Stacey Childress
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Seattle, WA USA
"Never stop making mistakes and never stop trying to learn from them."
Career Roadmap
Stacey's work combines: Education, Non-Profit Organizations, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
Use that easy access to technology and connections to your advantage. Sometimes such access can seem daunting, but it's important to use that as an asset to help you succeed. Your generation has access to technology that allows you to connect, network, and learn in a way that no other generation has seen!
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
English Language and Literature, General
Baylor University
Graduate Degree
Business Administration and Management, General
Harvard Business School
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
I grew up in a very small town where everyone knew everyone, so I always felt very supported and taken care of.
2.
I was very involved with the community through my high school and church—I worked with young children and also volunteered in retirement homes.
3.
When I went to college, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do for my career, so I ended up majoring in English because I had a strong interest in it in high school.
4.
After graduating, I tried teaching for a while—I loved it but was struggling to support myself, so I started looking for other options.
5.
A friend worked in sales and was doing well for himself, so he introduced me to his boss, which launched my transition into business and sales—I loved leading a team and helping people be successful.
6.
I spent about a decade in sales taking on bigger and bigger assignments before I decided to go to graduate school for my MBA at Harvard Business School.
7.
After receiving my MBA, I worked as a professor at Harvard Business School for almost 10 years.
8.
I got the opportunity to work for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where my team is focused on education innovations and technologies to help teachers and students learn.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Peers:
You shouldn't move away from home.
How I responded:
I grew up in a small town. I received a lot of support from the community but growing up in a small town also means that people generally make assumptions about who you are, even when you're growing and changing. When I decided to move away, I received some backlash. My peers assumed that I thought my home wasn't good enough. It was difficult and I was very conflicted. However, I was determined to prove everyone wrong; I wasn't giving up on my community. It was just the right next step for me.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I had been out of college for over 10 years before I went back to get my graduate degree. I was really out of practice and had to put effort into getting back into the habit of studying, learning difficult material, and taking exams.
While working as a teacher after college, I found that I was struggling financially compared to some of my friends who worked in other fields. That's what drove me to try business and sales instead.