For Jesse Williams, the partnership was a natural fit due to him formerly being an educator in Philadelphia, PA, coupled with his personal experience of being a student at underfunded schools.

Williams understands the value of education and looks forward to creating an accessible pathway alongside Gray.

“My experience as a student in grossly under-resourced schools in Chicago in the 80s, my move to suburban white school districts and seeing them completely and differently resourced; my experience in a private white institution, my experience struggling day-to-day to be able to afford going to college, and my experience teaching in the hood in Philly — all of those things informed or continued to enliven my understanding of the distressing reality of the public school system. I brought all of that to the table when I met Christopher Gray, founder of Scholly, who’s actually doing something about it,” Williams told AfroTech exclusively.

He continued: “Partnering with Scholly was a natural kind of progression going from my previous experience as a teacher, and trying to attack these issues in our community as an activist and organizer. I’m happy to be able to do it in the digital realm and utilize innovative technology in the mobile space with Scholly. I hope that the funds will free up the recipients to be able to better live their lives. I know what it’s like to be stressed week to week, thinking, ‘How am I going to pay these bills?’ … So, I hope that it can pay down some of their cost of living so they can be free to know what it’s like to live as a financially stable person.“

Christopher Gray

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