“The biggest contribution that I'd made to the school were the people I helped attract and retain at the school.” — John Gulla

John Gulla didn't set out to become one of the most influential figures in independent school philanthropy. He set out to be a math and physics teacher. Those turned out to be the same job.

In this episode of Evolution Stories, host Christian Talbot speaks with John Gulla, executive director of the Edward E. Ford Foundation and former head of The Blake School, about what 40-plus years inside and across independent schools has taught him about meaningful change. The conversation covers Gulla's philosophy of hiring for promise over credentials, a seven-year effort at Blake to reform faculty compensation that taught him the hard way about sequencing, and how EE Ford uses catalytic capital, including the $2 million grant that launched the Mastery Transcript Consortium, to fund the bets schools couldn't make alone. Gulla also shares his conviction that the schools doing the most interesting change work are rarely the ones with the most resources.

The thread running through all of it: real change isn't driven by the best-designed project. It's driven by the right people, and the courage to keep pushing when the institution resists. Gulla's career, from recruiting young faculty at St. Anne's to connecting change leaders across 780 schools, has been one long bet on that idea.