S03E16 - The Essential Role of Philanthropy in Education | Lina Eroh, Overdeck Family Foundation

Build Momentum for Education - K-12 Superintendent Series

In this episode of Build Momentum, Sarah and Katie are joined by Lina Eroh, Communications Director for the Overdeck Family Foundation. Lina leads both internal and external communications efforts, working closely with grantees and the Foundation team. She has also provided her specialties in corporate communication for iconic consumer brands such as eBay. She is the President of the Rye Free Reading Room Auxiliary Board and spends her weekends with her three daughters, husband, and giant schnauzer.

Some Questions We Ask:

• Please share with us your background—including how you ended up in philanthropy. (00:46)
• How does Overdeck prioritize recipients? How do you decide whether you're going to take on a project? (03:18)
• What are appropriate ways for an organization that is interested in pursuing funding to reach out? (06:10)
• As a communications leader, how do you help folks tell stories about their projects? (10:13)
• What role do you think philanthropy plays in supporting nonprofits? (12:16)
• Can you share more of your powerful case studies? (23:38)

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• Lina’s background and her philanthropic journey (00:53)
• About Overdeck Family Foundation, its recipients, and its projects (03:52)
• Strategies for connecting with potential funders (6:24)
• Tips for collaboration around messaging (10:38)
• Overdeck’s philosophy of philanthropy for evidence building, innovation, and growth (12:38)
• Examples of Overdeck’s work in education and health care (18:34)
• About its family engagement work and the Learning Heroes program (23:48)

Quotes:

“Overdeck Family Foundation's philosophy is to fund what we know the government struggles to fund or is not as interested in funding. So we know that the Department of Education spends less than one tenth of 1% of its budget on R&D. So that is a big reason why we designed our funding in these three pillars: evidence building, innovation, and growth.”
“You don't [want to] have an intervention in 2023 relying on evidence from like 2013, when nobody had Chromebooks. You really [want to] have timely evidence that a nonprofit can take to a district and say, ‘This works in this context, and this context is very similar to your context. Therefore, there's a real reason for you to try this product to meet the challenges that your system has.’”
“Kids should love learning. It's one of the amazing opportunities of being a human—and one of the real privileges we have of living in a country with a public education system. I'm really hopeful that coming out of the pandemic, some of this innovation that philanthropy has funded really does start to move the needle for kids, both in immediate outcomes and long-term results.”
“There's so much funding out there right now that is looking to be put to work for great things that really move the needle for kids.”
Connect with Lina:
Overdeck website
Lina Eroh’s LinkedIn
Email: [e-mail]
Stay in touch with Sarah Williamson:
Free Case Study Guide
SWPR GROUP Website
LinkedIn
Stay in touch with Chad Bolser:
LinkedIn
About "The Secret to Transformational Leadership," which Sarah co-authored with Dr. Quintin Shepherd:
Transformational Leadership Secret website
Purchase the print or ebook