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EXECUTIVE IMPROVES CHILD'S EDUCATION
(Story from Willow Glen Resident)
By AMY WICKS
Sitting inside a cramped portable classroom on the Fair Middle School campus in San Jose, Muhammed Chaudhry wears a smile that announces there is no place he'd rather be.
This Willow Glen resident left the comforts of the business world three years ago to become executive director of the Franklin McKinley Education Foundation, a nonprofit directed toward at-risk youth in San Jose. He wanted to use his longtime passion for philanthropic work to make a positive imprint on the lives of youth in one of the city's most downtrodden areas.
"There was a child in one class who didn't do his homework because his pencil broke," Chaudhry says. "His teacher asked him why he didn't finish the assignment with another pencil. He told the teacher he couldn't because it was the only pencil he had. I hear this and I think, 'This is the United States, not some Third World country.'"
This story, along with countless others, is the driving force behind his quest to make a foundation that assists students and families in low-income, high crime and educationally challenged sections of San Jose a success.
"I've always been involved in nonprofit work," says Chaudhry, who joined the foundation in September 2001."I looked for the opportunity to match my business-skills set with something I had a passion for."
The foundation serves all 14 schools in high performing but low-income Franklin McKinley School District.
Chaudhry, 29, can personally relate to many of the immigrant children-63 percent of students in the district are Hispanic-who are served by the foundation, because he also grew up in an immigrant family in San Jose, learning from an early age the importance of obtaining a well-rounded education.
He took his brainpower to San José State University, where he earned a business administration degree in 1997.
Upon graduation, he worked in marketing at IBM, the Clorox Company and Dazzle Multimedia. But while working in the private sector, his spare time was consistently filled with volunteering for different philanthropic causes. He came to realize that his heart and passion was with nonprofits.
"It was a little scary at first," Chaudhry says, about moving from the private sector to the philanthropy. "But I saw that I could apply many of my business skills to this nonprofit."
Chaudhry recalls his first year with the five-year-old nonprofit, when there was $50,000 in the bank and the budget was supposed to be $300,000, but he admits it was actually closer to $150,000. This was a far cry from its current budget of $1.5 million, and he has been instrumental in helping the foundation make that dramatic leap through numerous phone calls and meetings with individuals, companies and other organizations.
Chaudhry is proud of the fact that every nickel, dime and quarter that comes into Franklin McKinley Education Foundation comes from sponsors, not from the community it serves.
"We are here to bring the money to them," he says.
The funding supports the foundation's community-based programs, including mental-health counseling, teen outreach and a soccer league. It also goes toward its School Readiness Initiative, providing resources ranging from basic medical and dental services to early literacy development for children in certain schools. Other funded programs include an after-school homework center, a teen center, a mentoring program, swim leagues and a group called Together Advancing Success for Kids.
"We want to make sure a toothache isn't holding a child back from performing well in the classroom," he adds. "Sometimes just getting a child an eye exam and a pair of glasses can dramatically change a child's learning experience."
To support his foundation's ambitious campaign to bring services to these families, Chaudhry has assembled a dedicated staff and a board of directors from all walks of life to help the nonprofit.
Dustin DeRollo was tapped on the shoulder by Chaudhry to join the board less than a year ago. DeRollo, formerly San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales' deputy chief of staff and now a partner with political consulting group Saggau and DeRollo, met Chaudhry about three years ago and remembers him as "very professional, bringing a sense of business savvy to the nonprofit world." DeRollo says Chaudhry "goes after what he wants using positive aggressiveness" and has no fear when it comes to bringing new people into the foundation or reaching out to new donors.
For these reasons, DeRollo became impressed with Chaudhry's commitment and passion for the foundation and decided to become one of its board members in early 2004.
PG&E government relations representative Teresa Alvarado is also impressed with Chaudhry's tireless work for the foundation, which has translated into a partnership between the foundation and the gas and electric company.
Last year, the company donated $2,500 to the foundation, and this year, the company gave enough money to the foundation for it to purchase a piano.
"Muhammed is very persuasive and friendly," Alvarado says. "He is always looking for opportunities. He has a major marketing mind."
In fact, Alvarado, a member of the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley, was so impressed with Chaudhry's sense of commitment that she asked him to join that foundation's board.
"He is helping a district that is so diverse, and its administrators don't have time to raise funds, so it's nice that his foundation addresses the needs of the district," she says.
Through the leadership and financial assistance of people like Alvarado and DeRollo, the foundation is reaching out to the district's neighborhoods, sometimes even walking door to door to inform families about free services that are available to them. Many families initially express their distrust of establishment and can't believe they are eligible to receive free services such as health screenings. But Chaudhry and his co-workers are determined to gain the community's trust and acceptance, giving every child in the school district the tools necessary for a better future.
"We serve over 600 families a year with 1,500 services," he says. "We want to have a sustainable effect in the community."
For more information about the Franklin McKinley Education Foundation, call 408.283.6153 or visit www.fmefoundation.org.
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