As Learning Ally continues its commitment in supporting struggling readers nationwide, we’re delighted to introduce our new Chief Executive Officer, Howard Bell, III. With an impressive background in education technology leadership, a passion for equity in education, and personal experiences that have shaped his commitment to literacy, Howard brings a unique perspective to our organization’s 77-year mission.
In this candid conversation, Howard shares insights about his vision for Learning Ally, the experiences that have prepared him for this role, and his thoughts on navigating the evolving landscape of education technology.
What aspects of your experience leading education technology companies have prepared you for this role at Learning Ally?
I have learned many different things from each company as their mission, core competence, team makeup, and stakeholder values differ widely from one company to another. The one consistent theme across them all is that the solution provided by the company must solve the specific challenges encountered by the customer. Each company’s success and internal alignment depended heavily on the company-wide understanding of what problems our company is trying to solve. This alignment ensures we are moving tactically in the same direction each day and ensures we celebrate our wins and losses together.
My experience leading education technology companies has provided a multifaceted foundation for my role at Learning Ally. Each organization, despite operating within the broader edtech sector, possessed unique characteristics that have broadened my understanding of the industry. The missions varied significantly, some focused on assessment, others on curriculum delivery, and still others on professional development. Consequently, the core competencies within each company differed, requiring me to adapt my leadership style and strategic thinking to leverage the specific strengths of each team. The composition of these teams, ranging from small, agile startups to larger, more established enterprises, also presented distinct management challenges and opportunities. Furthermore, the values and priorities of stakeholders—including investors, school administrators, teachers, parents, and students—varied considerably, necessitating a nuanced approach to communication and decision-making to ensure alignment and support.
Despite these diverse environments, a central tenet has consistently underpinned my approach: the unwavering focus on the customer’s needs. The ultimate success of any edtech solution hinges on its ability to effectively address the specific challenges faced by its users. Whether it was improving student outcomes, streamlining administrative processes, or enhancing teacher effectiveness, a deep understanding of the customer’s pain points was paramount. Achieving this understanding required rigorous market research, direct engagement with users, and a culture of empathy within the organization.
Moreover, the long-term viability and internal cohesion of each company were inextricably linked to a shared understanding of the problems we were striving to solve. Company-wide alignment around this core purpose was crucial for several reasons. Firstly, it ensured that day-to-day tactical decisions were made in a consistent direction, preventing fragmented efforts and maximizing efficiency. Secondly, it fostered a sense of collective ownership and accountability, where both successes and setbacks were shared experiences, strengthening team bonds and promoting a culture of continuous improvement. This unified understanding acted as a compass, guiding strategic initiatives and ensuring that all departments were working towards a common goal.
Drawing from your previous leadership experiences, how do you plan to drive innovation at Learning Ally while maintaining organizational stability during these unpredictable times?
Great question. It starts with culture. We have to get comfortable with taking risks and failure. There is so much to learn from each other and the customers we serve. Next, I would like to take a balanced approach to innovation—making sure we innovate to meet the short-term needs of the business and working hard to ensure our existing customers see increased value each year in the solutions provided to them. Second, we work together to decide how innovation will create opportunities for enhanced service offerings and expanded student reach. And third, we look to innovate as part of an effort to create new operating models that disrupt markets in ways that enable Learning Ally to help more students. You should expect the super majority of investments to be in the first two areas as these are the most near-term and company-impacting work.
What book had the most profound impact on you as a child, and which book as an adult has shaped your professional philosophy? How do these literary experiences inform your perspective on Learning Ally’s work?
As a child, I remember a red book of fairy tales that my mother read to me at bedtime. It was a pretty classic list of stories like “Little Red Robin Hood”… but it meant the world to me. And more recently, I read “Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain” by Maryanne Wolf. Reading to children early and often is the key to a world unimagined for our children. I am convinced that early exposure is the differentiator in academic achievement. It certainly was for me. And the science seems to support the argument for almost all children. “Proust and the Squid” was an opportunity for me to begin the long journey of understanding the science of reading and its implications for struggling readers, especially readers with dyslexia. I come into Learning Ally with excitement about the opportunity to help so many but with the humility of knowing that I have only scratched the surface of my understanding of the challenge. You’ll find that I am a great listener who doesn’t need to know everything. To me, that’s the meaning of “team.”
Learning Ally focuses on making education accessible to all learners. How has your previous work addressed issues of accessibility and inclusion in education?
Growing up in an underserved community provided me with a clear view of the challenges facing poor communities. As I have progressed as a professional in education technology, I’ve come to realize that these communities are spread out across the U.S. and vastly different (urban, suburban, rural), but all are in need of help. At Hobsons, I enjoyed my opening remarks to education leaders. I always gave statistics relaying the number of students failing out. And then, I’d ask the leaders to raise their hand if they wanted their child to be in that number. No one wants it. So, I feel pretty inspired to make sure no one fails. At Hobsons, we developed an algorithm that identified students (based on incoming academic experience, major, current performance) that were likely to drop out of school and alerted the school staff to intervene. At Abl, we used school data to identify students that were capable of taking more intense coursework but were not being placed in these classes. This information helped to both rescue students but also helped school leaders to ask important questions related to why these students were being left off the rolls.
How do you define success for nonprofit educational organizations beyond traditional metrics? What indicators will you be looking at to gauge Learning Ally’s impact?
I do not believe that nonprofit companies exist to operate differently from other companies simply based on a tax difference. I am excited to see Learning Ally build a business where the solutions drive business operations; where we staff our teams to meet the challenges of the market; and where the philanthropy efforts create the types of funding resources necessary to fund special projects (like the disruptive examples earlier); allow under-resourced families to access our solutions; and assist with business during down-market conditions. That all said, we will evaluate culture, financial results, how well we help our customers, and how well we communicate and sell our solutions in the market.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing literacy education in the next decade, and how is Learning Ally uniquely positioned to address them?
The challenges in literacy education are similar to the challenges in education broadly. There are many solutions in the literacy industry. Educators are looking to reduce their dependence on so many solutions and will be seeking to eliminate solutions that don’t provide evidence of effectiveness. Such evidence will be highly dependent on the processes used to measure student progress. But also, teachers will be reluctant to use solutions that appear to be burdensome and create more work. As such, tomorrow’s solutions have to address both areas to move forward in our schools.
Looking Forward
Howard Bell’s appointment marks an exciting period for Learning Ally as we continue our mission to transform the learning experience for struggling readers across the nation. His unique combination of education technology leadership, strategic vision, and personal commitment to literacy positions our organization for innovation and growth as we enter a new chapter.
To learn more about Howard Bell, III and Learning Ally read the press release.