Letter to our community: My first day as Executive Director

Dear Tutoring Plus Community,

Today, I’m honored to officially step into the role of Executive Director of Tutoring Plus. 

My Tutoring Plus journey began in 2019. Shortly after I moved to the Greater Boston area, I started as a part-time Program Assistant. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of growing with this organization, most recently as Director of Programs. Each role has shown me a different side of Tutoring Plus: the day-to-day realities of our programs, the power of our partnerships, and the deep relationships that make this work possible. 

At every transition point, I’ve carried relationships with students, families, volunteers, staff, partners, and supporters. All of which are essential to our work. Elementary and middle schoolers whom I met over six years ago are graduating from high school and planning for their next steps.

One of those moments happened recently. If you attended our fundraiser last year, you may remember Anania. He spoke of us nagging him about our program expectations, the friendships he made at Tutoring Plus, and his passion for science and engineering. Before this past winter break, he called me right after learning he had been accepted to MIT! That phone call and celebrating that moment with him and his family immediately grounded me. So much nonprofit work happens behind screens or in meetings; being invited into a young person’s core memory like that is both humbling and deeply reaffirming.

That phone call came during my last week as Director of Programs, a role that involves so much student-facing time. It felt especially prescient at a moment of transition. I’ve tried (and failed) to fully put words to that feeling. It’s a sudden mix of unbridled thrill, humility, and awe. Even if only for a moment, the stressors and anxieties fall to the side, and you’re reminded exactly what our students are capable of and why this work matters.

Tutoring Plus was founded more than 60 years ago with a simple but powerful belief that individualized academic support, mentorship, and enrichment can help close opportunity gaps and expand what’s possible for students. A group of moms in the Port neighborhood of Cambridge, seeking better futures for their children, partnered with MIT to create this organization. Our decisions are rooted in this idea of meeting community needs, and many important inflection points in our organization’s history reflect this. We remain a strong presence in the Port neighborhood, we launched tutoring at Rindge Towers 10 years ago, we recently created options for students to attend multiple nights per week, and we partner with incredible community-based organizations to provide both academic support and wraparound services.

At the same time, systemic barriers remain. Resources are still unequally distributed, and Black and Brown students and families continue to face challenges that shape educational journeys in profound ways. We currently serve hundreds of students across Cambridge, the vast majority of whom face systemic barriers related to income, race, disability, and language access. Advancing educational equity and closing opportunity gaps are, at their core, issues of race and class and more. While Tutoring Plus cannot solve these challenges alone, we can (and do) play a meaningful part. Students continue to show growth in academics, confidence, and connection when supports and resources are accessible. 

As Executive Director, my focus will be on strengthening what we do best while positioning Tutoring Plus for a sustainable and impactful future. That means including and centering community voices in decision-making processes, deepening program quality and partnerships, investing in our volunteers and staff, diversifying our fundraising, and thoughtfully planning for growth to reach more students – all without losing what makes Tutoring Plus special.

To those of you I haven’t met yet, I look forward to crossing paths. And to those I’ve worked alongside over the years, thank you for your trust, your partnership, and your belief in our students. I invite you all to join us as collaborators, conspirators, celebrators, and champions of students’ successes.

I’m deeply grateful to our Board of Directors for their leadership and entrusting me with this role; to our staff for their commitment and resilience as we work towards our mission; to our volunteers for being the reason students are excited to come to Tutoring Plus; to our students for reminding me to have fun and be a lifelong learner; to the families who we rely on for so many things; and to our donors, partners, and supporters who make Tutoring Plus what it is. Tutoring Plus is truly a collective effort. I step into this chapter with humility, confidence, and a deep commitment to the young people we serve. I am excited to continue this work together.

With gratitude,

Jordan Harvey

Executive Director

Tutoring Plus of Cambridge