Meet Malachy Donovan, Business Development Associate at RaiseMe.

How long have you been at RaiseMe? I joined just under two months ago!

What brought you to RaiseMe? What’s your favorite thing about working at RaiseMe? Two aspects of RaiseMe drew me in: the company’s culture and mission. The interview process exposed me to RaiseMe’s culture right away. I was struck by the breadth of past experiences that led team members to the company — some shared stories of work in education, like Teach for America, and others from companies in Silicon Valley. Each conversation added more color to how RaiseMe approaches its mission: using technology to empower students to and through college. What I found sets RaiseMe apart is its dual focus on technology and higher education. By having one foot in Silicon Valley and the other firmly rooted in the country’s education system, RaiseMe is best suited to instill change on the structural level. That’s what I find so exciting, and also challenging, about RaiseMe and its mission.

What sort of interesting challenges have you faced at RaiseMe? On the college-facing side, some challenges surprised me. When thinking about education, it’s fair to assume that student needs vary widely — you need to build a product with a number of student needs in mind. In my work on the BD team, I learned that a similar mindset applies when reaching out to colleges. Over the past two months, I’ve learned just how varied higher education institutions are. We’re always working on better understanding such a nuanced marketplace.

What’s on your reading list? Right now I’m reading “21 Lessons for the 21st Century” by Yuval Noah Harari — it’s an interesting overview of how everything from technology, politics, and religion are shaping our world. Soon I’m hoping to get to “Give People Money” by Annie Lowrey as well! It’s an argument for universal basic income as a solution to technological change and inequality.

What’s one college course that you loved? “Politics of Oil and Energy” — it was really helpful to learn about the history of energy and how profoundly it affects political systems.

Want to learn more about working at RaiseMe? Check out our jobs page.