May 2012
7 posts
3 tags
Ask a Question for StartingBloc Interview with...
Whatever the cause, wherever the concentration, StartingBloc Fellows seek to do “meaningful work” on a global scale: fight poverty, eradicate diseases, provide rural education, reshape international development, scale impact philanthropy.
The Acumen Fund was one of the most oft-mentioned organizations I heard during my 5-days in Boston. And rightly so: in its 11 years, Acumen has...
Watchrightplacetime:
Kate is a friend of Renee’s. Kate is also the founder of the organization where Renee volunteers. In her words, through their relationship, Renee has gained “a clearer direction for the type of work” she wants to do.
She has learned to combine her passion with her work.
And all through a chance encounter on an email listserv.
1 tag
On Faith - How direct is God with us?
I am incredibly blessed, and daily feel the blessings of the Lord.
But I feel these blessings most through people. I see each person as a brother or sister. This is the root of my friendliness, a byproduct of my faith mixed with a small town upbringing and small, loving family.
When I look into the eyes of a friend or stranger, I imagine the recognition that would make our faces glow had we...
1 tag
The Increasing Role of Parents in Mexico's Schools →
1 tag
3 tags
April 2012
4 posts
4 tags
Instagram, Not Instant Success
Like other tech entrepreneurs in San Francisco / Silicon Valley, when I heard the news this week of Instagram’s ginormous deal with Facebook and contemplated its meteoric rise from $0** to $1 billion in less than two years, I was in awe, excited, and curious to figure out: how did this happen?
As a newcomer to the tech scene and a relative outsider in the Valley (not sure how many of my...
1 tag
“The person who thinks he can and the person who thinks he cannot are both right.”
– Henry Ford, via Theodore Agranat
“Stress stinks, but state of crazy is better than being in a crazy state (North...”
– Me.
2 tags
“No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy.”
– Helmuth von Moltke the Elder
March 2012
2 posts
3 tags
Evidence that Alumn.us empowers entire communities...
Alumn.us: Next week, we will launch our first student-led fundraising campaign.
Students: Sweet.
Alumni: Rad.
Teachers: Excellent.
Parents: Bravo.
Admin: Tubular.
Businesses: Nifty.
Knight News Challenge: Alumn.us: awesome alumni... →
newschallenge:
1. What do you propose to do? [20 words]
Alumn.us will bring high-powered alumni networks to all 30,000 public high schools and community colleges in the U.S. by 2015.
2. Is anyone doing something like this now and how is your project different? [30 words]
SNS, fundraising platforms, and…
1 tag
5 tags
WatchDecember 2011 panel on “How Educators and Entrepreneurs Can Collaborate.” From Educators & Entrepreneurs Summit: The Future of Education Technology at Microsoft NERD in Cambridge, MA.
I had a great time.
6 tags
February 2012
5 posts
12 tags
Women 2.0 PITCH: 99 word recap
Hundreds of women + dozens of men = Women 2.0 PITCH, V-Day.
Incredible speakers. Inspiring entrepreneurs. Lots of new friends.
On multiple occasions, I was asked by female attendees if I now understood what its like to be the gender minority at tech events.
“No clue,” I said by the fifth time.
“Why?” they asked.
“Because you asked me how I’m doing.
We rarely ask.
You...
6 tags
Letter to a (civic) angel
On January 8, 2011, in the horrific Tucson shooting, we lost one of our finest citizens in Christina Taylor-Green, the nine-year-old who had just been elected to student council.
Last month, around the one-year anniversary of that fateful day, I wrote a letter to her family, sharing a few stories and experiences I had rarely shared with anyone.
After receiving a kind email in response from...
January 2012
1 post
2 tags
December 2011
1 post
1 tag
Alumn.us Blog: Prep School Student - $373,841 =... →
Originally published on the Alumn.us Blog:
Some of the deepest schisms in the U.S. between the haves and the haves-not stem from disparities in resources between schools and as a result of which schools our children attended.
These disparities are deeply rooted and seemingly intractable, and yet there is hope that they can be checked, reduced, or even eliminated - by us.
Keep...
November 2011
1 post
How to Meet Anyone: 8 Lessons from DJ Turly
Let your perception of beauty and iridescence lead your way. Places and people who have answers for you will appear more luminous and attractive.
- Celestine Prophesy
Or, in the practical advice of DJ Turly, “Ask out people who are exceptionally beautiful to try to find out why you find them so beautiful.”
Lesson one of eight from my day with the DJ, aka Jenn Turliuk.
Jenn and...
