Jennifer Carolan

Co-Founder, Partner

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples.”

Mother Teresa

Jennifer grew up in Chicago and its suburbs. She had the transformative experience of attending two different high schools—one in the city and one in the suburbs. That experience set her on a path to understand our education system and why it has great inequalities. Jennifer taught in traditional public schools for 7 years, pursued an MA in Education from Stanford, then went on to learn the craft of venture capital for almost a decade before co-founding Reach Capital. Although she never intentionally went after a career in venture capital, she found it to be a powerful lever to remove the obstacles that stand in the way of opportunity, especially for those without a voice.

Why Education?

Learning allowed me to step outside of my life and consider new ways of thinking. It helped me understand and develop empathy for others, their lives and their hardships. Education is such a powerful tool to develop ourselves as human beings and to support one another in community. John Dewey said, classrooms are a microcosm of our ideal society and I love this challenge to create small communities that prioritize and reflect what is best in our human nature.