I am the proud son of an immigrant who worked tirelessly to give his children access to an education that comes with the promise of “el sueño americano” (The American dream). My family background has largely shaped my passion for education, my eagerness to surpass expectations and my drive to empower others.

I’m working on building a fashion brand that represents the modern working woman, and offers outfits that allow us women to look and feel good at work. Now that I have found my purpose, work is no longer something I dread on a Sunday night. Work is now a way for me to make an impact on the world and fulfill a vision, which is a pretty good reason to get out of bed in the morning!

My purpose is to enable others to have agency, actualize their values in the world and solve important problems. This purpose has been shaped by my upbringing and professional experiences.

I will soon begin a career as a venture capitalist, and I hope to leverage my role to improve the plight of Black people and decrease gender inequality, similar to the way I used my roles in EdTech startups in the past.

When my grandmother told me the story of her life, I was floored by the depth of her resilience. A few months after her birth, she had been sold to a family with food and a stillborn daughter. After her adopted family died when she was seven, she wandered over a hundred miles on her own in search of her birth family.

From tips on her blog about work-life integration, to taking calculated risks and being heard in business, to mentoring women and people of color to help them capitalize on opportunities, Shellye is consistently uplifting others. As a woman of color, Shellye is a beacon of success for individuals who have traditionally lacked equal access to leadership positions and she speaks openly and honestly about her experiences.

And while she didn’t know I was watching, she taught me how to maintain relationships with the people who matter most. She balanced her schoolwork and professional pursuits with preparing to marry her fiancé and being available to her mother and siblings. For a kid from a neighborhood that incarcerated more black boys than it graduated from high school, Natasha was my real-time, real-life model of academic and professional excellence. Also, as a young man from a place where there are few fathers, and even fewer husbands, Natasha was an early teacher of selfless love and service. Up until this point in my life, I’d never met anyone in such close proximity who encouraged and inspired me so much.

My path to Stanford University was paved in large part by Mrs. Sara St. John, my high school extended learning teacher and one of my most pivotal legacy leaders. I attended a public school in rural Iowa, and Mrs. St. John actively worked to make sure that my locality did not affect my academic opportunities.

Jenny routinely speaks about our differences (and how the diversity between us has been such a strength for the company), which has allowed others to feel like they can bring their unique strengths and backgrounds to FreeWill and that those will be celebrated, rather than being asked to assimilate.

Anyone can verbalize support or wish you luck in your endeavors, but it takes an exceptional leader—a legacy leader—to put time and energy into paving the way to your success. Boryana not only does this herself, but she established an entire organization on this premise.

She believes in the power of questions, the importance of optimism and the beauty of boldness, and recognizes that it always starts with people. I owe her a sincere debt of gratitude. It is because of her that I recognize it’s not just what I do, but how I do it, that can have the greatest impact on the world.

When I think about the way I want to live my life, I think about my Nani. I think of all the hopes and dreams she gave to me, how I carry the weight of her struggles, how the opportunities I have to succeed have made her sacrifices worth it.

Time and time again I saw that the kids who deserved the best teachers usually got the worst: instructors who were inexperienced and under-qualified. This unsettling reality is both an issue of supply and allocation of resources. Why don’t we have enough quality teachers? Why aren’t our quality teachers more fairly distributed?

This phenomenon of good intentions that don’t result in the intended impact is pervasive. It extends far beyond environmental issues, from the effects of fair-trade goods to those of charity donations. Ultimately, there are so many individuals in the world with good intentions and a huge amount of opportunity to create change.

I want to create a matching system that establishes corporate-nonprofit partnerships by standardizing online applications and assessing participants to ensure alignment of narratives, missions, interests, needs and support type.

A pressing public need exists for innovation and welfare enhancement for the elderly. The urgency of an aging population is clear; the United States Census Bureau’s 2017 National Population Projections reported that by 2030, all baby boomers will be older than age 65, creating a world where one in every five residents will be of retirement age.

My philanthropic purpose deals directly with this dissonance. I seek to ensure people distanced from centers of power – whether by physical distance or because of social or historical marginalization – have access to the tools, capital, and empowerment to influence the policies and politics of this country.