AUSTIN, TEX. (May 17, 2016) – The Andy Roddick Foundation announced today that education entrepreneur Charles Thornburgh, Founder and CEO of Civitas Learning®, has joined the organization’s Board of Directors. Launched in 2000 by professional tennis player Andy Roddick, the Foundation’s mission is to work with the community to expand opportunities for young people, particularly students in under-served neighborhoods, so they may learn, thrive and succeed.
Today, the average student spends 80 percent of his or her waking hours outside of the classroom. Children from low-income communities often miss out on additional learning and enrichment during those out-of-school hours. The Andy Roddick Foundation (ARF) seeks to close that gap by providing afterschool and summer learning programs to students in under-served neighborhoods across the Austin community.
Under the advice of mentor Andre Agassi, Roddick launched his foundation at just 18-years-old, as his career was taking off with Australian and U.S. Open Junior Grand slam wins. From humble and hopeful beginnings, his organization raised more than $11 million to fund programs that enhance educational and economic opportunities for children across the U.S.
“We are thrilled to welcome Charles to the Board and look forward to engaging his expertise in learning and innovation,” said Andy Roddick. “Charles has dedicated his career to reducing education inequality. His deep commitment to education and social justice, as well as his impressive professional experience will serve to advance our mission to transform out-of-school time into enriching learning experiences for all students.”
Thornburgh launched Civitas Learning in 2011 with the idea that technology and data, used in the right way, can help more students succeed, reduce historic disparities in achievement, and improve the education experience for all students. Civitas Learning, which employs over 200 team members at its Austin headquarters, helps colleges and universities use data and analytics to understand the complex factors that impact student success. Their integrated platform and apps work to provide the best end-to-end student decision support and are measurably improving student outcomes across the U.S. at partner institutions.
“For me, joining the team at the Andy Roddick Foundation was not only a great opportunity to give back, but also a natural fit, personally and professionally,” Thornburgh said. “Part of what I love about Austin is that tech leaders and entrepreneurs are really invested in fostering a more inclusive and sustainable community. As the father of two young boys, I’m excited to support the Foundation’s mission of expanding opportunity for children and youth across our community through quality out-of-school learning.”
Thornburgh is especially interested in leveraging his passionate team of data scientists, software engineers, user experience and education domain experts to bring their skills to bear on measuring the impact of the Foundation’s work on students’ learning trajectory over time. His team will be sharing insights for continuous improvement in student outcomes in the same vein as Civitas Learning provides their higher education partners.
About the Andy Roddick Foundation: The Andy Roddick Foundation works with its community to expand opportunities for young people to learn, thrive and succeed. The Foundation is the vision of tennis professional Andy Roddick who established it in 2000. Always focused on inspiring and empowering young people, the Andy Roddick Foundation moved its headquarters to Austin, Texas in 2012. The Foundation is granting funds to partners with programs that align with a goal of closing the opportunity gap for young people living in under-resourced areas. Beyond grant making, the Foundation delivers direct service with activities like its own multi-week Summer program for elementary school students. For additional information, call 512.298.1960, follow on Twitter @theARFoundation, or visit www.arfoundation.org.
Andy Roddick Foundation Contact: brian@arfoundation.org
