In the summer of 2002, a tractor trailer carrying 17 pallets of donated children’s books from the Scholastic Corporation pulled up in front of Heads Up, a six-year-old nonprofit organization serving children and youth in Washington, DC. Over the next six months, the more than 20,000 books found their way to eight Heads Up sites where college students and other volunteers serve as tutors and mentors for children attending afterschool and summer programs in the poorest neighborhoods in the nation’s capital.

Jack Davies, founder of AOL International and a VPP investor since 2000, provided the spark for the extraordinary contribution—valued at more than $60,000—from Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books. But this is not a story of serendipity; it is one example of how VPP mobilizes its network of contacts and resources to help consummate relationships that improve the lives of children from low-income families in the National Capital Region.

“VPP has consciously set out to redefine the scope of philanthropy through our strategic, engaged, and highly leveraged approach,” says VPP chairman Mario Morino. “We aim to add measurable value to what our investment partners can do on their own. Our team provides a broad network of support—one that reaches across the nonprofit, for-profit, and government sectors and expands our expertise and reach exponentially.

“By tapping into this broad network,” adds Morino, “we create opportunities for our investment partners to access a spectrum of resources and contacts that might otherwise be beyond their reach.”

VPP strives to bring a specific and unique value to its relationship with each of its investment partners. By facilitating the Scholastic donation, VPP opened up the door that gave Heads Up leadership an opportunity to revise and strengthen its entire curriculum. For other nonprofit organizations, VPP has secured the services of attorneys and architects to support the acquisition of new facilities, helped agencies gain a greater voice in public policy and public funding decisions, opened doors to media coverage, and developed new funding sources.

Jack Davies’ involvement with Heads Up embodies that catalytic approach to relationship building. Having served on Scholastic’s board since September 2000, Davies is keenly aware of the power of books to change the lives of young people. Two years ago, knowing of Davies’ passion for these issues, VPP senior partner and investment director Fred Bollerer arranged an introduction to Vin Pan and Darin McKeever, the duo who had nurtured Heads Up from the drawing board to a citywide organization providing critical academic and social supports to children in distressed DC neighborhoods. Once Davies witnessed firsthand the Heads Up mentors with their engaged students, he was hooked—initially signing on as an advisor to the organization and later as a board member.

When Davies signed on, he found an energetic program with strong leadership and boundless potential in need of a critical resource: a reliable source for high quality books and materials. Davies quickly recognized the benefits of connecting Scholastic and Heads Up.

Conveying his own excitement about Heads Up, Davies described the innovative literacy program to Scholastic’s CEO Richard Robinson and Director of Community Relations Karen Proctor, asking what Scholastic might do to address the program’s need for books. Proctor met with Pan and was sensitive to Heads Up’s specific curriculum needs for grade-leveled and culturally relevant books in sufficient quantity to serve more than 600 children in Heads Up’s neighborhoods. Following a meeting with Heads Up’s directors, Scholastic announced its intention to support Heads Up with more than 20,000 books that could help Heads Up meet its goals.

Not just any books, but titles carefully selected by Heads Up staff to support a complete redesign of the curriculum. “The books spoke to themes around which our multicultural curriculum is built—everything from African-American history to contemporary issues such as friendship. From books that reinforce important academic concepts to one that simply describes the joy of building a snowman,” says Dayna Edwards, Heads Up’s curriculum, training, and evaluation specialist. “The breadth of issues covered by Scholastic’s books helped us elevate the curriculum to a richer and more sophisticated level.”

“ That result could not have been achieved without Jack Davies having an informed and comprehensive vision of what was needed,” said co-founder McKeever.

Davies has continued to spend his time and offer his financial support and his business connections to benefit Heads up. “Some funders do a hit-and-run,” says Pan. Not Davies. Rarely a week goes by when he isn’t on the phone or meeting with Pan and McKeever. “Jack brings sincere energy coupled with the savvy of an entrepreneur,” says Pan.

Davies’ involvement with Heads Up has taken many forms, including arranging for donations of computers from AOL. “But, beyond being a large individual contributor and a prolific fundraiser for the organization, Jack’s greatest gift is as a problem-solver,” says McKeever.

Davies is candid about the personal satisfaction he experiences working with Head Up and emphasizes the concrete benefits of forming strong partnerships. “The fact that these relationships can bear fruit is of great benefit to everyone—Heads Up, Scholastic, and, most importantly, the kids.”

“In many ways, Jack is the ideal prototype of the new breed of investor enlisted by VPP,” says Morino. “Through the leverage of his wide network of contacts, he is helping these strong leaders be even more effective in growing and strengthening their promising community-based organization in ways it could not readily do on its own.”