"Night and Day": How Harambee Christian School Finally Got Clean Books

Alex Steinman is Pinciple and Executive Director of Harambee Christian School (@harambeechristian), a small private school in Columbus, Ohio's South Linden neighborhood serving preschool through 8th grade — primarily students from low-income families. In this conversation, he traces Harambee's path from 14 kindergartners in a converted laundromat to an independent nonprofit of about 150 students, and explains why the right bookkeeping partner (Arvo) mattered as much as any curriculum decision. A few things Alex shares: How splitting his own K-12 years between an affluent suburb and an inner-city school shaped his vision for closing the opportunity gap Harambee's growth from a renovated laundromat in 1998 to a single building with a gym and library today What changed operationally when Harambee left the local church that had incubated it and became an independent organization in July 2024 Why the school's first post-independence bookkeeper was overpriced and underdelivered — and what happened after the switch to Arvo How having accurate, trustworthy financial data lets Harambee's board plan ahead instead of just reacting "We have the cleanest books we've ever had, even before we had become independent. We have the most accurate data that we've had in the history of our school." — Alex Steinman If you lead a school, church, or nonprofit that's outgrown informal bookkeeping, this one's worth watching. 🔗 Learn more about Harambe Christian School: https://www.harambeechristian.org/ 🔗 Learn more about Arvo: arvotech.com Subscribe for more conversations with leaders on the operational decisions behind their missions. #Accounting #Education #ColumbusOhio #NonprofitFinance #SchoolLeadership