Molly Q. Ford sits down with Ron Smith, VP of Philanthropy at Salesforce to talk about Adopt-a-School and why Salesforce employees should spend their VTO at a school, tutoring, doing classroom cleanup, or just asking a principal what would help. Ron and Molly also get into how AI is reshaping what educators and students need, why doing nothing is worse than trying, Ron’s advice for anyone nervous about volunteering (go with four or five people, and log your hours), the values speaking to him right now, and why he shows up every day.
Molly Q. Ford sits down with Ron Smith, VP of Philanthropy at Salesforce, for an episode that starts in the principal’s office - literally, since that’s where Ron spent a big part of his career. He was a teacher, then a principal, then ran school transformation across networks in Oakland before joining Salesforce nine years ago to do the same work at national and global scale. His framing is simple: schools are the beacon of every community, and what they need most isn’t only money, books, or curriculum. It’s people walking through the door and giving their talent.
That’s the case for Adopt-A-School. Every Salesforce employee has VTO written into their contract, and Ron’s pitch is to spend it at a school: tutoring, classroom cleanup, or just asking a principal what would help. He and Molly get into why middle school is the grade band everyone skips (elementary gets the early-literacy resources, high school gets the college-and-career push, and sixth through eighth gets left to figure itself out), what Salesforce brings when it shows up, and the Principal Innovation Fund - the program Marc Benioff and former San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee started more than 13 years ago that hands middle school principals $100,000 to spend at their own discretion, no strings attached. When Salesforce surveys principals about what’s most useful in the partnership, the fund comes back number one every time.
Ron and Molly also get into how AI is reshaping what educators and students need, why doing nothing is worse than trying, Ron’s advice for anyone nervous about volunteering (go with four or five people, and log your hours), the values speaking to him right now, and why he shows up every day.
Quotes
“Schools are really the beacon of all communities. Everything surrounds schools: churches, food, business, industries. But at the heart of it, they need so much more help. It’s not just money, it’s not just books, it’s not just curriculum. It’s really getting people to go to schools and give their talents.” — Ron
“Everyone really wants to get early literacy, so elementary has had a lot of resources and families are super involved. Think about high school - everyone’s getting ready for college and career. But middle school, that sixth to eighth grade, is really challenging, and it is forgotten many times.” — Ron
“What if you gave each leader $100,000 to use any way you want, at your school site, your discretion, no strings attached? We’ve been doing this for over 13 years across San Francisco and Oakland. When we survey principals and ask what’s the number one thing they see useful in their partnership with Salesforce, the Principal Innovation Fund is always number one.” — Ron
“We actually don’t know all the jobs that are gonna be AI-ready in the future. We know that they’re coming, but we’re not sure. So how do you give young people the skills to address any career opportunity? It really gives them choice, and that’s all we’re trying to do.” — Ron
“We have to get away from the system where we’re gonna go in and tell you what to do. We have to begin the system where we’re gonna ask you what you need. Once you do that, the partnership will strive and thrive to be stronger.” — Ron
“There are young people who see this amazing, biggest tower just looking out their window and have never even stepped through the door. So how do we change that paradigm and ensure that young people have access?” — Ron
Time Stamps
[01:13] Welcome to Humans of Salesforce; Meet Ron Smith
[01:42] Ron Outside the Job: Teacher, Principal, and a Life in Education
[02:03] Coming to Salesforce in 2015–2016 to Make Change at National and Global Scale
[02:34] What Adopt-A-School Is: Schools as the Beacon of Every Community
[02:56] VTO Is in Every Contract: Tutoring, Cleanup, Whatever the School Needs
[03:45] Why Middle School Is the Grade Band Everyone Skips Over
[04:46] What Salesforce Brings: Intervention, Math, AI Skills, PD, and Mentoring
[05:23] The Goal: The Number One Support System for Middle Schools, Locally and Globally
[05:32] AI in Schools: Doing Nothing Is Worse Than Trying
[06:14] Students Are Already Ahead of Us. So How Do You Change the Adults' Mindset?
[06:47] Building the Circle of Support: Teachers, Young People, and Families
[07:04] Skills for Jobs That Don't Exist Yet - and Why It Comes Down to Choice
[07:36] The Principal Innovation Fund: How Marc Benioff and Mayor Ed Lee Started It
[08:42] Why Principals Rank the Fund Number One Every Time
[12:48] The Library They Built - and Why Libraries Get Forgotten
[13:23] New Shoes and Clean Walls: How a Beautiful Campus Sets the Mental Frame
[15:41] How to Get Involved: Site Councils, Employee Impact, and Just Asking
[17:15] Leaders Adopting Schools, and Building VTO Into Your Offsite
[18:20] Where to Find It: Benevity on Okta, Basecamp, and Slackbot
Links
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