“Today I do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can do what others can’t.”
– Manny Smith
This week, we did things a little differently on the On Work and Revolution podcast. This episode was recorded live in front of an audience at the Horizons Jobs for the Future Conference in Washington DC! Excited to bring this audio to you because this conversation was a good one!
Manny Smith, is the Founder and CEO of EdVisorly, an innovative AI-enabled platform designed to help community college students with the university transfer process, which is abysmally low currently. Dedicated to solving this problem, Manny shares many practical tips, including mindset and fundraising strategies that everyone would benefit from hearing.
We dig into that and the following topics:
✓ why transfer rates from community colleges to four-year programs are so low (only 18% 😱)
✓ how EdVisorly is helping students improve the university transfer process and the potential 10 billion-dollar impact of doing so
✓ balancing company culture and competitiveness within a startup
About our guest, Manny Smith:
Manny Smith is the Founder and CEO of EdVisorly, an AI enabled platform connecting community college students with 4-year universities to improve transfer success and degree completion. He graduated from the US Air Force Academy as a first-generation college student and spent 8 years active duty, serving as a technical program manager where he developed and launched satellite systems and software.
Influenced by his experiences, Manny pursued an MBA at University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business where he founded EdVisorly as a platform to transform community college to 4-year bachelor’s degree completion. EdVisorly helps freshmen and sophomores build clear and accessible pathways to complete their bachelor’s degree at 4-year universities.
In 2023, EdVisorly was selected to participate in EY’s Entrepreneur Access Network, and one of 20 companies chosen as part of Google’s 2024 Black and Latino Founders Fund. In addition to building EdVisorly, Manny is on the Board of Directors for Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2). As a former Division 1 athlete (track and football), Manny enjoys working out and training.
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