Scaling a 48-year-old national nonprofit takes more than vision. It takes a CEO and COO who trust each other enough to move fast in ambiguity.
In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Vincent Marigna and Alex Serna, the CEO and COO of Breakthrough Collaborative, a national organization that serves more than 11,000 middle school through college students each summer and exposes 1,100 college-aged future teachers to the rigors and joys of the classroom.
Both men are first-generation college graduates. Vincent came to teaching through Teach for America after a tough first six months in the classroom that he survived by calling his grandmother on the way to school. Alex was on his way into the military with a 2.1 GPA when he found out he would be a father at 17. Higher education changed both of their lives, and now they are running the organization that does that work for tens of thousands of young people every year.
The heart of the conversation is how they actually run it together. Vincent makes his thinking visible the way his first CEO once did for him, putting half-formed ideas on the table early so Alex can take them from there. Alex executes while the picture is still forming and tells Vince when something is broken before being asked. They have a high tolerance for ambiguity and enough trust built through consistent action that they can move at the speed the work requires.
Tune in to hear how two leaders are scaling opportunity for the next generation of students by first investing in the partnership at the top.
🌱
01:11 Meet Vincent Marigna and Alex Serna of Breakthrough Collaborative
🎲
03:22 Alex went from a 2.1 GPA to seeing education as the thing that could change his life
🧭
05:32 Being open to possibility beats having a perfect plan
🤝
11:11 How a CEO and a COO actually share the load
🌫️
17:52 Shape ambiguity at the speed the work requires
🧱
24:18 How Vincent builds trust: do what you say you will do, consistently
✨
29:34 What kids see when the CEO walks into the room
🚀
34:06 Growth with intentionality and the year ahead
💡
39:29 Make your thinking visible: the rhythm of a strong partnership
Links:
Connect with Vincent Marigna:
LinkedIn Reach out to Vincent and Alex to learn more about Breakthrough Collaborative's work scaling educational opportunity for middle school through college students and developing the next generation of teachers across its national affiliate network.
Stay strong.
Episode 27