Hello, my name is Michael Vincent Fowler. I usually go by Mike. I'm going to do something here I am very uncomfortable with and toot my own horn. If I am going to ask you to support this foundation you have a right to know a bit about the person who is asking.
When I was very young my father was an assistant principle and very interested in my education. As a result, I got off to a good start. Unfortunately, my parents split up when I was in second grade, and I went from a very good private school in Pennsylvania to a public school in East Los Angeles. They said I was too advanced for second grade and put me in third grade. I only mention this so you can see that at an early age I got to experience two very different versions of education.
I was the type of kid who, whenever I got curious about something, would go to the library and check out books until my curiousity was satisfied. In high school I got so bored I started having behaviour issues, (mainly "ditching" class) and my grades suffered. In spite of this, I tied with one other student for the highest PSAT scores in a very large graduating class. I didn't go on to college because I couldn't decide what I wanted to do. Instead, I joined the Army at the age of seventeen. The Army told me I scored in the top 1% of the top 1% on their entrance exams. This included missing at least four questions on military rank and organization. When I went to a trade school for electronic engineering, I was told I got the highest score ever achieved on their entrance exam. I also graduated at the top of my class there, (again tied with one other student) even though I missed two days due to illness.
In the area of "real world" achievement, in my early twenties I went to work at a company called Intermedics, Intraocular making lense implants for cataract patients. I started there shortly after the company opened and worked in the assembly area. This was delicate work done under a microscope, working on plastic lenses with metal tools. When I got there, their target was for each technician to make eight lenses per day. Before I left the target was up to thirty-two per day, and on my last day I built sixty-four just to show it could be done. I helped accomplish this by improving processes and modifying the tools we were using. I also took over training and was promoted to lead of the department.
Later, at a company called Technar, after proving myself in the general assembly area, I was given the opportunity to take a new product out of research and development and into production. The product was one of the safety switches for some of our nuclear missiles and involved a very complex set of processes. The goal was to have five employees produce 100 swithches a month and keep the reject rate below 25%. In less than six months, we were producing 125 switches a month using four employees and keeping the reject rate below 15%.
When I went into management at AT&T I had to train a new crew in a new department. We developed processes as we went. I also had to teach myself Word and Excel while doing this. My team of troubleshooters (one of eight teams in that department) always had the best results. Between that, and the fact that I had written the majority of job aids, I was transferred to staff to write Methods & Procedures. I had to really hit the ground running at this position because we had a new system coming on line. I had to learn it, re-write the methods and procedures for our department, design and deliver the training all in less than three months. While there, I also redesigned the support website, did trainings and participated in new product development. I was once given two months to develop a training program to bring people with no experience up to speed in case of a work stoppage. I developed and delivered a two week training so successful that we handled a three day work stoppage with no negative impact to our customers. As mechanization took over more and more of this work, I went on to be a Layout Design Engineer before leaving AT&T to start this foundation. On the side, my wife and I ran a successful vending business for a few years, and I had a moderate amount of success in direct marketing.
I tell you all of this to show that I have a history of developing successful processes and of leading teams that don't just meet, but beat, goals. These are skills I believe are necessary to the accomplishment of this foundation's mission. It can be said that I have no background in teaching as a profession, or in running a nonprofit. To that I say no one person could be expected to have all the skills needed to accomplish what I have outlined on this website. Many, if not most, people who start nonprofits have no experience. The list of successful people and companies that started with no experience is very long, indeed. Additionally, I have no intention of doing this by myself, once a company is up and running, needed expertise can always be hired or developed.
What can't be hired is the inspiration and drive to get started in the first place, and the will to make it happen. I claim no skills or expertise other than what I have demonstrated in my life - a love of learning and research, a talent for developing good processes, and an ability to successfully lead teams to achieve excellence. My vision is to get our children a better education, and I have dedicated myself to making it happen. I have a history of getting the job done. I believe this is the most important thing I can do with my life and that the activities outlined on this website are critically necessary to help our children get the education they need, both now and in the future.
I need your help to make this foundation productive. I hope you will join me and help in whatever way you can.
