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Michael Lombardo
Founder & CEO at BookNook
Michael Lombardo is a seasoned social entrepreneur known for his rapid scaling and impactful ventures. He holds a Bachelor's degree in History & English from the University of Michigan and has also studied in the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Lombardo has an extensive background in various organizations, including being the Founder & CEO of BookNook and holding positions like Advisory Council Member at My Brother's Keeper Alliance, Social Entrepreneur in Residence at Stanford University, CEO at Reading Partners, and various roles at UC Berkeley-College of Letters & Science and East-West Center (EWC).
Highlights
I am very excited to officially announce the launch of BrightBee, a mission-driven startup addressing the K-12 staffing crisis.
We specifically focus on what are usually called ‘classified,’ ‘paraprofessional,’ or ‘support’ staff--the people who do many different critical jobs that support students and make the school run, but who don’t have a teaching credential. These workers typically make up about half of a school’s workforce and play a huge role in the culture and climate of the school.
We take a win-win approach at BrightBee, helping schools fill positions by making these jobs more rewarding for workers. Our app allows workers (which we call ‘Bees’) to flexibly create their own schedule across a variety of different kinds of jobs, while also upskilling into roles of greater responsibility and better pay. Classified roles can be lonely, so we also emphasize community among workers--corny bee puns and all. 🐝
What started as a small pilot in San José has already grown to more than 40 schools and nonprofits and over 2,500 work assignments completed by Bees--all in just 9 months. Our Bee satisfaction rate has consistently been over 96% and our school administrators have repeatedly given us a 100% satisfaction rate, with 70%+ ‘very satisfied’ with their experience.
It’s been an amazing journey so far filled with much hard work and even more learning. I am so, so grateful to everyone who helped along the way--this was truly a team effort.
For putting their shoulders in to get this thing off the ground: Jason Hammock, Zac Stein, Fernando Moreno, J.D., Shawn Joseph, Alisha (Zare) Frausto, Brennan Bearden, Jesse Kubanet, Isaac kasongoyo, Kevin Davie, Pallav Soni, Clare McKenna, Morgan Gilliam, Travis Lekich, Steven A. Jackson, SPHR, Gabriel Whittemore.
For advice, connections, mentorship, and so much more: Jinal Jhaveri, Dan Carroll, Scott D. Saslow, Joey Gutierrez, Mandela SH Dixon, Brian Dixon, Neil Jaffe, Justin Berman, Jacqueline Murphy, Dr. Nicole M. Mancini, CCC-SLP, Sito Narcisse, Curtiss Sarikey, Hae-Sin Kim Thomas, Terry Whitfield, Carmen Kennedy-Rogers, Ed.D., Donald E. Fennoy II, Ed.D, Robert Goetsch.
And special thanks to Preston Smith and the Rocketship Public Schools team and Stacey Wang and the Yu Ming Charter School team for being our first pilot partners. I am humbled that two such excellent leaders would take a chance on yet another of my new ideas.
#Education #Staffing #FlexibleWork #EducationCareers #K12
Great opportunity to work with me to advance public policy that supports learning acceleration for students across the US. Please help spread the word!
