If you want to hear a fast-talking Italian

“You’re taking someone else’s money to get into somebody else’s life to try to make a difference. You better be showing you can make a difference!”

“Stories substituting for facts is like fingernails on a chalkboard for me!”

“Any school in the country can do this. And it breaks my heart that we’re not [all] doing this!”

“Every day, you have to say, ’How can we do this more efficiently and more effectively?’ It’s in our DNA.”

“Through a process of self-reflection, our board members asked themselves fundamental questions: How can we improve? How can we make a greater impact?”

“You have to have undying passion for the population you’re serving. We can spend time patting ourselves on the back for the 85 percent of the kids who are doing really well in our program. But we need to be as concerned about the 15 percent who aren’t succeeding and learn how we can improve for them.”

“Managing to outcomes is not about simply counting things or gathering information. And it is not about satisfying funders. It is an internal effort aimed at figuring out what works and what doesn’t, so that the organization can provide the best possible services to its clients”