Latest / Hart & Hustle Podcast / The Hidden Skills Employers Want That Schools Still Miss
Transcript
- Efrain: Welcome back to the Heart and Hustle Podcast. We got Miss Heather Lee in the building. Virtually, where are you visiting from today, Heather? Heather Lee: Coming to you from Cleveland, Ohio. Efrain: Cleveland, Ohio. Born and raised? Heather Lee: born and raised, left for a long time, but as an adult came back because I realized how much I love Northeast Ohio. Efrain: Is that right? Where did you go and then y you didn't clearly love enough to stay? Heather Lee: Well, when you're young, you know the grass is always greener. So wanted to see a little bit more of the United States, went to undergrad in Miami, Florida, went to graduate Efrain: Okay. Heather Lee: stuck school out in Los Angeles, and then slowly worked my way back. Once I had family, Ohio's a great place to put down roots and raise a family. Efrain: You you truly went down south, then went all the way across the country to go to LA. Heather Lee: Yep. Efrain: Did you what what do you remember maybe some of the good times between Miami, which is to me a party city? I'm in Orlando, so I only go to Miami Heather Lee: Yeah, okay, okay. Efrain: to to spend money and party. Don't do that anymore. Heather Lee: Sure. Efrain: I'm older now, but you know, that's what you used to do. And then California, also good time. People would love California. What do you feel was those times you remember about both? Heather Lee: I I think y reflecting back, you know, of course you you have fun when you're young and you're, you know, going out, but reflecting back, it's getting out of my bubble. I mean, I was a suburb of Cleveland, kinda small, more rural, a little bit homogeneous. And so just being introduced to diverse cultures and people and seeing, you know, other other ways that of being and it was exciting and I think that really expanded my horizon, my perspective. And so I'm really glad and thankful for the experiences. Efrain: Yeah, always said you gotta travel out your own backyard to really realize that there is life out there. so it looks like one of the Heather Lee: Sure. Yeah. Efrain: biggest things you learned was just being around diversity. learning Heather Lee: Mm-hmm. Efrain: that there's people from different backgrounds, especially something in Miami. There's a lot of Cubans and Haitians in Miami. So that's a huge culture shock over there. You go to Miami, I mean, go to California. I feel like you have a whole different world in California. Every time I go to California, Heather Lee: Yeah. Efrain: I just think it's a vibe, to be quite frank. I don't know what's over Heather Lee: Yeah. Efrain: there, if it's the mountains, what they're drinking, but I always feel like there's definitely a vibe when you go to California and I truly enjoy it every single time. and and Heather Lee: I love it. Efrain: and now you're kind of in this space where you just mentioned your own kids are going to be spreading their wings. Are you are they also Heather Lee: Yes, yeah. Efrain: leaving you know, home Cleveland to spread their wings? What does that look like? Heather Lee: S surprisingly they both want to stay in Ohio. I've always said, you know, apply anywhere in the world, you know, for college. Go for it and see see what happens. But yeah, they're both interested in being Ohio in Ohio. But we talk a lot about studying abroad, doing the Disney College program. So maybe they'll end up down in Orlando by you at some point, but having those experiences while they're young. Efrain: Got to. I s I am so thankful that I you know, I I had friends that were really young parents that probably weren't able to do exactly what we're talking about, just kind of leaving home and spreading their wings. I Heather Lee: Mm-hmm. Efrain: I was fortunate to be able to do that. You know, and I waited till about thirty years old to have kids and I feel like in my twenties I definitely did exactly what you mentioned. Like spread your wings, learn life, live life. Because once it's cut down Heather Lee: Yes. Efrain: to parenting, life truly changes. I used to always have, and maybe you could kind Heather Lee: It does. Efrain: of attest to this, I used to have dogs and I'm like, How different can it be? Like I love my dog, you know, I love my dog. Heather Lee: Ha Efrain: And then you realize you become a parent, you're like, this is completely different than loving a dog. Do you agree? Heather Lee: absolutely. Yes. They Efrain: Yeah. Heather Lee: it every day is an adventure and I mean it's true when nothing can prepare you for parenthood and you know the the amazement that comes with it but also the you know worry am I doing this right and going through all the different stages of development with them. Efrain: I think it's worse for moms. Literally, my wife would just tell me this conversation how being a stay-at-home mom, you know, homeschooling, how she feels all these feelings and she was saying she seen someone on social she went to school with that was kind of talking