Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/58915
Profiting From Experience Running a nonprofit organization requires passion, dedication, and tenacity. Turning that nonprofit into a force for change requires a whole new set of skills, most of them rooted in business savvy. Sara Martinez Tucker brings both true commitment and financial shrewdness to her role as CEO of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, based in San Francisco, California. When Tucker joined HSF in 1997, the organization had been in existence for more than 20 years and had distributed nearly $35 million in scholarship aid to Hispanic students seeking money for college. Tucker has expanded HSF's reach and financial base so significantly that now the fund distributes more than $25 million per year. Much of the growth can be credited to Tucker's business acumen. She received her Sara Martinez Tucker takes a corporate mindset into the not-for-profit world as she leads the Hispanic Scholarship Fund toward ambitious goals and programs. by Sharon Shinn MBA from the University of Texas at Austin in 1979 and soon joined AT&T, where she ultimately became regional vice president for the company's Global Business Commu- nications Systems. During her tenure at AT&T, she served on HSF's board before taking over the role of president and CEO. One of Tucker's key goals is to double the rate at which Hispanics earn college degrees. In 2000, HSF commissioned the RAND Corporation and the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame to tell her how. The resulting report led to the formation of various programs designed to involve families and communities in the education process and to encourage students to enroll in college and stay there. Another one of Tucker's goals is to raise more funds so the organization has more money to disburse. She knows this means making the scholarship organization "palat- able" to big-money donors. Corporate boards often don't want to fund scholarships, Tucker says, because they're so open ended: "The boards never know what happens to the scholarship recipients." She commissioned a survey by Harder + Company Community Research to discover exactly what had happened to the individuals who had received scholarships from HSF during its first 20 years. The survey uncovered the astonishing fact that 97 percent of HSF scholars earned their four-year degrees. Armed with such information, Tucker has been able to attract donors such as Lilly Endowment Inc., which provided a $50 million grant to HSF. Tucker has also secured HSF's participation in the $1 billion Gates Millennium Scholars Program, as well as count- less other partnerships with foundations, corporations, and other giving campaigns. Tucker's success at HSF has led to widespread recognition. She was named the 2000 Hispanic of the Year by Hispanic Magazine and made Hispanic Business magazine's 2003 list of America's Top 80 Elite Hispanic Women. In 2001, George W. Bush appointed her to the board of directors of the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae). Tucker also promotes the cause of education in other forums, such as the National Center for Educational Accountability. Even a brief conversation with Tucker leaves the impression that she draws on every scrap of business knowledge, every moment of her life experience, in the performance of her daily job. What's more, Tucker is extremely willing to share the lessons she's learned about for-profits and nonprofits—as well as business and education. 16 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2006