Today, Maria talks with Matt Severson, who is a Harvard MBA and the founder of The School Fund whom she met when she started serving on The School Fund board. When his mom showed Matt the importance of helping a stranger, she ignited his passion for helping those in need. Many years later, after he met a student named John in Tanzania who could not afford going to high school, Matt decided to found The School Fund and John became the first student they supported. Matt talks about the small dent he wants to make in the world by working to solve two big problems: climate change and poverty in developing countries. He currently contributes his part by working at Tesla, and serving as the Board Chair of The School Fund that he founded in 2009. We hope this conversation will inspire you to consider supporting students who need an extra hand to complete their education and improve the quality of life for themselves, their families and communities.
Production team:
Host : Maria Xenidou
Producer: Julie-Roxane Krikorian
Introduction Voice: David Bourne
Contact us:
impactlearningpodcast@gmail.com
Music credits:
Like Lee performed by The Mini Vandals
Transition sounds: Swamp Walks performed by Jingle Punks
Where to find Matt Severson:
The School Fund - The Origin Story
Email Matt at: matt@theschoolfund.org
Mentioned in this episode:
WE.org (formerly Free the Children)
Megan Smith - VP at Google and Chief Technology Officer under President Obama.
Listen to this episode and explore:
Matt’s childhood: learning to give back at a very young age (2:40)
His relationship to learning and education as a child: good grades and extracurricular activities (4:59)
The importance of deliberate practice to keep improving (6:43)
His first trip to Africa to build a school (8:06)
Founding The School Fund (9:55)
Matt’s undergraduate studies and career: architectural & environmental studies before joining Google in Business Development (16:56)
The skills learnt at Google: managing up and down, connecting people and leading teams (19:30)
The decision to study at Harvard Business School (23:47)
Joining Tesla: contributing to solutions for climate change (26:05)
The developing countries that the School Fund supports (28:28)
How The School Fund identifies its local partners (30:03)
The struggle for girls to access education in developing countries (31:48)
The values the School Fund was founded upon: transparency, accountability and communication (33:57)
How to support and contribute to the School Fund (37:33)
The one thing Matt wants to leave his mark on during his lifetime (39:10)