Charles Best
Founder
DonorsChoose.org
New York, NY USA
“Your hustle will get you ahead, and your humility is what will have people rooting for you to get ahead.”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationCharles Best
Milestones
My road in life has been direct.
In high school, he had an English teacher and wrestling coach, Mr. Buxton, that he really looked up to.
Realized that if he could get kids to look up to him the way he looked up to Mr. Buxton, he would have given his share back to the world.
He taught in the Bronx for five years, where he and his colleagues were forced to spend their own money on basic supplies for students.
Knew that people would be more willing to help teachers if they could see exactly where their money was going.
For the majority of donors on the site, this is their first encounter with the lack of funding going to public schools in low-income community.
As a result, the site not only gives funding to classroom projects, but it also motivates donors to vote for education reform.
He aspires to two qualities: hustle and humility.
"Hustle" captures the shameless pursuit of getting people onboard with your idea; "humility" is what gets people to root for you.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Career
Founder
I lead a site where teachers can request the materials they need for their classroom and find supporters to help them.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Education
Non-Profit Organizations
Helping People
Day to Day
I lead DonorsChoose.org, a nonprofit organization that provides a simple way to address educational inequity. At our site, public school teachers create classroom project requests and donors can pick the projects they want to support. I spend my days innovating new ideas and ways to improve our product and also meeting with and securing corporate and foundation partners. I spend a lot of time raising money to help fund our classroom projects.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for high school students
You have to have hustle and humility. Be willing to put in the long hours and make sacrifices to get where you want to be, but in the process, be humble and listen to what others are asking / expecting of you. The hustle will get you ahead and the humility is what will get people to root for you.
Recommended Education
My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Myself:
"If I don't get funding in three weeks, I'm shutting the website down. "
Challenges I Overcame
Financial
Interviewed By
The Road to TEACH
Teaching takes many forms