Yours truly,
Mike
Michael V. Fowler, President
Foundation for the Next Generation
When I was very young my father was an assistant principle and very interested in my education. As a result, I got off to a good start. Unfortunately, my parents split up when I was in second grade, and I went from a very good private school in Pennsylvania to a public school in East Los Angeles. They said I was too advanced for second grade and put me in third grade. I only mention this so you can see that at an early age I got to experience two very different versions of education.
I was the type of kid who, whenever I got curious about something, would go to the library and check out books until my curiousity was satisfied. In high school I got so bored I started having behaviour issues, (mainly "ditching" class) and my grades suffered. In spite of this, I tied with one other student for the highest PSAT scores in a very large graduating class. I didn't go on to college because I couldn't decide what I wanted to do. Instead, I joined the Army at the age of seventeen. The Army told me I scored in the top 1% of the top 1% on their entrance exams. This included missing at least four questions on military rank and organization. When I went to a trade school for electronic engineering, I was told I got the highest score ever achieved on their entrance exam. I also graduated at the top of my class there, (again tied with one other student) even though I missed two days due to illness.
In the area of "real world" achievement, in my early twenties I went to work at a company called Intermedics, Intraocular making lense implants for cataract patients. I started there shortly after the company opened and worked in the assembly area. This was delicate work done under a microscope, working on plastic lenses with metal tools. When I got there, their target was for each technician to make eight lenses per day. Before I left the target was up to thirty-two per day, and on my last day I built sixty-four just to show it could be done. I helped accomplish this by improving processes and modifying the tools we were using. I also took over training and was promoted to lead of the department.
Later, at a company called Technar, after proving myself in the general assembly area, I was given the opportunity to take a new product out of research and development and into production. The product was one of the safety switches for some of our nuclear missiles and involved a very complex set of processes. The goal was to have five employees produce 100 swithches a month and keep the reject rate below 25%. In less than six months, we were producing 125 switches a month using four employees and keeping the reject rate below 15%.
When I went into management at AT&T I had to train a new crew in a new department. We developed processes as we went. I also had to teach myself Word and Excel while doing this. My team of troubleshooters (one of eight teams in that department) always had the best results. Between that, and the fact that I had written the majority of job aids, I was transferred to staff to write Methods & Procedures. I had to really hit the ground running at this position because we had a new system coming on line. I had to learn it, re-write the methods and procedures for our department, design and deliver the training all in less than three months. While there, I also redesigned the support website, did trainings and participated in new product development. I was once given two months to develop a training program to bring people with no experience up to speed in case of a work stoppage. I developed and delivered a two week training so successful that we handled a three day work stoppage with no negative impact to our customers. As mechanization took over more and more of this work, I went on to be a Layout Design Engineer before leaving AT&T to start this foundation. On the side, my wife and I ran a successful vending business for a few years, and I had a moderate amount of success in direct marketing.
I tell you all of this to show that I have a history of developing successful processes and of leading teams that don't just meet, but beat, goals. These are skills I believe are necessary to the accomplishment of this foundation's mission. It can be said that I have no background in teaching as a profession, or in running a nonprofit. To that I say no one person could be expected to have all the skills needed to accomplish what I have outlined on this website. Many, if not most, people who start nonprofits have no experience. The list of successful people and companies that started with no experience is very long, indeed. Additionally, I have no intention of doing this by myself, once a company is up and running, needed expertise can always be hired or developed.
What can't be hired is the inspiration and drive to get started in the first place, and the will to make it happen. I claim no skills or expertise other than what I have demonstrated in my life - a love of learning and research, a talent for developing good processes, and an ability to successfully lead teams to achieve excellence. My vision is to get our children a better education, and I have dedicated myself to making it happen. I have a history of getting the job done. I believe this is the most important thing I can do with my life and that the activities outlined on this website are critically necessary to help our children get the education they need, both now and in the future.
I need your help to make this foundation productive. I hope you will join me and help in whatever way you can.
Yours truly,
Mike
Michael V. Fowler, President
Foundation for the Next Generation