October 2011
3 posts
4 tags
Building a company vs. solving a problem
This weekend, Mark Zuckerburg challenged attendees at YC’s Startup School to solve a problem.
As Mark indicated, what problem we select is less important than whether we are convinced that the problem needs solving and whether we are passionate enough to dedicate “at least the next five years” toward trying to solve it.
The idea of spending five years solving a problem is a...
1 tag
1 tag
Planning Coca-Cola →
Charlie Munger just taught me how a core understanding of the social sciences can turn $2M into a $2 trillion company.
September 2011
7 posts
3 tags
Women entrepreneurs in Oaxaca (article for The... →
The Hoop Fund published an article I wrote with Elizabeth M. Rojo during my time as a Rotary scholar in Oaxaca, Mexico. In the piece, we discuss some of the challenges facing the industrious women tapete-weavers I worked with as a co-organizer and teacher of business classes through Fundación En Vía, a micro-lending nonprofit based Oaxaca.
Check it out!
1 tag
College Compass tool free till Friday →
The US News & World Report College Compass is free for those who register before 9/16 (provided by Google). This is a nice opportunity for high school students to gain access to a powerful tool.
BetterGrads’ co-founder Erhardt Graeff wrote a helpful blog post this morning offering a few tips on how to use the US News college guide...
2 tags
21 Lessons Learned from SOCAP11
Goodwill Foundation is a value-recovery organization, of discarded products and people. They are the largest employer in Bayview / Hunter’s Point.
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.” - Henry Ford, from Jen Medbury during Kickboard’s pitch
If you pitch, and a judge on the panel asks a question about something that was not covered in your talk, don’t...
3 tags
What is Rotary? A Response to a Craigslist Ad
I lucked out with my current room. Mission Dolores. Great housemates. Spacious apartment. Beautiful room. Rooftop deck. Unbeatable price.
But before I found such a good deal, I scanned through hundreds of craigslist ads on rooms for rent. I probably sent about a hundred emails. In each email, I’d express my interest in the room, and tell a little about myself.
Most people didn’t...
WatchInterview #1 _ SOCAP11
1 tag
“In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future.
The...”
– Eric Hoffer, writer and philosopher
(retrieved from http://www.newschools.org/files/innovation-in-education.pdf, a paper by NewSchools’ co-founder Kim Smith)
1 tag
“People should not be defined by their networks but be defining their networks.”
– Erhardt Graeff, September 1, 2011
August 2011
10 posts
3 tags
Day 1 of Learning HTML.
Day 1 of Learning HTML
Intro, Get Started, Basics, Elements = done.
Go get ‘em, tiger. Thank you, W3 Schools!
<h1>Day 1 of Learning HTML</h1> <p>Intro, Get Started, Basics, Elements = <strong> done.</strong></p> <br /> <p><a href=”http://www.kevinfadler.com”> Go get ‘em, tiger.</a> Thank you, <a...
3 tags
8 tags
Mtg with Andy Kaplan, CFO of DonorsChoose
On Friday, I had a phone call with Andy Kaplan, CFO of DonorsChoose. We connected to discuss innovative business models to sustain web-focused social ventures like his organization and BetterGrads.
I was put in touch with DonorsChoose via a mutual connection. I greatly admire their leadership in the world of citizen philanthropy. Their numbers speak volumes: through their fundraising platform...
4 tags
Textbooks: Rent 'em or Buy 'em? →
The Great Debate of 2011 - should I rent or buy my college textbooks - has begun. No room for compromise or nuance in this one (actually, hopefully there is). Read Part 1 now on the benefits of renting textbooks. @BetterGrads @BookRenter
UPDATE: Part 2 now available: http://bettergrads.org/blog/2011/08/10/college-textbook-rentals-con/.
2 tags
The education revolution is in full swing. →
A terrific e-book on DIY Education. Thanks @Erhardt for the rec!
1 tag
My First HTML Hack Ever →
How to get the Comments to work on Tumblr’s Minimalist Theme.
Thank you, How-To Geek & Disqus help page!
2 tags
“As a high school student, I think an alumni network would be awesome if it...”
– You
3 tags
Awesome People: Tim Hwang
Tim and I caught up via soup and salad at the Stable Cafe. A skilled organizer, Tim has built a number of amazing projects (like this and that and this, too), and is a nice guy to boot. We discussed AF, BetterGrads, and old boys clubs. My key takeaway on Awesome Foundation was that the foundation-part is hardly that. AF is an idea, an inspiration, not a bureaucratic morass: 10 people give $100...
3 tags
