Featured Board: Stuart Udell
Stuart Udell is President and CEO of Catapult Learning and the Chair of the National Dropout Prevention Network Board of Directors.
When we spoke with Stu, we asked about his connection to dropout prevention.
Q. Stu, what led you to becoming involved in dropout prevention?
A. My mom was a school administrator in the school district where I grew up, and it was a diverse district with a variety of challenges. I learned firsthand why education was important to my family and my mom’s work, and this was ingrained in me from those early days. When I chose a business route, I wanted to work in an area where I could make a difference. And so my business life has been in companies such as Kaplan K12 Learning Services, Penn Foster and now Catapult Learning. With Catapult Learning, our focus is almost exclusively on helping underperforming students by providing intervention services.
Q. What do you see your role on the NDPN Board to be?
A. The Network is so interesting because it brings multiple perspectives to this issue, and so what I see on the Board are individuals representing these multiple perspectives. We have others like myself representing the business community, others from the education, public service, or nonprofit fields. Because there are complicated problems in our schools, it is good to have a lot of players representing different perspectives.
As chair, I oversee the governance structure of the Network and its relationship with the National Dropout Prevention Center. I try to work to allow the rest of the Board to perform in an advisory capacity in order to get these multiple perspectives. I like to encourage a free and open flow of ideas.
Q. What is your vision of what the Network can do to improve the educational attainment of all young people?
A. First, we need to continue to raise awareness about the issue of dropout. We must promote best practices through our Model Programs database and our conferences, as well as provide resources so we can meet the needs of the various constituencies. We need to vet these best practices; we need to ensure that they really work.
We have had continuous discussions over the past year about how to further expand the scope and impact of the Center/Network through partnerships with other individuals, institutions, universities, and agencies. The NDPC staff has presented a plan to advance this idea through an NDPC Fellows program and, building from that, towards Strategic Partners. This is indeed an exciting time for the Center/Network.
