PENCIL Foundation
PENCIL4Schools
Learn how to support this organization
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
A recent example of how we overcame a challenge to ultimately achieve success involves the annual MNPS Career Exploration Fair, which PENCIL helps facilitate for 5,000 high school freshmen. We recruit many of the 150 businesses and organizations present, who represent more than a dozen professional fields. However, with Nashville’s traffic troubles, PENCIL has become the go-to organization when MNPS is strapped for transportation to get students to the Career Fair and other industry related field trips or job shadows. School buses are in short supply and cost prohibitive. We leveraged partners like Gray Line Tennessee and Anchor Transportation to help solve the problem, recruiting 42 donated coach buses and drivers who ultimately transported 5,000 freshmen to and from the Career Fair. Our consulting demonstrates how PENCIL recruits, trains and retains partners that align with local school needs, how to build powerful partnerships provides opportunities to observe partnerships.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
PENCIL Partners
PENCIL Partners matches the specific needs of each school with the unique attributes of a business, community group or individual – the Partner. Partnership Managers support these ongoing relationships by assisting with strategic planning, volunteer management, activity planning, and more. Of note, in the 12 MNPS Academies of Nashville high schools, Partners provide experiential workforce-ready skills through industry tours, job shadows, and work-based learning for 10th-, 11th-, and 12th-grade students, respectively. All PENCIL Partnerships support academic growth for students in measurable ways. We believe they are effective, not only because they are educationally sound, but also because they build relationships between students and caring adult role models.
PENCIL Connect, our online volunteer matching platform, allows schools to post volunteer opportunities that PENCIL promotes to its Partners and the Nashville community at-large.
DG PENCIL Box
Existing inequities surrounding how schools have been funded leave some schools and students with greater need for community inputs than others. The DG PENCIL Box (DGPB) serves to fill one resource gap by providing much-needed school supplies to all MNPS educators. Rather than use their own funds, teachers “shop” for core items such as notebooks, pencils, paper, glue sticks, and more at no cost to them. With stocked classrooms, teachers were able to focus on teaching 81,479 MNPS students in 162 schools in FY23. We welcome educators to shop multiple times during the school year at our West Nashville location. Our impact is increased through direct-to-school deliveries, pop-ups, giveaways, and signature project, Teachers 4 Teachers. As demand for supplies grows, PENCIL continues to expand the reach of the DGPB so that more teachers have access to free product.
Accelerating Scholars
Accelerating Scholars is an evidence-based, high-impact tutoring model. Volunteers and paid professionals provide support in three, 30-minute-long tutoring sessions every week for 12 weeks during the semester for students in reading (grades 1-3) or math (grades 4-9) and through Connected Literacy, a Tennessee Department of Education grant facilitated by PENCIL and specifically for students in grades 1-3. PENCIL staff complete all background checks, lead tutor training, liaise with schools, and support tutors throughout the semester.
Where we work
Awards
Affiliations & memberships
Center for Nonprofit Management Excellence Network 1993
Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce 1985
Volunteer Administrator's Network 2003
Metro Nashville Public Schools/Chamber of Commerce Alignment Process 2004
United Way Member Agency 2001
Alignment Nashville 2006
National Network Member of the Kids in Need Foundation 2015
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of clients placed in internships
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents
Related Program
PENCIL Partners
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
PENCIL Partners provided a total of 3,720 10th-grade industry field trips, 3,066 11th-grade job shadows, and 78 12th-grade career based learning experiences matching seniors with workplace mentors.
Total number of volunteer hours contributed to the organization
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
PENCIL Partners
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of products distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Adults
Related Program
DG PENCIL Box
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In FY23, the DG PENCIL Box distributed a record $3.53 million of high-quality educational materials and school supplies to MNPS educators at no cost to them.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn 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?
Our work is guided by the needs of MNPS, is student centric, and is achieved through partnerships and tangible engagements. As the PENCIL team, we will be collaborative and transparent, act with integrity, and demonstrate kindness and gratitude.