about these feelings. She's like, So I'm not Heather Lee: Mm-hmm. Efrain: alone. And I think as parents, you guys probably just have a little bit more anxiety than men. She always says, You just lived so nonchalant, like nothing really Heather Lee: Yeah. Efrain: phases you. And I'm like, It does, but like I don't know. It just y'all have a different bond, I think is also the thing, right? Heather Lee: Yeah, I I think that's valid. Efrain: What what brings you to this this space that you're in today in ELA? What how did you get to this space? Is this what you went to school for? You talked about kind of spreading your wings. Is was this always the plan? Heather Lee: Great question. This was not always the plan. and I love sharing that with students when I'm working with them is being open to saying yes. You know, I think that's what took me outside of Ohio, but that's also what led me on this unique career path that to land somewhere that I absolutely love and see myself staying here until I retire because I love what Effective Leadership Academy does. but yeah, educational nonprofit was not on my radar at a younger age. I actually started off school as a broadcast journalism journalism and theater major. quickly realized, wow, this is maybe not what I want to do because I I definitely want to have, you know, some stable income, but also so many people were way more talented than me. so I made Efrain: Stop it's other Heather Lee: a complete shift to biology because I love animals. I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian. this is where the power of internships come in. I did an internship my junior year in college with a vet and realized I don't want to do this. So now what? So I went into my senior year with some anxiety because I didn't know where This major was taking me, and I did an internship at a small zoo and I was in the education department. And through that work, that was where I fell in love with nonprofit education. after I graduated, I was making I was in nonprofit education at a zoo, loving it but making minimum wage. And at that time they were recruiting science teachers from overseas even because they they needed to fill science and math positions and because I had a science degree, I went and applied and was was hired with no teaching experience. I it ended up getting my master's degree in second secondary education while I was teaching in the classroom, but fell in love with that as well. It's I I think education's always been a passion of mine and and I didn't realize that until my senior year of college, but being in the classroom, I was in the classroom for 10 years. I taught high school science and then middle school science. that was where I saw some of the missing pieces of the the social emotional learning side. You know, students didn't know how to communicate, how to collaborate and get along and working in groups, you know, struggling with critical thinking. bringing, you know, at middle school age, they're going through so much change physically and psychologically, and unlearning to understand themselves and having that self-awareness and self-development. Those were pieces that were not present in my education classes, receiving my master's degree. And there wasn't a lot of professional development out there for that as well. then I ended up once I moved back to Ohio landing a role that utilized both my science and classroom experience with my nonprofit experience. And I was at a natural history museum, loved that work, now managing adults instead of students, but seeing a lot of the same struggles that, you know, just again the what we call soft skills, you hear now referred to as durability skills, employability skills. you hear them referred to as what used to be called 21st century skills, but really they're the core success skills. That's what I I like to call them, that help us in navigating our work environment, our family lives, our our friends. Basically everything that we're navigating in the world really comes down to those core success skills. And I was introduced to Effective Leadership Academy through a mut mutual colleague. I went out to see a program in action at urban high school. and I said, you know, this all sounds amazing. I I don't clearly get how it works, so I want to go see a program. And so I walk in and I look for the kid in the back of the room and you know, who stood in like this looking bored out of his mind, kind of typical high schooler. And I turned to him and said, What did you think of this program? And he said something simple yet powerful that stuck with me and motivated me. He said, I had my first job interview yesterday and this program helped me get the job. That sold me. I I said, I want to be a part of an organization that is helping transform people's lives and and giving them these amazing opportunities. And You know, these are the skills I wish I was taught when I was younger. I would have it would have saved me a lot of mistakes that I learned the hard way. Efrain: Doing. Yeah. I that's cool. And how long have you