I know the idea behind this year’s 30th and last Fight Night held on Thursday, November 14^th was to hit a high note, but did it really have to be the best one ever?  The quality of the event had the guests, including this one, begging for more.  Isn’t it possible to do one perhaps every other year?  Please?

Anyway, let’s go inside.  The reception hall has become a staple of this celebration.  There were a dozen open bars, four signature drink stations at which most had more than one signature drink, and six silent auction tables focused primarily on sports memorabilia.  The games that attendees could play were in place, such as golf, basketball, and hockey.  Mascots from all of the major District of Columbia sports teams mingled among the guests including Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln from the Washington Nationals.  It was here that I ran into Keith Gordon, the CEO of Fight for Children, the organization that puts on this gala.  I asked him his feelings about tonight.

“When we reflected on this evening,” Mr. Gordon replied, “we thought about Joe [Joseph E. Robert, Jr., the founder of Fight for Children and the creator of Fight Night].  We reminisced about everything Joe would have wanted to accomplish in his lifetime.  When we see all the people supporting this event we picture Joe smiling from heaven.”  Mr. Robert passed away at the end of 2011 from brain cancer.

I then moved over to the Red Carpet to catch a glimpse of the Legends of Boxing.  In attendance were “Buster” Douglas, Ray Mancini, Gerry Cooney, Earnie Shavers, and Sugar Ray Leonard.  They all looked great.

Also present at the Red Carpet was Jim Gibson.  Mr. Gibson was an extremely close friend of Mr. Robert’s.  He produced the first 22 Fight Nights.  I asked him about its origin. 

“We had no money,” Mr. Gibson recalled.  “We had no budget.  Joe said he wanted music so I brought over my home stereo.  Much much different from today’s experience.”

I then moved back to the reception area since transitioning from one space to the other is especially fun.  In the rapidly expanding crowd I found myself standing next to David Fensterheim, Fight for Children’s board chair.  Of course, I also inquired of him regarding his view about the last Fight Night.

“It’s very bittersweet,” the Fight for Children chairman asserted.  “I know that Joe would want us to go out on top.  This may be the end of Fight Night but we are ready for Fight for Children 2.0.”

It was then time to enter the ballroom.  It became immediately clear that Fight Night had been restored to its previous iconic incarnations.  Back, after a year’s absence, were the 180 hostesses, but instead of wearing red cocktail dresses these were dark blue and generally more conservative.  As guests arrived female acrobats were performing routines on the boxing rink stationed as always in the middle of the expansive hall.  They could also be found on the stage in the back behind the tables.  Some danced with incandescent hula hoops.  Loud music and laser lights filled the air.  Images from previous Fight Nights appeared on suspended video screens around the perimeter of the ring.  2,000 attendees, predominately men in black tie, immediately starting smoking the cigars located on each table. 

After the introduction of the Legends of Boxing by Mr. Fensterheim, the attendees were provided with an exceptionally classy act.  All of the previous Fight Night Chairmen were brought onto the ring and presented with red boxing robes with hoods complete with their last name embroidered on the back.  Then it was announced that Luke Robert, one of Joe Robert’s sons, would accept the robe on behalf of his father.  A plaque containing a picture of Mr. Robert accompanied the robe.  Luke then announced to the audience that “Dad is blushing right now.”

Dinner was being served complete with the traditional foot-long steaks and mashed potatoes.  Some things should never change.

Toward the end of his life, Mr. Robert’s friend, musician Kenneth Brian Edmonds, known as Babyface, wrote the song “Hey Joe” about him. It was set to a montage of images from Mr. Robert’s time on earth.  For the 30^th Fight Night the pictures accompanied the song were redone and the new video was then played for attendees.

Afterwards Mr. Fensterheim thanked former Fight for Children board chair Raul Fernandez, former Fight for Children president and CEO Michela English, former board member Mayor Anthony Williams, Mayor Muriel Bowser, the Roberts family, and the staff of Fight for Children including Michelle Babst, Kim Stevenson, Liz Warnecki, Ellett Toomey, and Judy Wrench for all of their contributions to Fight for Children.   

