Think Together Welcomes New Executive Director of Philanthropy and Senior Director of Program Innovations Amid Continued Organizational Growth

The new leaders will strengthen relationships within the nonprofit and education sectors to ensure high-quality expanded learning programs are available to more than 200,000 California students.

SANTA ANA, Calif., Sept. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Think Together, California's leading nonprofit provider of school improvement, expanded learning and afterschool programs, today announced the appointment of Katie Roth as Executive Director of Philanthropy and Dianne Chaves as Senior Director of Program Operations.

The appointments come as Think Together looks to continue its tremendous growth thanks to new and renewed state and federal investments in education. Roth will spearhead Think Together's individual philanthropy program, while Chaves will look to leverage both funding streams to build out high-quality, innovative programs and curricula that transform the lives of students.

"Our newest leaders to Think Together bring extensive experience across the nonprofit and K-12 education space and we're proud to have them join the ranks of Think Together's talented leadership team," said Think Together Founder and CEO Randy Barth. "Both will build the bridges needed between philanthropic, academic and community leaders pool resources for truly innovative solutions for students."

Roth joins the Think Together team after 15 years of on-the-ground and executive leadership experience with education nonprofits in Los Angeles. Starting as a middle school math teacher for Teach for America in Watts, Roth continued her career in education as a curriculum advisor, manager of instruction, director of programs, and most recently, executive director at PowerMyLearning.

Roth holds a secondary math teaching credential from California State University, Dominguez Hills and her bachelors degrees in marketing and finance as well as a minor in psychology from Washington University in St. Louis.

"I'm excited to engage with community and business leaders who have a passion for providing children with expanded opportunities for a brighter future," said Roth. "There is so much need in our communiies and I look forward to bringing more excellent programming to schools through partnership with our board and supporters."

Chaves comes to Think Together from The Autism Community in Action, where she led a national autism organization to transform and modernize program strategy and delivery mechanisms. She has also held the roles of chief of staff, special education teacher, math department lead, director of college access, principal, and managing director of high schools.

Chaves received her bachelors degree from California State University, San Luis Obispo and her masters degree in Education from Chestnut Hill College which she acquired during her service as a Teach For America corps member.

"I'm thrilled to be part of Think Together's mission to change the odds for kids and look forward to building scalable solutions for students during this time of incredible growth for the organization," said Chaves. "The role allows me to put both my curriculum and operational expertise to work as we serve more students across the state than ever."

After two years of pandemic-related school disruptions, students today are experiencing a great need for rich afterschool and expanded learning programs like the ones Think Together operates at more than 450 school sites across California. Think Together partners with over 60 school districts and charter management organizations to provide more than 900 academic and enrichment programs outside of the school day.

"Synergy between academic, corporate and community leaders is needed now more than ever as we work to prepare youth for college and career," added Barth. "Think Together's newest leaders will help seize the opportunity before us to truly help students succeed in the face of insurmountable challenges."

Recently, the U.S. Department of Education reported a dramatic decline in scores from the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) underscoring the need for academic support for youth. Two decades of growth in reading and math were sent into a downward spiral, with declines much steeper for students at lower performance levels, widening already-huge learning disparities between the country's high- and low-achievers. 

Think Together aims to reverse this trend and recently acquired Orenda Education, a top school improvement consultancy firm, to provide both direct-to-student support as well as data-driven professional development services for school district leaders and educators.

With this sustained growth, Think Together continues to recruit purpose-driven talent and has since scaled its workforce to more than 4,000 full- and part-time staff members serving in school site and administrative roles.

Learn more about Think Together at thinktogether.org.

For over 25 years Think Together has partnered with schools and communities to pursue educational equity and excellence for all kids. As a nonprofit organization, Think Together innovates, implements, and scales academic solutions that change the odds for hundreds of thousands of California students. Think Together's program areas include early learning, afterschool, school support services and leadership development for teachers and school administrators. For more information, call (888) 485-THINK or visit www.thinktogether.org. 

SOURCE Think Together