been doing it now at ELA? Heather Lee: So I've been with Effective Leadership Academy for seven years now. Like I said, I tell people I will will retire with ELA. I I love the work that we do. Efrain: And what's your role with them? Heather Lee: So I'm the chief operating officer. I was initially brought on as the director of operations and have continued to grow with the organization as we've grown. Efrain: Wow. I mean, it's not that you just love to work. I guess leadership is also be really good over there 'cause who says I'm gonna retire at this place? No, you don't hear that often. That means that that it's a good environment to be at. Not only do you just fill your cup by showing up, but you fill your cup by being around people that really care. Would you say that? That people that you work with truly Heather Lee: Absolutely. Efrain: care about what they do? Heather Lee: That was a a huge decision. When I joined ELA, we were very small. And so I had some hesitation, you know, coming from a large nonprofit, going to a small but growing nonprofit. but the CEO sat down with me, walked me through strategy, walked me through the finances. l that vision that she had as the founder of the organization and you know, being able to start that on her own and grow it to what it was then and now what it is is today. I I was so moved by the way that not only she runs our organization, but the culture. That is a huge piece. we walk the walk. This is we Efrain: Yeah. Heather Lee: do a lot of professional development for corporations for educators, and it's focused a lot around culture and trust building. And those are things that are core to our foundation as a team. And you know, you work a lot in your life. So you want to love what you do, but also really enjoy the people that you work with. And our team is Efrain: So important, yeah. Heather Lee: phenomenal. Efrain: up? you talked about just the growth over the years. Where were you guys when you started? Where are you today? Heather Lee: Yeah, so when I started, we were around in in terms of revenue and team size, we were around about six hundred thousand. we are now at about 1.4 million in revenue. our team at the time when I started seven years ago, we had six full I was the sixth full time employee, and then we had two part-time employees. We now have once We're hiring because we're growing. So once we're fully staffed, we'll have sixteen full time, six part time, and two contractors. So it's been Efrain: That is so good. Heather Lee: it's it's been exciting. It's it's really been a journey. Efrain: Yeah. And at that I feel like at that size of employees as well, it's so it's very family. Like when you Heather Lee: Mm. Efrain: get into a big huge corporation where there's by the hundreds, you probably don't even know the people that you work with. But at this level, you truly know each other. Like, you know, is it Heather Lee: Yes. Yeah. Efrain: all remote work or you guys actually have a place to go? Heather Lee: It it's yeah, we ha we have an office. we are all over northeast Ohio we travel a lot, so we're all over northeast Ohio. Sometimes we're traveling further in Ohio. recently I was down in Circleville, not that you know where that is, but it's Efrain: Ha ha ha. Heather Lee: it's about three hours from where I live. So I was actually staying there for eight days and facilitating re-entry programming in the juvenile correctional facility. so we do travel. We also run a lot of programs virtually and have a large contract in the state of Alabama where we work with about 22 schools running programming for their ninth grade students, our Pathways to Success program. So our schedules are very mixed and we're hybrid essentially. So today I happen to be at home working from home because I'm online all day with meetings. You know, my commute to the office is kinda long. It doesn't always make sense to drive there, but we always try to have Efrain: Makes sense. Heather Lee: at least a minimum of one day a week where if people aren't at programming, we're together in the office on Mondays. but then we come in, you know, to support each other and help each other out. So, you know, some some weeks we're in the office five days as we prep for summer camps or you know, our big event. we we all kind of come together, but yeah. Efrain: So this is not what might have started local is no longer local to your county. It is something that you guys are actually spreading throughout the country. Heather Lee: Yeah, we have grown. So COVID was a time where being a smaller team, we were able to pivot quickly. and we realized we need to be online. Things are going to be shutting down. so we jumped in, we spent two full weeks together in the office planning, putting one of our most popular programs online. But also then developing professional development for educators online because that was one of the greatest stress areas that we saw for need. And that quick pivot allowed us to impact people in 17 states and four countries through the work that we do. We were hosting a lot