Bottom Line Welcomes New Executive Director Will Hobart to Chicago Region

The Push for an Art Program

The Push for an Art Program

Boston, MA –Bottom Line, a nonprofit organization focused on educational equity through bachelor’s degree attainment and career connections, is excited to announce that Will Hobart will be leading the Chicago region as the new Executive Director. “Will is a proven leader with an impressive track record of mission-driven leadership over the last 15 years. Will shares Bottom Line’s core values and believes deeply that trusting and authentic relationships are critical to students accessing and completing college,” said Bottom Line CEO Steve Colón.

Bottom Line is a comprehensive one-on-one program that trains and employs full-time advisors who partner with degree-aspiring students. Students are eligible for the program if they have a high school grade point average of 2.5 or greater and come from families that make less than 200% of the federal poverty guidelines.

Mr. Hobart started his career as a middle school special education teacher in West Philadelphia, and he has remained in schools and non-profit organizations battling deep educational inequities for 15 years.

He was most recently Chief Advancement Officer at One Million Degrees (OMD), where he worked with a committed network of champions to provide comprehensive supports to low-income, highly motivated community college students and improve their graduation rates. During his tenure at OMD, Mr. Hobart secured multi-year funding to launch and replicate the program in Colorado. In addition, he has served as Chief Program Officer at Youth Guidance, where his leadership proved instrumental in scaling programs nationally and internationally as the organization navigated a period of transformation, as the operating budget grew from $15MM to $31MM. Finally, he has a deep understanding of Chicago Public Schools, having led strategic work for Student Supports and College and Career Success across the district.

“I have been familiar with Bottom Line’s work since early in the region’s launch, and have been inspired by the commitment to excellence in serving Chicago’s students,” said Mr. Hobart, adding, “The data and stories speak for themselves – when you provide talented and motivated students with caring and knowledgeable relationships, great things happen!”

He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Kalamazoo College, a Master of Education from Chestnut Hill College, and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago. 

Mr. Hobart succeeds Founding Executive Director, Chris Broughton. Since launching the Chicago region in 2014, Mr. Broughton has exhibited unparalleled dedication and commitment to the organization. Over the last eight years, his steadfast leadership and strategic visioning helped launch and grow the Chicago region to serve more than 3,000 first-generation students and raise more than $16MM in growth funding.

After participating for several months in the rigorous selection process for his successor, Mr. Broughton reflected “I first met Will almost 7 years ago while he was working at CPS and instantly saw his incredible passion for this work. I have been a huge admirer of the impactful work he has done to increase educational and economic opportunities for students across the city ever since. His deep understanding of the local educational landscape, experience leading high-performing teams, and authentic relationships across the city will all be incredibly valuable as he leads Bottom Line’s next chapter of impact in Chicago.” 

“I look forward to watching Will continue to build on the momentum created by Chris as the Chicago Region’s first Executive Director. I am confident that Will’s experience and passion for education equity will help him lead Bottom Line to new heights in Chicago,” shared Jon Van Gorp, Chicago’s Regional Advisory Board Chair.

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The Push for an Art Program

Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the Frenchman who spearheaded the revival of the Olympics in the 1890s, argued that the arts should be an integral part of any modern Games.

As Richard Stanton, author of The Forgotten Olympic Art Competitions, shared with Smithsonian magazine, “[Courbertin] was raised and educated classically, and he was particularly impressed with the idea of what it meant to be a true Olympian — someone who was not only athletic but skilled in music and literature. He felt that in order to recreate the events in modern times, it would be incomplete to not include some aspect of the arts.”

Conversations began at the IVth Olympic Congress, held in Paris in May 1906, where Courbertin directed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to “come and study to what extent and in what way art and literature could be included in the celebration of the modern Olympiads.”

Eventually, the IOC selected five art forms to be included in the Games, with the stipulation that each piece submitted must be inspired by sport. The categories included architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture.

• Determine your writing skills
• Evaluate your level of professionalism
• Get a sense of who you are including the following: 
• Experience
• Skills
• Personality
• What you’re doing now
• What you want to do
• Why you’re applying for the job
• Determine if you may be a good match for their opening