––––– About Us –––––
OUR BACKGROUND
In January 2016, our family launched the Prosper Road Foundation. This name captures the mission of the foundation — to enable young people from underinvested communities to prosper in life — and our family’s connection to Vermont, a special place where we try to gather as often as possible.
We established the Foundation to professionalize our philanthropic activities for greater social impact and as a vehicle for family connection. We wholeheartedly believe that with wealth and privilege comes a great responsibility to help others — a family value that we hope to pass down to future generations.
Since we began in 2016, our foundation has grown to support close to twenty organizations across the country who support young people and their aspirations. We strive to help build capacity in a variety of ways. For example, we were proud to support a fledgling program called “CBT in the Schools” (now called TRAILS) that was initially housed at the University of Michigan. We supported their growth by funding a strategic plan which, in turn, led to access to funders outside of the state of Michigan. Recently, Blue Meridian, a national funding collaborative, included TRAILS in their portfolio of investments which provided both major funding and access to consultants who helped them build their capacity. Additionally, the state of Michigan funded TRAILS at the $50 million level in 2022 to partner with every district in the state.
We are also pleased to say that several of our other grantees have also grown significantly since we began funding them, including Youth Guidance, Communities in Schools and OneGoal.
We continue to look for innovative, data driven and mission oriented organizations to support, adding one or two grantees each year.
We are proud of the work that our grantees accomplish daily, and look forward to growing and adapting our foundation so that future generations can have a hand in making a difference in the world.
Joan serves as Director of the Prosper Road Foundation. She spent much of her career in education, including ten years as a school psychologist in the Chicago area. Her experience informs the work of the Foundation, particularly the pillars of mental wellness and social-emotional learning.
In addition to managing the Foundation’s daily operations, Joan serves on the Board of Directors for Youth Guidance, Braven, and TRAILS. She is also a member of Philanthropy Advocates and Impact Austin. Joan enjoys hiking with the family’s Welsh terrier, Floyd, playing piano, and going to live music shows in Austin. Joan and David have been married for thirty years, and they have two sons, Joey and Jonathan.
David Evans is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Child Development Schools (CDS). CDS is the fourth largest provider of early childhood education and care in the United States, serving more than 35,000 children daily, including those from underserved and lower-income communities and military families.
Since its founding in 1994, David has also served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Glencoe Diversified Holdings, LLC – a conglomerate engaged in the specialty chemicals, insurance, education, and manufacturing industries responsible for over $2 billion in private investments. He also serves as Executive Chairman and Co-CEO of Champlain Specialty Insurance Group. David is an avid golfer, fly fisherman, and lover of fine food and wine.