5 Questions For...Nínive Clements Calegari, CEO, 826 National
Print • Close Window Posted on September 22, 2008 Nínive Clements Calegari, CEO, 826 National In 2002, veteran school teacher Nínive Clements Calegari and author Dave Eggers co-founded 826 Valencia — named after its address in San Francisco — to help local students ages 6-18 with expository and creative writing through tutoring, workshops, field trips, publishing, and in-school programs. Since then, chapters have been established in Los Angeles, Chicago, Brooklyn, Seattle, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Boston under the umbrella of 826 National. In addition to heading 826 National, Calegari currently is helping produce a documentary film as part of the Teacher Salary Project. PND recently spoke to Calegari about 826 National, public school reform, and developments in the teacher salary movement. Philanthropy News Digest: How did the idea for 826 Valencia come about? Nínive Clements Calegari: The story begins with Dave [Eggers] and myself living and working in two different settings. I was working in public school classrooms in the Bay Area and had a hundred and forty-six students at a time, which meant I never could give my students the undivided attention I wanted to and they needed. Dave, who was a friend of mine, was in Brooklyn and was realizing that for him and his friends who were doing freelance work, there were ebbs and flows in the work that came their way. So, here was a group of highly skilled people that could be tapped, in a flexible way, to do something good for society. Dave wanted to pay special attention to people working in publishing, the industry he knew best, and he wanted to work with students.
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