The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change

We recognized that children don’t just need safe structures in which to learn, but also qualified teachers and supportive elements, including uniforms, textbooks, and transportation.

Based on their recommendations, we decided that it was important to go beyond just building schools and move into teacher training and student scholarships as well.

defined five key elements that our culture had to exude to draw and retain top talent: happiness, friendship, reward, improvement, and fun. I tried to come up with ways to deliver on those values, so we added practices like a monthly meditation, with the whole team sitting in silence for fifteen minutes and focusing on being in the present.

pick one and go all in.

message struck a chord with Chelsea,

How can I get involved?”

My dad even went so far as to order license plates that read YBNML, which my scared middle school friends always assumed meant “why be an animal.” The real meaning was much more apt: “why be normal.”

IF YOUR DREAMS DON’T SCARE YOU, THEY’RE NOT BIG ENOUGH

Paul has since introduced me to countless stellar people, many of whom have become significant funders of our work. Immediately after each meeting, I now send out a follow-up email detailing the commitments made by both sides so there’s mutual alignment. Paul then calls them to ask what they think, gains critical feedback, and calls me to relay exactly what was strong and weak about my performance in the meeting. I now have someone who is brutally honest with me on a daily basis and coaches me through my greatest areas of personal growth.

As the African proverb states, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”