The same day we do an article about Drop the Chalk’s amazing progress, the company’s founder and CEO, Jen Medbery, is recognized in two major business publications for her work as a social entrepreneur in New Orleans.
Medbery has been selected as one of Inc. Magazine’s 30 Under 30 Entrepreneurs of the Year and to Bloomberg Businessweek’s list of America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs in 2011.
Drop the Chalk’s new software application, Kickboard, tracks performance and attendance data for students and helps teachers improve performance in the classroom. Medbery created the program after identifying the need for data collection and analysis while teaching in her classroom as part of the Teach for America program in New Orleans.
Funding for the project originally came from The Idea Village’s Entrepreneur Challenge, Tulane Business Plan Competition, and most recently the New Orleans Startup Fund, the nonprofit venture fund focused on business creation and innovation in the 10-parish Greater New Orleans region.
Businessweek focused their selection on for-profit social enterprises. They selected selectd companies by examining their impact, innovation, and business success. Drop the Chalk is among the 25 selected companies. You can vote for your favorite, which New Orleans Startup Fund will announce on July 19.