Media Advisory: Charles Best, CEO of DonorsChoose.org, to speak at Wake Forest

The event is free and open to the public.

DonorsChoose.org, a nonprofit organization, provides a simple way to address educational inequity. At DonorsChoose.org, public school teachers create classroom project requests and donors can choose the projects they want to support. Nationwide, 716,308 projects totaling more than $418 million dollars have been funded.

In Forsyth County so far this academic year, 174 projects, including hands-on science labs, vocabulary enrichment tools and playground improvements for children with special needs, have been funded — supporting more than 13,500 students. In the local school system, nearly 450 teachers have raised funds for more than 1,000 projects since 2003.

“Through DonorsChoose.org, Best has enabled everyday citizens to become philanthropists by creating a platform in which citizens can engage in education reform inspired by classroom teachers at the local level,” says Wake Forest education professor Alan Brown. “Conversations about how leadership affects and is affected by ideas such as entrepreneurship and innovation, service and social action, and education and community building are critical when state and local funding for K-12 classrooms cannot meet all the needs of teaching and learning.”

Best launched DonorsChoose.org in 2000 out of a Bronx public high school where he taught history. DonorsChoose.org is one of Oprah Winfrey’s “ultimate favorite things” and was featured on the cover of Fast Company as one of the “50 Most Innovative Companies in the World.” For three years, Fortune Magazine has named Best to its “40 under 40” hottest rising stars in business.