of professional development workshops and had people joining from around the world. So it's been exciting. and we We travel, so we work with the Cleveland Clinic and train their high school student interns to be prepared to be working in a professional environment. And that's expanded now from Ohio to working with the Cleveland Clinic in Florida as well. So we travel down to Florida. we've gone out to other states as well. The the need is everywhere. I mean, when you when you think about What are employers looking for the most? All of the studies that are out there, whether they're coming from the university level or they're coming from think tanks who are researching, you know, employability and that pipeline of talent, and the results are the same no matter what the study. Organizations are looking for employees who have these core human skills, the emotional intelligence, the you know, critical thinking, collaboration. being able to engage and make you know have conversations but also make a great first impression and be able to even shake someone's hand and make eye contact. There's Efrain: Yeah. Heather Lee: a lot that has shifted with COVID for young people. and you not everyone's taught these skills. And so being able to help people and give them that that foot forward that's going to help lead to quality employment to help companies continue to shape their culture and you know their team grow their team, provide that professional development. The need is so great. So it's it's exciting to be a part of that wave of transformation. Efrain: That's so good. And I and I know you may not have these numbers on top of your head, but how many people are you guys serving on a yearly basis nowadays? I mean, going from where you were at and now what you're Heather Lee: Yeah, so Efrain: doing. Heather Lee: these won't be exact numbers, but typically in a year we're between thirty five hundred and four thousand people that were impacting through our programs. we're typically so over time we were founded in two thousand eight. and we have grown since that time. So we're in our eighteenth year, which is so exciting. and we have grown to now impact more than 65,000 people through the work we've done. We've partnered with more than 285 organizations. Again, we started mostly we work with students as young as fifth grade, but go through the adult continuum. Efrain: That's good. Yeah, you definitely found you a dream job. I mean, you're traveling the world at this point, you're helping others, you know, you're you're getting paid while doing it as well, you're changing lives. Like, how much better did you really want, Heather? You know, what I really love as as well is how you said your background was it in theater, in the drama. And I can imagine that you you still use those skills because me being in theater kinetic, we talked about this, is the things that you really learn about being. present on stage and what that actually looks like in the eye contact and the way we communicate. Really Heather Lee: Mm-hmm. Efrain: a lot of those things stem from we were kids and we were in those classes. And that's the importance of it to be quite frank. Like me still being at the level of of my old high school, I always enjoy any of the arts because there's so much Heather Lee: Hm. Efrain: focus on sports. Great. But how about these Heather Lee: Yeah, sure. Efrain: other organizations that truly help? I think in life skills, you know, while sports does help life skills as well, I think we're missing something in that theater on what it looks like to improvise as because to be quite frank, in any job you're going to have to learn how to improvise. And if you can learn those Heather Lee: Absolutely. Efrain: skills at an early age and understand that you can still actually educate yourself on improvising as well, like there's an improv class and things like that. And Heather Lee: Yeah. there are there are improv classes. Yeah. We always say yes and you know, one of the one of the improv techniques. But you're right, I think Efrain: Yeah, okay. Exactly. I love it. Heather Lee: I think it's having people learn to step outside of their comfort zone, which is something that we focus on. And it's We don't learn anything in our comfort zone. That's our our bubble. It's stepping out and being uncomfortable where the growth happens and where you're learning those new skills. And you know, I I think today in society we have our phones glued to us. The phones become a safety zone for a lot of young people where I'm uncomfortable, I can retreat into my phone. And you start to lose those those skills. And so it is reconnecting. I like how you said, being in the present moment. Efrain: Yeah, you got to. How how does it look like nowadays with that many people and having to communicate the message? where people may need answers even after these classes. Where does that look like with technology? Heather Lee: Yeah, that's that's a great question. So you know, as we we work with any of our schools, any of our corporate business partners, we