Boxing was next on the agenda.  In a 10 round match Sam Teach became the new USBA Jr. Champion when he defeated the previous Champion Sonny Fredrickson.  It was a battle worthy of the significance of the night.

A performance by the Redskins cheerleaders followed the boxing with the women in uniforms identical to those worn for years at this event.  Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band “Cheap Trick” then gave a highly energetic performance to a boisterous audience.

It was then unfortunately the moment everyone left the ballroom for the after party back at the reception space where we started.  Naughty by Nature, a Grammy award-winning hip hop band, entertained the group.

I just stood wondering if I would ever see this sight again.

Fight Night raised approximately $3 million. Since its inception the function has brought in over $65 million to support the health and education of low income youth.

I have to give tremendous credit to Fight for Children CEO and President Keith Gordon and his team.  I don’t know how they do it, but each year Fight Night gets better and better and last Thursday night was no exception.  Please allow me to take you inside.

The gala started with the reception and silent auction.  This part of the evening has customarily served as the prelude to the main event inside the Washington Hilton’s ballroom.  However, the initial portion of the festivities has become more substantial, and now competes for utter enjoyment with the formal program.  First of all, several attendees commented to me positively regarding the Code of Conduct that greeted them at the entrance.  It was a classy touch that seemed perfectly appropriate in the wake of the #metoomovement that had the organizers replace the women hostesses in red gowns of previous years with male and female waiters in sports officiating attire.

In the middle of this hall was an elevated square stage with a disc jockey in the middle spinning high-energy tunes.  On each of the four corners were individuals in the waiter’s uniform providing interpretive dancing to the music.  Throughout the room were a plethora of open bars plus the availability of signature drinks from a wide variety of liquor purveyors.  Since I felt that my job as a reporter was to completely experience the offerings I tried the “Dominicana” from Brugal Rum.

The theme of the event was “Progress in Play” that echoed Fight for Children’s new strategic direction around supporting high-quality organized sports activities for low-income youth.  Therefore, found interspersed between the items for bid were placards highlighting the work of six recent grantees that support this mission, as well as other posters extolling the academic benefits of participating in athletic activities for students.  This information was also available on rotating basis on a gigantic screen located at the back of the room.

Naturally, professional team mascots filled the room such as Screech from the Nats.  Wizards cheerleaders posed for pictures with the attendees, and as has been the case recently, there were games that guests could play stationed along the perimeter while enjoying refreshments including hot dogs and hamburger sliders with hot pretzel nuggets.  Participants tried their hand at shooting baskets, sinking golf balls on a putting green, becoming a boxer hitting a punching bag, or driving hockey pucks into holes on a target.  One of the most fascinating was one station that used virtual reality to simulate being a batter at a baseball game.

At one point I ran into Hilary Darilek, the CEO of E.L. Hayne PCS.  I was excited that it was recently revealed that her high school and elementary school are ranked at Tier 1 on the DC Public Charter School Board’s Performance Management Framework and I congratulated her on this achievement.  I was also able to say hello to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.  In addition, I caught up with Fight for Children board chair Raul Fernandez, vice chairman and owner of Monumental Sports & Entertainment.  He was obviously in a tremendously good mood.  “I want to sincerely thank everyone who comes here and supports our work,” Mr. Fernandez exclaimed.  “We are on year twenty nine and going strong.  We are really looking forward to our thirty year anniversary celebration in 2019.”

I also had the fortunate opportunity to speak to Michela English, past president and CEO of Fight for Children and current board member, who over a decade has been absolutely gracious to me.

