
Jeff Shelstad helped build Flat World Knowledge around affordable books and the freedom to change them. His account of what went wrong is a lesson in money, patience, and who gets to shape a classroom.
He wanted to start a technology business, but first he needed somewhere to learn. Christian Patiño built Coderhouse around that frustration - and is now bringing AI into a school still organized around human teachers.
Long before she ran camps or built a family-navigation platform, Carli Kyles studied what teachers reveal when they write honestly. In Oakland, that same faith in reflection has become a working method: make room, share the stage, and let young people lead.

A caregiver named Yoli gave Chris Bennett an early lesson in education and enterprise. Years later, he turned that memory into Wonderschool - and a practical campaign to put quality child care within five minutes of every family.

A teaching job in Taiwan became a career in global education. Now Verto Education's co-founder is trying to turn a semester abroad from an elective into the opening chapter of college.

He once needed help with eighth-grade algebra. Then he tutored StudyPoint’s first student, turned a whiteboard tally into a national operation, and spent 27 years testing what personal education looks like at scale.