take a deep dive conversation into what are their needs, what are they struggling with? you know, our goal is ultimately never to be a one and done. You know, if we work with someone for 90 minutes. that's just the tip of the iceberg. And so really looking at big picture, what are the needs and how can we help that growth and sustain that growth beyond just a single session. so some of our partners who we have worked with, we've worked with for 15 years now because they see Efrain: Amazing. Heather Lee: the value, they see the impact. so sometimes it's continuing to build on what we've done with them. Other times it's continually working with their new employees or their new students or their new interns to provide those skills because they've seen the impact. Efrain: So you guys are in the high schools, in the clinics, wherever someone is saying, Hey, we need that leadership skills. We need to Heather Lee: Mm-hmm. Efrain: so what does it look like for a high school like mine that is local that may want something like that? Is it just reaching out and figuring out what their need is and creating a budget around that? Or how does that all come about? Heather Lee: Yes, and so it's all all of the all of the above. it Efrain: Ha ha. Heather Lee: it starts with a conversation. So it really is listening to hear what are the pain points, what are they struggling with? Because yes, we offer, you know, for a lot of our school school age students, we have set programs that are tried and true, the impact is measured, the the results show the the value of the programs. But it's listening to see is one of those what will work or is it something different? you know, some of our core programs that we run regularly stemmed from those initial conversations where it was like, wow, this is a real need at this school, and we develop something. And if it's a need here, it's probably a need somewhere else as well. but really listening to the pain points, talking through some of the solutions, and the solutions, of course, come down to time, budget, you know, their and their needs. so it's a complex picture and it's working through as, you know, nonprofit, we're always looking for fun how do we fundraise and bring in investors who can help support this work. How do we invest that money so that we can have some sustainability? grant writing, that's a huge part. So sometimes we are working with a school and co-authoring a grant. sometimes we're sending the information, here's all the language, here's the impact we have, and they're writing the grant. and you know, we've had some districts who have said, can we pay you and have your grant person, you know, work on the grant for us. so we get creative around the the funding because with schools, that's always a barrier. I mean, school budgets are slim to none. And so finding what what's the win win. Efrain: I didn't realize that actually. And we are now focusing even on that through the foundation is raising funds as a 501c3 to then say, okay, what is it as you mentioned, what are the school needs and how do we provide back into whether it's the classrooms, whether it's the clubs, the organizations, really into the academics. because we Heather Lee: Mm-hmm. Efrain: have a booster club, so that'll take care of all the sports. Our focus is Heather Lee: Right. Efrain: how do we you're right, yeah, you do with that. I'll deal with all the academics though. but it's Heather Lee: Right. Efrain: how do we we help in these spaces? And it looks like you guys always become that helping hand, more like a business partner. in a sense. it looks Heather Lee: Mm-hmm. Efrain: like what you guys come across because the grants definitely needed. I always say as a foundation foundation, we like help build the bridge. They gotta maintain the bridge. Is that kind of the role that you guys play? Is like you guys help build these bridges, also become the bridge at times, for the schools and then kind of focus on on where else you can make an impact. Heather Lee: Yeah, I I like that visual and and how you said bridge. I also like that you used the word partner. very much that is how we describe, you know, working with a school. It's a partnership. we are in there to support the critical and important work that they're already doing and build and expand that. So it is a great, great visual. Efrain: Yeah. Heather Lee: and I think too, it's making the connections to help figure out the financial side. Sometimes even making the connections where if they're saying this is a pain point, but that's not our lane, we work with so many other other nonprofits who we said, Have you heard of so and so? and being able Efrain: Mm-hmm. Heather Lee: to make connections as well for them. so yeah, it's Efrain: So so with the business model that you guys have, funding usually is not like right now where nonprofits are really struggling and panicking because of funding. It seems Heather Lee: Mm-hmm. Efrain: like you guys kind of get around that by providing that service, right? Is that correct? Or do you guys still kind of feel