By the end of 2004, over half of Boston's 30,000 children living in poverty will have been supplied with vastly needed everyday items, thanks in part, to Tufts alum Barbara Clarke (J 88).
Clarke helped found Cradles to Crayons, a non-profit charity organization that gives everyday items to children in need - items ranging from backpacks to boots.
Clarke found that her experiences at Tufts as a quantitative economics major helped her develop the program. "My experiences at Tufts relate directly to my current work," Clarke said.
After graduating from Tufts, Clarke obtained her Masters in international economics and finance from Brandeis University and embarked on a 12-year career in management consulting. This career included positions in major corporations - such as Compaq, Xerox and Toyota - as well as key roles in starting up companies in New York, Boston, Chicago and London.
Though Clarke "really enjoyed the intellectual challenge of [her] work," she said that "eventually the challenge in what I was doing was gone and I wanted something
different."
That "something different," Clarke discovered, was community service. After settling in Boston and starting a family, Clarke became involved in ATA, Tufts' women's alumni group. "Community service became more important to me when I stopped moving around so much," she said.
After being contacted through her daughter's school by a woman who wanted to hold a drive for the community's neediest children, Clarke realized that "Cradles to Crayons was exactly what I was looking for in a new career."
Clarke quit her job in management consulting and worked on Cradles to Crayons full-time, using her skills as an economist, entrepreneur and consultant to expand and launch Cradles to Crayons out of its test phase.
Though starting up Cradles to Crayons had its challenges, Clarke believes that "if you are focused on a goal, it helps with your decision making." Cradles to Crayons' goal of expansion presented the difficulties of finding a base of operations - a topic about which Clarke and her peers knew nothing.
However, after calling friends from Tufts who were in real estate, Clarke was able to rent a warehouse space and quadruple the organization's output. "Many people get bogged down in details," Clarke said. "Sometimes you just need to take a leap."
Another difficulty presented by working in a new organization was the small staff, "I always had a large group of peers to work with," Clarke said. "I really missed not working with my former colleagues, because it's so energizing to surround yourself with smart, ambitious people."
The management of Cradles to Crayons, however, was comprised of only three people. As a solution, Clarke "created an extensive network to provide the support I need."
With this support, Clarke managed to expand Cradles to Crayons from a program helping only a few hundred children to one helping thousands in the greater Boston area. Though their goal for 2004 was to help approximately 12,000 children, Clarke said that she expects "to reach over 16,000 children by the end of 2004." Even better than that, Clarke predicts that "we will definitely help over 20,000 children in eastern Massachusetts" over the course of 2005.
Although working so hard and dealing with impoverished children would be emotionally difficult for most, Clarke said that Cradles to Crayons "energizes me rather than drains me." After seeing children's lives improved, "I am inspired and energized to do more," Clarke said. "I love being part of the solution to the problem of children in poverty."
That problem is a large one. The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless estimates that the average age of a homeless person in Massachusetts is a mere eight years old. Cradles to Crayons helps by supplying them with cribs and bassinets, car seats, clothing items, art and school supplies and books, among other things. "The enormous impact of what we are doing at Cradles to Crayons has emboldened me to work harder and smarter," Clarke said.
Clarke hopes to expand Cradles to Crayons even further within the next few years, bringing the organization out of Boston and into other cities. "I want to be part of a national expansion of the Cradles to Crayons program," she said.
Though not without its challenges, Cradles to Crayons is "in a great position to expand and reach many more children," Clarke said. "We have developed a model that is scalable and replicable in many other communities."
Clarke finds that having a set goal has helped her achieve many of her accomplishments. "I have always taken a long-term view of things," she said. "I may not have always known what I was going to do in five years, but I had some goals and vague ideas."