PENCIL Partners and Academy PENCIL Partnerships aim to accomplish the following goals:
1) Improve graduation rates by making school interesting and engaging to students.
2) Build relationships between students and positive adult role models through mentorship and regular class interactions with industry professionals.
3) Support positive outcomes after high school graduation, including further education and entry into high-wage, high-demand careers.
To reach these goals, PENCIL recruits partners – companies, small businesses, universities – and matches them with individual schools whose needs align with the partner’s expertise. There are 35 career pathways available for students to choose from, and each high school offers a unique menu of options. PENCIL’s role is to make a thoughtful match, onboard and train the partner, co-create an action plan for the year, support the school’s teachers and principals in managing communication, and work to sustain a positive relationship between partner and school over time. PENCIL Partnership Managers meet regularly with partners and school leaders to assess progress on the action plan compared to goals. We are skilled problem-solvers. Much of our recruitment is word-of-mouth, and we’re proud to say that our founding partners, including HCA and Ingram, remain PENCIL Partners today.
Ultimately, our work aims to fulfill the Academies’ goal of exposing and connecting students to high-demand career fields after college. Our long-term vision is that students are trained and ready to attain jobs that pay family-sustaining wages and help break the cycle of multi-generational poverty.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Data is key to effective decision making and PENCIL will track activities and student opportunities for purpose of program analysis and achievement of outcomes.
PENCIL uses several tools to assess the functioning and impact of program delivery:
a) PENCILMeIn (PMI) is an online platform that enables Partners, volunteers, school staff, and PENCIL staff to log and track volunteer hours and activities. This helps PENCIL communicate the value of each Partner's community investment per school annually. In FY19, Partners logged 54,509 volunteer hours, so we're targeting a 5% increase in FY20 in documented service hours to demonstrate growth in our Partners’ engagement with students.
b) The PENCIL team tracks and evaluates success based on the percentage of students who experience industry field trips and job shadows. In FY19 70% of 10th graders experienced field trips and 66% of 11th graders experienced job shadows. Our goal for FY20 and beyond is to exceed those targets so that eventually it’s common for 100% of students to have those impactful learning experiences. Likewise we evaluate both the number of Partners who participate in the annual Career Fair with freshmen and the number of career fields they represent, with the goal of having an increasingly broad array of options for students to explore as they make their Academies pathway decision.
c) Through annual surveys we assess Partners' understanding of the impact of their engagement on students as well as their comfort with the work.
d) We also closely follow test scores tracked by MNPS to assure that students continue to make progress on standard academic benchmarks like graduation rate, average ACT scores, and percentage of students taking and passing industry certification exams.
e) We measure success of our LP PENCIL Box through total value of product distributions annually; number of schools and teachers served annually; percentage of teachers served who shop in-person at the LP PENCIL Box; and number of volunteers who serve in the Box. We also know that access to school supplies is integral to student success.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
PENCIL addresses the inequitable access to resources (community volunteers, funding for special projects) among Nashville schools through a collective impact model that harnesses the time, treasure, and talent of our rapidly expanding business community in support of individual schools through our PENCIL Partnerships, which allows us to meet and exceed our goals.
PENCIL is unique in that we are the only organization in Nashville specifically dedicated to link resources from the business community to our public schools. We are seen as a national leader in the field of business engagement in high schools with our work to support the Academies of Nashville and are regularly hired as a consultant to communities implementing the Academies model, which relies heavily on business partners providing experiential learning opportunities to students.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
PENCILs total community investment to Metro schools in 2022-23 was $7.3 million, including 19,184 volunteer service hours and $3.1 million in grants to/for MNPS. We achieved the following programmatic accomplishments:
PENCIL Partnerships totaled 798, as businesses, organizations, and individuals worked with one or more of MNPSs 162 schools. Specifically, our Academies of Nashville Partners provided a total of 3,720 10th-grade industry field trips, 3,066 11th-grade job shadows, and 78 12th-grade Career Based Learning experiences, a recent MNPS initiative that matches seniors with workplace mentors.