in the rift? Yes and Heather Lee: Yeah. well, yeah, I'm I'm not gonna lie, the the financial side of you know being a non profit and just things that are are happening right now in our country, it's y finances are impacted for sure. but it's having a diversified revenue stream, so Fee for service again if we there are some schools who they have a grant already or they have a pocket of money that was designated for this. you know, so there are some schools who say, Yep, we we've got it covered, we can pay. but a lot of times it is really being creative because the demand from nonprofits for funding is so high right now. That collaborating on grants and even sometimes working with another nonprofit and a school, you have a richer ask because they're able to fund multiple partners through that ask instead of just one organization. So that's been, you know, something we're exploring. We recently connected locally with the Cleveland Foundation in Ohio and started a quasi-endowment. That was a big thing that we were working towards was building an endowment. So that we are starting to develop that sustainability piece. So now when we talk with investors, you know, who might be private funders, individuals who want to donate to the work that we do, instead of designating it all straight to a program that then depletes the funds right away, it's talking with them to navigate the now impact with the ongoing impact and being able to invest a portion of what they're giving. Efrain: That whole endowment situation, I'm learning myself right now because of the organization, realizing that it is something a lot of organizations should probably take a look at in that space of endowment. Like it goes back to education. We don't know what we don't know. So it's funny that you say endowment Heather Lee: Yeah. Efrain: because now I feel like I don't know a lot, but I could definitely have a conversation around it. because the goal for the foundation that I I run is that they were trying to get to a million dollars by like twenty sixteen. They didn't get Heather Lee: Mm-hmm. Efrain: there, but the goal was to see that million dollars in perpetuity do anywhere between thirty to fifty thousand dollars at a starting budget. we're at 707,000. I feel like I won't Heather Lee: Sure. Yep. Efrain: hang up the boots until I get to that million because I feel like we're really close there. but Heather Lee: I like it. Perseverance. It's good. Efrain: you know it it is cool to know that people are getting into a different space. I felt like right now where we're at at a government and and what it looks like for federal funds. Is it is not a time to truly panic. It is a time to pivot. We did it during the pandemic. You guys talked about it. We were that small and mighty team that was willing to pivot and that allowed us to just go further. And I think when Heather Lee: That's great. Efrain: or when leaders really look at their organizations, is the best thing that we could do today is pivot. Sometimes it is having to scale back and say, Okay, let's kind of scale back to move forward. That is okay. I mean, Heather, I can imagine if you're Heather Lee: Mm, absolutely. Efrain: speaking to a lot of nonprofit leaders, you're speaking to people that have are feeling the rift of what's happening. What is your like words of encouragement to them? Because we are speaking today to our colleagues, those that Heather Lee: Mm-hmm. Efrain: are that are living the same life that we're living. Heather Lee: I I I love what you said about just connecting with our colleagues. I think having a core group of leaders around you who you can trust and have the conversations with because you don't know what you don't know. what I things that I've learned have come from so many different sources and finding other mentors in the community and people who I can connect with who maybe our larger nonprofits, smaller nonprofits, so that there's a give and a take. We're sharing advice, we're giving advice. that's been really helpful. also, we're fortunate we have a human services chamber in north northeast Ohio. And so we have joined that, and that is a forum for nonprofits to come together. They offer a lot of advice around things. they you know offer services to connect to for HR or you know, other services that smaller nonprofits may not have in place individually within their own organization. So I think it's connecting with the the community and finding those resources is valuable. Efrain: They're out there. You just gotta go looking for it. Right. A lot of times Heather Lee: N Efrain: people don't know what's out there until they start speaking about it or we start speaking about it. Heather Lee: Right. Efrain: so that's kudos. And even when you talked about kind of going back into just the ability to provide grants to a school that didn't know a grant is existed, or what does that look like? They're that's building the bridge, right? I'm I'm in a space now where this foundation is not getting any grants, but I know there's grants out there. How do I work with