Tax Tutors

Robert Burke

On weeknights and Saturdays during tax season, Robert Burke, M.B.A. ’99, and his Ladder Up volunteers can be found at work throughout the Chicago area, helping low-income families keep as much of their income as possible. Ladder Up’s free financial services educate clients about tax credits and aid for higher education; the nonprofit (www.goladderup.org), which Burke founded in 1994 and still chairs, estimates saving clients an average of $150 in fees typically charged by commercial firms, and often more. In its first year, Ladder Up returned $150,000 to the community it served. Since then, some 16,000 volunteers have helped return more than $147 million to 84,000 families. 

Filing taxes “is a daunting task, and the system isn’t getting less complicated,” says Burke. Volunteers from more than 250 local companies, including banks and law and accounting firms, work with low-wage earners accustomed to relying on check-cashing and money-wiring services that charge more than traditional banks. Volunteers need only a “sharp mind and sharp pencil,” says Burke, not an accounting degree; they are trained to maximize clients’ tax credits, sometimes with life-changing results. (One woman discovered the IRS owed her $10,000.) To find clients, Ladder Up partners with community groups—churches, schools, YMCAs—that provide space or publicity. 

Burke, who now works in private equity, began Ladder Up as a 22-year-old employee at Arthur Andersen; he wanted to assist the families of the children he coached in basketball on Chicago’s West Side. He wrote a business plan and approached his managers, explaining that his colleagues would become “better people and business professionals” if they learned how to serve an entirely new population: the working poor. Both company and employees responded enthusiastically. Fourteen years later, Ladder Up offers its clients classes on financial literacy as well. “You’re amazed at the courage of those you’re trying to help,” Burke says. “They’re doing so much with so little. What we try to do as an organization is put more tools in their toolbox.”

Click here for the March-April 2009 issue table of contents

Read more articles by Brittney Moraski

You might also like

Sister Acts and Cyanotypes

Julia Rooney’s paintings cross the analog-digital divide.

Making Money Funny

Matt Levine’s spunky Bloomberg column

Saluting the 2025 Centennial Medalists

Four alumni of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences are honored.

Most popular

Harvard Layoffs Continue, with More to Come

In the wake of federal government actions, several Harvard schools and institutes are cutting costs.

Are Noncitizens’ Speech Rights Protected?

Harvard faculty testify in a federal lawsuit over free speech and deportations.

Trump Administration Threatens Harvard’s Accreditation, Subpoenas Student Records

The federal government mounts pressure amid negotiations with Harvard.

Explore More From Current Issue

How Harvard Students Handle Political Disagreements

The Undergraduate asks if intellectualism is really on life support.

Your Guide to Summer 2025 Along Boston Harbor

Enjoying the Boston Harbor’s Renaissance This Summer

Garber, Trump, and the Fight for Harvard’s Future

Introducing a guide to the issues, players, and stakes.