Everyone at this sold-out black-tie fundraiser appeared to be having fun.  Soon it was time to move to the dining room.  I’ve described the appearance of this space so many times but it never fails to take my breath away.  The monitors everywhere you look, all of the well-dressed men and women who prefer socializing over taking their seats, and the center stage that also serves as the forum for boxing matches is almost too much for the senses to handle.  Here I found my friend Bret Baier, host of Special Report with Bret Baier on the Fox News Channel, who is also the chief political anchor for Fox.  Mr. Baier was close personally to Fight for Children founder Joseph E. Robert, Jr during Mr. Robert’s lifetime.  He was seated near Yousef Al Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the United States.  Mr. Robert had been instrumental in arranging a $150 million grant from the UAE to Children’s National Medical Center.  Standing next to us was Ward 4 Councilmember Brandon Todd.

The meal that included a foot-long steak was excellent as always as were the Women’s Jr. Welterwight and USBA Jr. Welterweight championship bouts.   The schedule included a moving singing of the National Anthem by Caleb Green and Bob McDonald, performances by the New Century Dance Company, a live auction, and dinner music by E3.  During this period I sat for an extended period with Ward 7 Councilmember and former Mayor Vincent Gray.  We discussed the future of Anacostia regarding public education and healthcare.

Rapper FLO RIDA was the headline entertainer.  I had no idea who he was but that was not the case with the throngs of younger audience members.  The cell phones came out excitedly from the guests, and in addition to providing a high-energy spectacle, it appears from experience that the singer excels at taking selfies with his fans from the dais.

In all the event went off as if it was a fine-tuned symphony lead by a perfectly synchronized conductor.  Fight Night, since 1990, has raised for than $65 million for at-risk children.

 

 

 

 

Later this evening approximately 2,000 guests will gather at D.C.’s Washington Hilton to join Fight for Children’s Fight Night, this area’s signature gala that has raised over $65 million since 1990 for the benefit of low-income children living in the nation’s capital.  Fight for Children founder Joseph E. Robert, Jr., who passed away at the end of 2011 and who created Fight Night, would be especially proud of his organization because it has continued to evolve as it has matured.  Under the leadership of president and chief executive officer Keith Gordon and board chair Raul Fernandez, Fight for Children has established as its focus ensuring that at-risk youth are afforded the opportunity to participate in high quality sports activities.  The new strategic goal was developed in the context of evidenced-based research that shows that students involved in meaningful sports programs, compared to non-athletes, have 40 percent higher standardized test scores, are absent from school 50 percent less often, have an increased high school graduation rate by 11 percent, and are 4 times more likely to go to college.

In order to support this mission, Fight for Children has renewed its commitment as a granting institution.  Recently, it announced its financial support for five local non-profits that are helping children become socially and emotionally connected, achieve academic success, and are working to set them on the right track for a successful future.  The group estimates that more than 4,250 students next year will benefit through these awards.  The grantees are:

Beacon House – According to Beacon House’s website, in addition to its after-school academic mentoring program, it “engages over 300 boys and girls annually in an award-winning athletics program which reinforces the importance of school and the prioritization of education.”

DC Scores – Through soccer, poetry writing, and community service-learning, DC Scores provides an after-school program for over 2,800 third through eighth grade students in the nation’s capital.

Student-Athletes Organized to Understand Leadership – The grant allows approximately 100 ninth through twelfth grade students’ participation in SOUL’s College Access Study Hall (CASH) program.  Tutors, athletic trainers, and others work to break the cycle of poverty for low-income student athletes.

Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy – Through WNYBA’s YBA summer and after-schools program, 840 six to twelve your old students living in Wards 5, 7, and 8 play baseball and softball and are provided with mentors.

Washington Tennis and Educational Foundation – For children living in Ward 7, WTEF engages 150 first through twelfth grade students in its two decades old Center for Excellence program involving the playing of tennis and other educational activities.

Tonight we will celebrate the excellent work being performed by these entities and others, raise more money for under-served youth in our city, and have a great time.  Joe Robert would not want it any other way.

