
Early Learning | promotes school readiness for children from birth to five years of age
Afterschool | enhances and reinforces learning for students K-12, hosted on school campuses or community sites, including English, Math, STEM, youth development, arts and enrichment
Student Support Services | meets the needs of districts, schools and individual students with tailored programs including summer learning, STEM, tutoring, physical education, and arts
School Improvement | provides technical assistance to district and school leaders to build equity-based systems and practices to help all students succeed regardless of circumstance
Think Together's programs are aligned with research-based practices to support learning in and out of school so kids can succeed in their journey to college and career readiness.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
THINK Together is a non-profit organization collaborating with communities, parents, and education stakeholders to transform the system, creating educational excellence and equity for kids. We Teach, Help, Inspire and Nurture Kids to reach their full potential.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
THINK Together pursues its mission through three priority program areas: Expanded Learning, Early Learning and Core Learning. ¬We provide Expanded Learning through after-school and summer programs at sites across California and leverage our shared learning platform to provide academic and enrichment elements that are fully integrated with school day instruction, digital learning, STEM and Arts. We also provide a healthy living curriculum that includes physical and mental fitness, character development, and nutrition education.
In partnership with the Children and Families Commission of Orange County, THINK Together provides Early Learning through our Early Literacy and Math Programs at health clinics and schools in Orange County. We provide evidence-based tools to ensure young children have early literacy, vocabulary, and math skills to prepare them for kindergarten. These programs and tools include activities to encourage curiosity and critical thinking.
Our Core Learning model is based on a partnership with the Principal's Exchange, a boutique consulting firm, which uses their “Response to Systems Intervention" method, a research-validated school and district strengthening model. Based on a thorough systems assessment, they provide customized solutions for core instruction during the school day through professional development and restructuring of systems to provide resources to kids who need it the most, thereby fulfilling our vision of educational excellence and equity for all kids.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
THINK Together is building a unique shared learning platform across California, including collaborative data sharing partnerships – providing a lens into what's working in schools, and helping innovation travel well within the public school system framework. We have the expertise to derive actionable insights from data and partner with school districts to develop customized solutions around large scale implementation of leading practices.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Each day after school and during the summer, students receive academic enrichment in English, Arts, character development, career pathways, nutrition and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and participate in physical activity and homework help. Students who attended THINK Together for at least 150 days per year over three years experienced a statistically significant higher growth rate on California Standards Test (CSTs) scores in English Language Arts (ELA) and Math when compared to non-THINK students - 8.9 points higher in ELA and 15.6 points higher in Math.
THINK Together partners with Dr. Deborah Vandell, the Chair of the Education Department at the University of California, Irvine to measure the effects of its programs. In a three-year study, Dr. Vandell found that students who attended THINK after-school programming had twice the gains in Math on their California Standard Test (CST) scores compared to students not in the program; students in THINK Saturday programs had more than 2.5 times the growth of students not in the program; and those who attended both THINK small group tutoring and THINK after-school or Saturday programming had nearly four times the growth of students not in program.
At our Shalimar Center, nearly 400 students have graduated from high school and attended college where the high school graduation rate is barely 20%. For the last six years, 100% of the students have graduated and gone to college. Many students have gone on to successful careers, including:
• America Arias, an Emmy Award-winning producer at an NBC affiliate in Sacramento;
• Paolo Leon, an architect at McLarand, Vasquez and Emsiek and Member, THINK Together Board of Directors;
• Javier Diaz, M.A., a school-community liaison at Laguna Beach Unified School District;
• Ever Arias, who completed a B.S. in Chemistry at UC Riverside and has been accepted into medical school;
• Rafael Sanchez, completed a B.S. in Engineering at UC Riverside and is a Manufacturing Engineering Planner at RBH Aerospace; and
• Senior Jose Avonce, who will be attending Harvard University.
Principals' Exchange has helped Lynwood Unified meet 70 targets for their Adequate Yearly Progress goals in 2013 compared to only 16 in 2011; there are 136 total possible targets. This resulted in Lynwood being named the most improved unified school district in California with API growth of +12 points in 2013. In addition, the percent of students meeting UC and/or CSU entrance requirements increased from 20% in 2010 to 38% in 2013.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Think Together
Board of directorsas of 12/23/2021
Mr. John Lee
Mary Lynn Coffee
Attorney at Law, Nossaman, LLP
Fran Inman
Senior Vice President, Majestic Realty Co.
Randy Barth
Founder & CEO, Think Together
Leona Aronoff-Sadacca
Founder, Aronoff Capital
Eric Boden
Philanthropist
Paolo Leon
Studio Designer, AO Architects
Steven Robertson
Consulting CFO
Bill Tamblyn
VP of IoT Operations, Nokia Software
Julie Vennewitz-Pierce
Director, PayPal Gives, PayPal
Jeffrey Wahba
Co-CEO and CFO (Ret.), Farmers Brothers
Earl Slee
VP Technology & Strategy, Brain Therapies, Medtronic
Sangeeth Peruri
CEO, OutreachCircle
Marti Remmell
Community Leader
John Lee
Executive VP, PIMCO
Dawn Trautman
Executive VP, Pacific Life Insurance Co.
Dan Young
Camino Enterprises
Bernie Salvatore
President & CEO, Orora Packaging Solutions
Nick Candito
Entrepreneur, Silicon Valley
Summer Taylor
Managing Director, Deloitte
John Turner
Chief Revenue Officer, Chronicle
Anu Worah
Orthopedic Physical Therapist and Owner, Rebalance Physical Therapy
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 12/23/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.