Michael Carter

Michael Carter, Founder and CEO of nonprofit Strive for College, is revolutionizing the socio-educational landscape by using technology to foster human connections in education spaces. Michael founded Strive for College from his freshman dorm room. His pilot matched college students with high school students at a local failing high school; the school’s rate of graduating seniors going to a four-year college or university grew from 3% to 89%. In the early 2010s, Michael led Strive in a transition from in-person mentoring to a completely virtual mentoring model. Michael’s work with Strive has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, TIME, Education Week, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. He was named a 2011 Echoing Green Fellow, a 2012 Bluhm Helfand Social Innovation Fellow, a 2013 CNN Hero, Forbes 30 Under 30, and one of The Gentry Top 50 Philanthropists, a list which also included Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison. Michael holds a BA from Washington University in Saint Louis.