The theme of the high-octane 2017 Fight for Children’s Fight Night was “The Power Within” and the 2,000 guests had no difficulties getting behind the idea.  The welcome reception was a grab bag of activities that ignited the senses.  After you obtained a beverage from one of the numerous open bars and nibbled on some food you could wander over to the virtual reality experience station where, with the addition of 3-D glasses, you became a hockey goalie defending against four other players.  Passing on either side of you would likely be a member of the cheerleading squad from the Mystics, Nationals, or Wizards.  In fact, even President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, one of the National’s contestants in their President’s races, hung out with the crowd, at one point dancing in front of the disc jockey on the dance floor with the Slapshot, the official mascot of the Washington Capitals.

This was the same room in which attendees bid on tables of silent auction items, which ranged from restaurant meals to sports memorabilia.  I gravitated admittingly on more than one occasion over to the Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse restaurant booth that provided all you could drink glasses of Caipirinha, the country’s national cocktail made fresh on the premises.

It was shortly thereafter that I ran into D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.  I wanted to know what she thought of the job Antwan Wilson was doing as DCPS Chancellor.  “Fantastic,” she exclaimed.

The number of people inside the hall was now really beginning to build.  Attendees could shoot baskets, hit golf balls onto a fairway, or ring a bell hitting a pivot with a large mallet.

I then had the chance to speak with Fight for Children president and chief executive officer Keith Gordon.  I asked him what excited him about tonight.  “Everything,” he responded without hesitation.  “We have rock music, mixed martial arts, and are even auctioning off a Washington National’s Chopper.  There is a special spirit to Fight Night.”

That spirit appeared to levitate the men in black tie into the main ballroom.  There in the center was the first change from last year. The customary four-cornered ring had been replaced by one with 10 sides surrounded by fencing, a decagon I would later learn it is called, to hold one of the four MMA bouts sponsored by the Professional Fighters League.  If you have never seen MMA matches, I think a fair way to describe them as boxing on steroids in which participants use their feet as well as their gloved hands to battle.

The entertainment included Laith Al-Saadi, from NBC’s “The Voice,” singing great American songbook pieces from a stage at the back of the room.  I paid my respects to Bret Baier, the Fox News political director and anchor of “Special Report.”  Sitting not far from him was Kaya Henderson, the former DCPS Chancellor who seconded Mayor Bowser’s positive opinion of the work of the man who replaced her.  It was also great to see Michela English, the former president and CEO of Fight for Children.  She had kind words for me as she always did during the decade that she was in her position.  I was especially grateful to speak to Father John, the CEO of the Archdiocese of Washington, who I met when I participated this year with Catholic Charities’ “Cup of Joe” event that assembles breakfasts for temporarily homeless individuals staying in one of the organization’s Washington, D.C. shelters.  The activity is named after Fight for Children founder Joseph E. Robert, Jr.

Smiling throughout the festivities, and seated ringside, was the vice chairman of Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Fight for Children chairman Raul Fernandez.  As multitudes of friends and associates came to greet him he certainly appeared to be ecstatic about the overwhelming strong support around this annual gala.

The program included, as is customary, an introduction of the legends of boxing, a live auction, and an acrobatic dance routine by the Washington Redskin’s cheerleaders.  The headlining entertainment was provided by the hard-driving Royal Machines, performing from the same space that had only recently hosted the fighters.  Individuals meandered around the space in lively conversation, cigar smoke billowed in the room, hostesses in red gowns brought refreshments to the tables, and foot-long steaks filled the dinner plates.  All was apparently perfectly well with Fight Night, after 28 years of proudly raising money to support low-income children’s health and education.

After midnight, it was time to move over to the after party.

 

 

 

This evening, I will once again attend the spectacle that is Fight for Children’s Fight Night, the 28^th year for this gala that has raised more than $60 million dollars for children’s health and education.  The event was created by Fight for Children founder Joseph E. Robert, Jr.  Over 2,000 guests will be entertained in the Washington Hilton ballroom which will feature for the first time mixed martial arts (MMA) match-ups through the Professional Fighters League.  In fact, the bouts can even be seen live-streamed at ProfessionalFightersLeague.com, Facebook Live, YouTube, Periscope, via the FITE TV app, and on the Kiswe Mobile App.  The musical performance features the popular rock group Royal Machines, a band that includes music legends Mark McGrath, Chris Chaney, Josh Freese, Donovan Leitch, Billy Morrison, Steve Stevens, and special guest Sebastian Bach.

