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Jay Kloppenberg
Almost all children in the world today go to school, but only the lucky few get to attend great schools: schools that excite, schools that empower, schools that position their students to fulfil their extraordinary potential. I want to live in a world where attending a great school is as normal; where reaching one's potential is normal. I'm working to try to make that world a reality. Please join me!
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Show profile Hide profileI grew up in a very "academic" family. My father is a university professor. My mother has founded and run highly-successful early-childhood schools for the past 40+ years. The nature of teaching and learning was a frequent topic of dinner-table conversation. I expected that I, too, would become a teacher when I graduated from school.
Instead, I took a job at McKinsey&Co. upon graduation, and became a management consultant. Why? I thought it would be a lot of fun, and a great learning experience. Well, 1 for 2 ain't bad. (I'm just kidding--it was a great experience. My colleagues were fantastic. And I promise I wasn't involved in any state capture!)
Seeking meaning after two years of using my complete lack of knowledge to advise middle-managers on such important topics as how much to increase the price of their apple juice ($0.25? or $0.30?), I joined a small socially-focused private equity fund called AfriCap, making investments in MicroFinance Banks throughout Africa.
In 2010, I met Nonhlanhla Masina (ASE co-founder and now my wife!) and we hatched a plan for a new model for education: one that would be inexpensive enough that low-income township parents could afford it, effective enough that graduates could compete with anyone in the world, and scalable to the far-reaches of South Africa and beyond.
We didn't have it all figured out, and we still don't. But our flagship school in Tsakane, outside Johannesburg, is thriving, and we are now looking to expand. In the process, I have learned more about learning, about people, and about myself than I ever could have imagined. The more I learn, the more I learn how little I know.
It has been and continues to be an incredible journey. If you'd like to join me on it, you are welcome to get in touch!
I grew up in a very "academic" family. My father is a university professor. My mother has founded and run highly-successful early-childhood schools for the past 40+ years. The nature of teaching and learning was a frequent topic of dinner-table conversation. I expected that I, too, would become a teacher when I graduated from school.
Instead, I took a job at McKinsey&Co. upon graduation, and became a management consultant. Why? I thought it would be a lot of fun, and a great learning experience. Well, 1 for 2 ain't bad. (I'm just kidding--it was a great experience. My colleagues were fantastic. And I promise I wasn't involved in any state capture!)
Seeking meaning after two years of using my complete lack of knowledge to advise middle-managers on such important topics as how much to increase the price of their apple juice ($0.25? or $0.30?), I joined a small socially-focused private equity fund called AfriCap, making investments in MicroFinance Banks throughout Africa.
In 2010, I met Nonhlanhla Masina (ASE co-founder and now my wife!) and we hatched a plan for a new model for education: one that would be inexpensive enough that low-income township parents could afford it, effective enough that graduates could compete with anyone in the world, and scalable to the far-reaches of South Africa and beyond.
We didn't have it all figured out, and we still don't. But our flagship school in Tsakane, outside Johannesburg, is thriving, and we are now looking to expand. In the process, I have learned more about learning, about people, and about myself than I ever could have imagined. The more I learn, the more I learn how little I know.
It has been and continues to be an incredible journey. If you'd like to join me on it, you are welcome to get in touch!
