S.P.A.R.K. (Summers Producing Academically Ready Kids) 2015 was the year that I finally decided to pull the trigger on starting the foundation. A friend of mine who had a nonprofit informed me that he worked with the SMU Small Business Clinic to draft and file his paperwork. It was an easy process and it was free, so I decided to go that route. They only took certain cases, so I had to apply and be accepted into the program. Thankfully, I made the cut, however, I was told that to be approved as a nonprofit, a $400 application fee was required by the state. At the time my husband, David, and I had financial constraints and, $400 might as well have been $400,000. We just didn't have the money. But I forged ahead and prayed that the Lord would provide. The process went smoothly and we got everything done within a few months. Lo and behold, our financial situation was in a much different place by the time they asked me to write that check. In October of 2015, Noggin Educational Foundation became an official non-profit! That was only the first step, but the first miracle. With that first step out of the way, I was terrified to make a move because I knew nothing about running a non-profit. I was an entrepreneur. I had started a video production business (10 years strong) and a tutoring business with my husband, but the non-profit world was completely unknown territory. My friend with the nonprofit called me one day and asked why I hadn't made any progress. A few months had passed and he knew nothing had been done. I told him I was afraid to move forward and he invited me to lunch at Chick-Fil-A. We went to Chick-fil-A because I had a two year old and he needed a place for her to play while we talked shop. Lawrence inspired me out of my analysis paralysis that day and encouraged me to think of one area we could make the most impact. I had already done some research and found that the summertime was when a lot of learning loss occurs for most kids and is where the achievement gap widens for low-income students. I believed that doing a summer program would be the way for us to make the most impact. Lawrence told me my next step was to figure out how much I needed to run a summer program and to start asking for money. THAT terrified me! I've always been one of those people who claimed to be "terrible at sales". Usually people who feel they're "terrible at sales"are afraid to put people out. I was 100% that person, so this was going to be a true faith walk. Around that same time I had another meeting with a friend who was a very successful nonprofit executive. She had raised millions of dollars. Shari told me that I needed to focus on the low hanging fruit. We'd not proven ourselves as a nonprofit and I had not proven myself as a nonprofit leader yet. The likelihood of a random company or random person giving us money was relatively low. Family and friends and other associates already knew and trusted David and me so we would likely be most successful with our sphere of influence. So, David and I set out to call everybody we knew to ask them to support our efforts. We got on the phone with as many people as we could think of and told them about our vision and why this was on our hearts. We needed $10,000 for the summer program and I remember that it seemed like an insurmountable amount of money. Neither of us had raised that much money before. After two months of calling, to our surprise, we had raised $12,000! That was our second miracle. In the summer of 2016, we started the S.P.A.R.K program, Summers Producing Academically Ready Kids. I reached out to several low-income apartment complexes to see if they would be interested in allowing us to serve their children. The program would be free for the complexes because we had raised the funds, so it seemed like a no-brainer. After presenting the opportunity to multiple complexes, finally two agreed. David and I spent the end of the Spring creating and assembling math and reading activities, sitting up nights cutting and pasting in our bedroom. I remember one of the activities I created was several puzzles and each one took the length of a movie to cut. There was no Cricut then! By the beginning of the summer our little bedroom was overrun with bags of activities, but we were ready! That summer we provided programming for 6 weeks, serving about 150 students. It was amazing to see the impact we had on them. We ended 2016 with a motivated and excited four-person board of directors, a successful summer program, and a few fundraisers under our belts. There was still a lot to figure out, but we had a bonified non-profit with unlimited potential and joy in our hearts. 2015-2016 Timeline October 15, 2015 - Noggin is established as a 501(c)(3) April 2016 - First Board of Directors meeting June - First S.P.A.R.K. July - First #BoughtABackpack Challenge (200 backpacks collected) September - First North Texas Giving Day - Raise $2,000 with 2 weeks notice!

Hey Brainiacs! Check out our annual report and be sure to stay tuned to our social media and monthly newsletter for updates about 10th anniversary events this year! And the annual report is interactive! Click on the QR codes to see videos of our programs.

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Brainiacs! It's been a while since I've updated you and so much has happened. Noggin is growing by leaps and bounds. I forgot to mention in the video that our tutoring and ARD Advocacy programs have doubled since this time last year. We have 50+ students in the program. Watch the video below for more. Here's the link I mention about signing up for the Virtual Career Chat. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050E4DAFA72BA7F49-crosstimbers

View our 2022 Annual Report Complete our Stakeholder Survey - Your input is so important! Please take a moment to complete our survey to let us know how we're doing and communicate potential opportunities that can help move our mission forward.

North Texas Giving Day is only 1 week away. Early Giving is open now! To give click the link below! Watch my quick Brainiac Update video too. Donate

Hey Brainiacs! Click on the video below for a quick snapshot of what's happening with Noggin.

Quick video to let you know what's going on with Noggin! In this video: March 2022 Virtual Career Chat Success Tutoring Program Summer Tutoring Opportunity Oh man! I forgot to mention that we will be continuing S.P.A.R.K. (Summers Producing Academically Ready Kids) for our 6th summer. This summer we will be IN PERSON instead of online supporting the students at First Presbyterian Church in Downtown Dallas for a 4th year. Can't wait to see them in 3-dimensions! Click to sponsor a student for the summer!

Hi Brainiacs! We have exciting news. We are thrilled to announce five new members of our Board of Directors. As you know, the mission of Noggin Educational Foundation is to help close the Achievement Gap for economically disadvantaged children by providing educational opportunity for students, supporting parents, and encouraging excellence and innovation in the classroom. We have invited these leaders to provide much needed support in their areas of expertise to help our organization grow to the next level so we can impact many many more students. Check out our full team at https://www.nogginfoundation.org/boardofdirectors Wanda Fletcher Bonder - Advisory Counsel Craig Crisler - Finance Committee Nichole Franks - Community Partnerships Committee Hetal Patel - Programs Committee Heather M. Sepolen - Corporate Partnerships Committee We are still looking for proven leaders with expertise in the areas of marketing, fundraising, and board development. Please reach out to me at doneda@nogginfoundation.org if you would like to recommend a candidate. Also, if you would like to help with any of our committees, we would love to have you partner with us!

Join us today from 6-7 pm CST for our Read-A-Thon hosted by kids, for kids. All donations received during this time will be matched up to $1500, so your gift is doubled! This event is sponsored by Kalibur Barber College, Brighter Possibilities Family Counseling, and The Flying Squirrel Coffee Company. Click the link to RSVP! https://fb.me/e/coVqYCqXL