This year, more than ever, we could use the presence of Mr. Robert, who sadly passed away due to brain cancer at the end of 2011.

There are numerous tremendous contributions we think about when we remember this man.  The $150 million gift he arranged six years ago from the government of Abu Dhabi to D.C.’s Children’s National Health Center comes immediately to mind.  His establishment of the Washington Scholarship Fund, the precursor to the Opportunity Scholarship Program, provided tuition scholarships to children living in poverty in the nation’s capital. The Three-Sector Approach that he championed, the Congressional funding that gives equal dollars to DCPS, charters, and the voucher plan, lives on to this day and resulted in the OSP being reauthorized last year.  Fight for Children, under the strong leadership of president and CEO Keith Gordon, is continuing Mr. Robert’s mission by focusing on improving the pedagogy taking place in early childhood education in all of our city’s schools, whether they be traditional, charter, or private.  I interviewed Mr. Gordon earlier this year

But there are many less headline-grabbing actions he took during his life to make this world a better place.  An astonishing example was recently provided by Children’s Hospital’s president and chief executive officer Kurt Newman in his fantastic new book “Healing Children.”  It details, among other heartwarming stories spanning Dr. Newman’s 30 years as a pediatric surgeon, Mr. Robert’s fierce determination to improve the patient experience that came as a result of his son having surgery under the Children’s CEO’s care.

There is one more of his accomplishments I would like to highlight.  Mr. Robert had a great many friends in his lifetime across diverse spheres.  Among them were entertainers such as Quincy Jones and Babyface.  In the political world he was extremely close to General Colin Powell, and he convinced D.C. Mayor Marion Barry to support school vouchers.   Businessmen such as Raul Fernandez, vice chairman of Monumental Sports & Entertainment who is also chairman of Fight for Children’s board; Kevin Plank, whose company Under Armour is a Fight Night sponsor; and the late Jim Kimsey, one of the founders of AOL, were associates.  In fact, the lineup of people just trying to greet Mr. Robert at this annual fundraiser could last into the early morning hours.

Those who loved Joe Robert crossed party lines, races, religions, and ethnic backgrounds.  He had this purely magical ability and undeniable spirit around a supreme effort to bring individuals together and get them to donate their time and money to assist those less fortunate than themselves.  It is a quality of mankind we so desperately need today.

Fight for Children, known for sponsoring the annual fundraiser Fight Night, is trying something new and innovative in an effort to focus attention on the importance of early childhood education.  Fight for Children Week is being held Monday, September 25th through Friday, September 29th and includes activities for community members, educators, business leaders, and policy makers.

Let’s start with ways that the community can show support for Fight for Children’s mission “to ensure that all kids in Washington, D.C., especially those in the highest need areas, receive a quality early education and a solid foundation for future success.”  There are promotions at multiple area restaurants where a portion of proceeds will go to support Fight for Children:

• Month of September:  $1 from the sale of each slice of the Pie of the Month from Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Seafood,
• Week of September 24th to 30th:  Proceeds from the sale of all of D.C.’s Taylor Gourmet’s Cookies for Children,
• Monday, September 25th:  10% of sales from Cava at Dupont Circle during the hours of 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. when you mention Fight for Children at check-out,
• Wednesday, September 27th:  &pizza will donate $2 from the sale of every pizza from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Chinatown, Dupont Circle, and Columbia Heights locations but the digital flyer must be shown at checkout, and
• Thursday, September 28th:  20% of sales from the Roti Modern Mediterranean at 1629 K Street from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. but the digital flyer must be shown at checkout.

