Funding Secondary Education in the Developing World with Matt Severson

Production team:

Host : Maria Xenidou

Producer: Julie-Roxane Krikorian

Introduction Voice: David Bourne

Contact us:

[email protected]

Music credits:

Like Lee performed by The Mini Vandals

Transition sounds: Swamp Walks performed by Jingle Punks

Where to find Matt Severson:

LinkedIn

The School Fund

The School Fund - The Origin Story

Email Matt at: [email protected]

Mentioned in this episode:

WE.org (formerly Free the Children)

Brown University

Google X

Alphabet

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)