My Work With The Chicago Instructional Technology Foundation

Last Fall I joined the Board of Directors for CITF, the Chicago Instructional Technology Foundation, and now that I’ve had a half-year’s worth of meetings, grant requests, and extracurricular work, I wanted to get some thoughts down here.First off, I really enjoy the rhythm and nature of a Board. I’ve served as the Chairman of the Queen of Angels School Board, and the acts of creating an agenda, communicating with members, and driving to decisions always made sense to me. I like the formality of motions, discussion, and voting– it leads to a refreshing form of accountability and discipline. I also like the labor that comes in-between meetings– the extra work that you do, usually based on your interests or skills.At the CITF, we fund media activities to promote progressive social change. That means I get to review funding applications from educators, filmmakers, and technologists who care about the same things I do, and fashion their work in ways that are meaningful. Powerful stuff.While I’m relatively new to this idea of helping decide which projects to fund, I’m more accustomed to being on the other end of the ask. At Queen of Angels I helped start the Development Committee and worked on the inevitable Annual Ball. I relied on outside funding for all of my book and drama projects in the late 80s and early/ mid 90s, and everyone was paid back.Funds make the world go around, and it’s nice to be a part of the world.