Follow Fight for Children on Facebook and Twitter to obtain the digital flyers.

Events for educators, business leaders, and policy makers include:

• Tuesday, September 26:  Coffee, Conversation, and Controversy is an invitation-only breakfast series that will bring people together to discuss important topics around early education.  The goal of the discussion “is to identify concrete actions that can be taken by key members of the community to further improve the educational experiences and outcomes for D.C.’s youngest citizens.”  The first session will focus on the subject of implicit bias and will be moderated by Dr. Walter S. Gilliam, the Director of the Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy and Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology at the Yale University Child Study Center.
• Wednesday, September 27:  Organizations are encouraged to have employees wear jeans to work and make a donation to Fight for Children while communicating the importance of early childhood education.  There will be a special media event on this day and people who share pictures of themselves in jeans on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #Jeans4Children could win tickets to Fight Night.
• Thursday, September 28th:  A daylong conference for teachers and leaders on topics such as Quality Project-Based Learning in the Early Years, Children Are Citizens: Reflecting on a Year of Inquiry, Global Artifacts:  Using Objects to Help Kids Consider Perspectives, Leading Their Own Learning:  Early Elementary Explorations of Their Neighborhood, and Seeing With All Our Senses.  The event is being held at the FHI 360 Conference Center.
• Friday, September 29th:  Volunteer at Eagle Academy PCS, a Fight for Children partner school.  More information to come.

Additional details about these events can be found here and at the Fight for Children website.

The organization highlights the following information about the importance of high quality early childhood education.  For low-income children lacking this type of schooling:

• 25% more likely to drop out of school
• 40% more likely to become a teenage parent
• 70% more likely to be arrested for a violent crime

It looks like a truly exciting week to help our youngest neighbors get off to a great start in life.

 

 

I had the pleasure recently of sitting down with Keith Gordon, president and chief executive officer of Fight for Children.  Mr. Gordon is no stranger to this organization.  He joined the non-profit in 2015 as the chief operating officer.  The story of how Mr. Gordon became associated with Fight for Children is fascinating.

Mr. Gordon was working in Washington, DC as president of the National Football League Players Incorporated, which is the for-profit subsidiary of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA).  He was in charge of all business units including player licensing, sponsorship, marketing, events, and procurement.  In his six years in this role he grew the NFLPI to become a $150 million enterprise.  Also around this interval, Mr. Gordon moved his wife Mary and 18 month old son Matthew to the area from his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, where he soon welcomed a daughter, Mia, to their growing family.  While he absolutely loved the job, he soon found that the travel demands including constant air and train trips became very disruptive to his family life.  As Mr. Gordon says, “my wife and children were growing and learning how to live without me, and I had a choice to make.”  After six years of trekking around the globe on behalf of the NFLPA, Mr. Gordon made a bold decision, announcing that he would leave the NFLPA following the Super Bowl in Phoenix to spend more time with his family.  At that moment, Mr. Gordon did not commit to another firm, opting instead to consult for a variety of organizations while exploring opportunities in the area.

During this period a recruiter contacted him about an opening at Fight for Children for a chief program officer.  Having attended Fight Night over the years, Fight for Children’s annual fundraiser, he was already familiar with the event and parent organization.  He vividly remembers attending Fight Night in 2014 after his conversation with the recruiter, and viewing the fundraiser now through a very different lens – that of a producer. Through his prior experience at the NFLPA and his sports marketing background with several advertising agencies, combined with seven years at the marketing and business operations group at the National Basketball Association (NBA), he began to imagine the opportunity and the strategic direction in which this gala could grow, in particular with Under Armour as the presenting sponsor.

In addition, as if the stars were aligned for the future direction of his career, Mr. Gordon had been active for several years with YPO, a global networking and educational membership community of chief executives.  Fight For Children’s founder, Joseph E. Robert, Jr., was also associated with YPO, along with several of his close friends including Raul Fernandez, the current chairman of the Fight for Children board of directors.  With these connections in place, the recruiter convinced him to have a conversation with Michela English, then president and CEO of Fight for Children.

