Matt Clough — Pitching for PK-12 Education Facilities
By: Darra Kubera, Director of Communications
October 25, 2022
In another life Matt Clough is a star pitcher for MLB team the New York Yankees or Houston Astros, spending his free time on the PGA (professional golf) tour and making the cut for the masters. While a superstar of the sports world in this imaginary universe, in this life Matt is a superstar of the facilities technology world especially when it relates to PK-12 school districts.
As I virtually sit down with Matt he surprises me by starting off, “I still think about how the trajectory of my life could have gone, but I wouldn’t change a thing. My best mistake was when I quit playing sports halfway through my senior year of high school. At the time, I wanted to focus on my girlfriend (who is now my wife) and so we moved in together and now we have a beautiful family.”
I interrupt, asking if Matt has seen the television show Boy Meets World and point out the similarities between the show and this scene he is painting. He laughs, “Yes my wife and I are high school sweethearts, just like Corey and Topanga [characters on the show]. After high school we both went to the University of Texas at San Antonio, majoring in business. She took a marketing track while I really wanted to enter a field that was going to be in demand for a long time. I was told by a lot of folks that technology was going to continue expanding, so that drove me to the IT field, but let me tell you — I was NOT tech savvy growing up. I kind of hated computers actually. But that drove me to the field; I was on a mission to tackle it.”
Matt attributes his tenacity to his father, an immigrant from Bangkok Thailand. A retired Marine Corps veteran, Matt’s dad was also an entrepreneur who started his own business. “I’d go on work trips with him to meet clients and just watch him. That experience really carved me into the character I have. He was really involved, and loved sports, so he coached me as I became a pitcher, which I consider my first love. Being on the mound, controlling the pace of the game, having teammates rely on you — that really brought out the leader in me. There’s no other feeling like it and I still miss it to this day.”
I laugh as I ask Matt if he’s simply too old to play baseball now. “I certainly can’t throw as hard. My goal was to hit 90 miles an hour and one year they clocked me at 89 so I guess I should’ve hung in there. Instead, I went to college and really wanted hands-on experience from the real business world. I saw this posting for a small consulting firm that specialized in facility condition assessments (FCAs) and educational adequacy. I had no idea what that even meant, so I just sent them an email with my resume attached and said ‘look I know my resume isn’t impressive but I’ll come work for free just to get some hands-on experience,’ and they fortunately ended up paying me $10 bucks an hour which at the time I thought was just great.”
The day after Matt graduated college, this small boutique firm he had been working for was acquired by a larger engineering firm. “I was terrified. Going from this small firm with 15 employees to this big corporation, I didn’t know what to expect.” Not surprisingly, Matt thrived in his new environment and relished the fact that he was surrounded by senior leadership and experienced mentors. “I magnetized myself towards those people. I was there for about ten years and during that time I just kept telling myself, learn-learn-learn. That jump into this larger firm really helped me grow professionally and mature as a person.”
It was one of these mentors, K12 strategist Paul Mills, that influenced Matt to stay in the industry and ultimately make the move to FOS. “The idea of being on the ground floor of a software build, and the service lines FOS was exploring, really allowed me to feel confident in taking the step to leave the firm I had been with for so long.”
As we talk about his transition from the “go-to guy” at his old firm into a fully remote position with FOS, Matt shares how he had to mentally pivot. It was a challenge, and Matt still misses shaking hands, lunchtime jaunts, and general office banter. “Water cooler talk?” I tease. Matt laughs, “Outside of work, one of my flaws is not keeping in touch with people as often as I should.” I think most people struggle with that.
Despite the challenges of working remotely and sometimes feeling disconnected, Matt is on a mission to improve people’s lives and this has been fully supported during his tenure with FOS. “I really strive to make an impact, especially in the K12 industry. It’s not just facility condition assessments and it’s not just software — it’s actually taking data, analyzing it, and helping clients make informed decisions. They come to us for a reason – it’s because they’re struggling. Their enrollment is declining, buildings are falling apart, and funding is limited. So a part of my job is to figure out how we can come in and how we can make an impact not just for the school [facilities] but for the kids and the community.”
Matt explains there’s a real need for FOS to come in as a third party to take what these school districts are doing and try to improve on the educational program, the equity, and the resources they have access to. “A lot of work we do is with poverty-stricken areas of a city. These large, inner city school districts have no access to resources and then alternatively there are parts of the district that are high income with access to lots of resources. We had to ask ourselves, how can we make this entire district offer more equality and a level playing field? We take data, identifying over 100 measures of what these districts are currently doing, and really define what their standards should be. We’re trying to reshape the way K12 school districts perform, and what their programs offer. We’re trying to make a better environment for all students. When I see that from start to finish and help districts succeed, it’s like ‘ok now you can be actionable’ and then to see them implement our recommendations, it’s like taking all these different puzzle pieces and making a masterpiece.”
Currently, Matt is working with the FOS software team on building a new KPI tool that will empower clients to plan for the future with useful data at their fingertips. “Seeing this project through, and being a part of the improvements this will bring, it just puts a smile on my face.” I tell Matt he can’t see it because my camera is off, but I’m smiling back at him.
Anyone who meets Matt can attest to being affected by his positive energy. “Being at FOS and being able to develop tools, utilizing all the knowledge I’ve gained over the course of my career, I’m excited about where I’m at in my life. Being a dad, a husband, a coach, working with this group — it’s all good; life is good.”