Who We Are
Find out more about how we started and get to know our team & our partners. Still have questions? Contact us today.
Our Story
Wishbone began in a classroom in South Central, Los Angeles. Beth’s students were skipping class, missing assignments, and failing out of school. She was convinced that her students were struggling to find relevance.
Beth raised money by running a marathon to send her students to after school and summer programs. She assigned her students to research a program they would like to attend and to explain why. 75% of her students turned in the essay (the class average was previously 10%) and seven students attended programs.
All seven students graduated from high school, matriculated to college, and claimed that the experience made them realize why succeeding in high school was relevant to pursuing their passions. Four of the seven are now majoring in those same subjects in college.
TopOur Team
Beth Schmidt
Founder & Executive Director
Beth is a former Teach for America Corps Member, who taught 10th Grade English at Locke High School in South Central, Los Angeles. She graduated from Middlebury College and holds a Masters in Secondary Education from Loyola Marymount University. Beth is a Kauffman Labs Education Ventures Fellow and was recently celebrated on Forbes’ 2013 “30 Under 30” list for her work in education.
Advisory Board
We are honored to be supported by the following advisory team who has committed extraordinary effort towards Wishbone’s development.
Wayee Chu
Co-Founder, NewSchools Seed Fund
Margie Thorne
Former Board Chair of Bronx Preparatory Charter School; Former Board Chair for Peer Health Exchange in San Francisco
Louise Langheier
Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder,
Peer Health Exchange
Tim Ranzetta
President, Innovate Foundation; Founder, Student Lending Analytics
Doug Krebs
President of International Markets,
Ascend Learning; Advisor to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Jane Dowling
Executive Director,
KIPP Through College
Michael Polansky
COO of Airtime; Board Director at Causes;
Director of Parker Media; Former Principal at Founders Fund
Ted Dintersmith
Partner, Charles River Ventures