the school, as you mentioned, to figure out the need? To figure out the right person that says, hey, either we can find you a grant writer or hey, this is everything that you need to write that grant. The Heather Lee: Mm-hmm. Efrain: truly the resources I believe are out there. But if we're kind of comfortable, you talked about comfortable earlier, if Heather Lee: Yeah. Efrain: we're comfortable in do doing the same exact things over and over and over and expecting change, it's just not going to happen, Heather. So I love that everything Heather Lee: Yeah. Efrain: that you talked about is an organization that is growing and also pivoting to figure out. what is that next chapter of, you know, ELA look like? So is there Heather Lee: Yeah. Efrain: anything else that you have when 'cause I can imagine as a COO, you're working alongside the CEO, you guys have a strategic plan. What does it look like for you guys in the next three to five years? How does that growth look? Heather Lee: Yeah, that's a great question. We're actually at a point of revisiting our strategic plan. as we as we navigate that, I think there's some core things we're focusing on. So I can't I can't say three to five years necessarily at this point because we're starting to paint that picture now. aside from continuing to grow and expand. Efrain: Yeah. Heather Lee: but as we grow, I think. There's good there's growing pains that happen. You know, you're building the plane as you're flying it. And so we are looking at right now as we move into 2027, focusing internally on our SOPs and making sure we have processes in place to s continue to support that growth, to continue to support the communication that happens as your team grows. looking at how do we use AI and technology to create efficiencies within the organization because we have to have those foundations in place to continue to support the larger growth of the organization. Efrain: Before we wrap it up, I gotta ask you, because you mentioned it, AI. Do you feel people are f falling behind with the technology? Or cause it not a lot of people, believe it or not, there's schools that are scared to use it, there's organizations scared to use it, but you're just like, we gotta figure it out. It's here. It where Heather Lee: Mm-hmm. Efrain: do you guys sit with that? Heather Lee: Yeah, it's here. We just drafted our own internal AI policy. so that was you know, a big step navigating okay, what are our own policies, making sure that we're protecting ourselves because there's, you know, you can purchase platforms, what you're putting out there, if you're putting out proprietary materials on a free site, now you're essentially, you know. giving away your materials in a sense, not protecting them. So we've had a lot of internal conversations, but the reality is that our world moves at such a fast pace now. And AI is a part of our lives. And so I think it's embracing it while still honoring the truth that you have within your, you know, the cre not losing your own creativity. There is a human side to the AI that is so critical. And so, you know, we never want to go to the full extreme. I think it's very much looking at how do we continue to utilize it to evaluate it, to review it, and we're not just expecting it to do our jobs, but we're using it as a tool to help us become more efficient. Efrain: I love it. I love that you say it is just a tool because it's exactly what it is. I can hold you up here, Heather, for another 30 minutes. I so appreciate your time and just the knowledge around what you guys are doing. I think it's phenomenal. Listening to you, Heather Lee: Thank you. Efrain: yeah, of course. Listening to you, it truly I know why you said it's I'm not going anywhere. Cause you're having fun. Like to be in the space that you're at of the school, connecting them with the resources. Cause sometimes being in the school, you're very limited. You're being on the outside of it and really being able to curate and and understanding what the need is because you had the first hand experiences is is no better than that. You're not speaking from just someone that's looking at data, but someone that's physically been in the data, that's been a part of the system. So I can't I can't wait to see what you guys truly do. Cause this just look like you just are getting started. You're talking about you're building the plane while trying to fly it. At some point, that plane is just flying. You guys are sitting there just cruising. Heather Lee: That that's right. I was gonna say Efrain: So just remember never stay comfortable, right Heather? You said it. Heather Lee: once that plane's cruising, then we're we're building a whole nother plane and Yeah. Efrain: I done played, there you go. Heather, thank you so much for your time. Where can people find this information before we go? What's the website, social media? Heather Lee: Yes, thank you, Ephraim. It is www.effectivela.org. Efrain: Love it. This has been Heather Lee. My name's Ephraim. We'll catch you guys the next one. Latest. Heather Lee: Thank you.