Ms. English and Mr. Gordon met and had what Mr. Gordon described as “an honest conversation” about where Fight for Children was and where it was going, although not everything was mapped out at that point.  He was hired into the role of chief operating officer as Ms. English recognized the need for a professional manager and business person who could also build upon Mr. Robert’s vision for the entity whose mission is to “fight to ensure low-income children in Washington, D.C. receive a great education and stay healthy so they can learn.”

I inquired of Mr. Gordon what it was like to work with Ms. English, who retired as president and CEO at the end of 2016.  He answered without hesitation.  “The importance of Michela to Fight for Children cannot be overstated,” Mr. Gordon responded forcefully.  “After the passing away of Mr. Robert in December 2011, the company could have simply vanished.  Instead, she provided stability and credibility to the organization, and between Michela and Mr. Fernandez they successfully transitioned a family foundation to a lean, purposeful, smart nonprofit.  She taught me that there is much more that we can do to help people.  Michela has an amazingly positive attitude and outlook.  She has more professional relationships than almost anyone you’ve ever met. Everything she did was intentional in protecting Joe Robert’s legacy as a philanthropist.  For her, it was all about others and she was never self-serving in any manner.”

According to Mr. Gordon, over the last two years Fight for Children has focused on strengthening early childhood education and supporting children so that they have a path to success.  He pointed out that Washington, D.C. is already leading the United States in providing access to education for kids between the ages of three and eight, so now the issue of the quality of learning has become paramount.  “We know that if we are going to eliminate the academic achievement gap we have got to start early,” Mr. Gordon asserted.  “We now have 70 percent of the city’s three year olds and 84 percent of four year olds enrolled in school.  However, research such as The Office of the State Superintendent of Education 2016 report entitled “The State of Pre-K in the District of Columbia” and articles from the think tank New America continue to demonstrate that there is more to be done to improve Pre-K instructional quality in the District.”

Mr. Gordon reminded me that four years ago Fight for Children created their first of many programmatic initiatives with the vision of making “early education in Washington, D.C. the best in the country.”  As part of the recently released three-year strategic plan, the FFC CEO detailed that there are now three areas of concentration for the organization.  “The first,” Mr. Gordon elucidated, “is to improve the quality of instruction taking place in the schools.  Our second aim is to provide specific student supports that will increase the probability of future success.  Our third goal is to build a solid community commitment to early childhood education.”

As far as specific actions that are tied to the realization of these targets, Mr. Gordon provided examples including ongoing improvement in the quality and impact of programs like Joe’s Champs, providing highly targeted interventions directly for students where they are in their schools, exploring opportunities for high quality summer learning experiences, and advocating for the continued support of early childhood education from the community.

One of Fight For Children’s longest running programs, Joe’s Champs, has already had a tremendous impact.  Since inception in 2013, more than 30 schools have taken advantage of the program which includes 55 educational partners who have received 80 hours a year of professional development and coaching.  There are currently 14 schools enrolled in Joe’s Champs including traditional, charter, and private schools.

As Fight for Children continues to refine its programs including Joe’s Camp’s, the organization plans to conduct a longitudinal study to help measure the impact of these initiatives.  In the fall, Fight for Children will also start a new social issues forum called Coffee Conversation and Controversy which several times a year will tackle challenging issues facing the education sector.

Mr. Gordon is exceptionally proud of his eight-member team that is pushing hard to reform education in the nation’s capital and is not afraid to take risks.  He spoke passionately about the intentional and carefully aligned efforts that are agnostic to school sector be it traditional, charter, or private.  All of this is being done because, in the words of Fight for Children Founder Joseph E. Robert, Jr., “every child, regardless of his or her circumstances, deserves an equal shot at a great education.”

My take, after spending a couple of hours with such an energetic and upbeat individual, is that Fight for Children is in extremely competent hands.