PENCIL Connect, our online volunteer matching platform, allows schools to post volunteer opportunities that PENCIL promotes to Partners and the Nashville community at-large. At school year end, 120 MNPS teachers and staff and 710 volunteers were on the platform, and 44 schools listed engagements.
DG PENCIL Box, our free teacher supply store, distributed more than $3.53 million in high-quality educational materials and school supplies to MNPS educators through its warehouse, pop-ups and giveaways, direct-to-school deliveries, and Together 4 Teachers. We welcomed 350 educators to the inaugural Thanks A Million event in May.
Our LP STEAM Lending Library, launched in fall 2022 to provide equitable access to high-quality, curriculum-aligned STEAM resources for all MNPS middle schools, served more than 3,000 students in the first year. It has expanded to grades K-5 in response to Tennessee legislation requiring computer science be taught in all grades, beginning with elementary schools in fall 2023.
Connected Literacy, the first multi-million dollar grant to be facilitated by PENCIL, supports high-impact tutoring as a crucial component of the MNPSAccelerating Scholars initiative and served more than 1,800 students. PENCIL is one of the first community organizations to receive this grant from the TN Department of Education, which provides small ratio reading support for students in grades 1-3. As a result of PENCILs work, MNPS is a national leader in the implementation of this research-backed literacy model.
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our 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.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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.
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.
PENCIL Foundation
Board of directorsas of 01/18/2024
Ms. Hasina Mohyuddin
Vanderbilt University Peabody College
Term: 2023 - 2024
Jeff Gregg
SOLLEC
Sue Spickard
PENCIL Founder
John Doerge
Deloitte
Brandyn Payne
HCTec
Lila Hall
Yazoo Brewing Company
Hasina Mohyuddin
Vanderbilt University, Peabody College
Juan Williams
Tennessee Dept. of Human Resources
Whitney Kalb
FCA Venture Partners
Norman Merrifield
808Education
Wesley Payne
Pinnacle Financial Partners
Kaitlyn Jones
R.C. Mathews Contractor
Robyn Williams
Bridgestone Americas, Inc.
Herman Hicks
First Horizon Bank
Colleen Hoy
ENA by Zayo
Kendrick Robinson
Bridgestone Americas
Brittany Adams-Davis
Dollar General Corporation
Chuck Abbott
Gray Line Tennessee
Stewart Brown
Vanderbilt Graduate School of Management
Nicole Keefe
Burr & Forman, LLP
Ken Crapse
Fifth Third Bank
Josh DePriest
Rogers Group
Shani Dowell
Possip
Todd Figler
AllianceBernstein
Robert Fisher
Fisher Strategy Partners
Jacky Gomez
Asurion
Kfir Alexandroni
Elliott Davis
Liberty Berman
Louisiana Pacific Corp.
Herbert Brown
Turner Construction
Elizabeth Bumpas
Vanderbilt University
Britney Cline
Regions Financial Corporation
Leslie Cowell
Lipscomb University
Kason Davis
Caterpillar Financial Services
Josh DePriest
Rogers Group, Inc.
Kirsten Dodson
Lipscomb University
Flynne Dowdy
Holland & Knight LLP
Jessie Garcia Knowles
Tennessee Latin American Chamber of Commerce
Emily Gruening
Ryman Hospitality Properties
Mike Harris
Universal Music Group Nashville
Rachel Hawksworth
HCA Healthcare
Jacqueline Hayes
Crayons & Marketers
Brandon Hill
Nashville Soccer Club
Olivia Hill
4Patriots
Meredith Jones Long
Creative Artists Agency
Amani Kelly
SouthEast Investment Capital Group
Devin Lintzenich
Bass, Berry & Sims PLC
Johari Matthews
Tennessee Titans
Blake McDaniel
Creative Artists Agency
P. Danielle Nellis
Klein Solomon Mills, PLLC
Nicole Robinson-Hamilton
, Ingram Industries Inc.
Rachel Terrell
Paramount Media Networks
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
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