Founder and CEO of Scholly
Christopher Gray: Biography at a Glance
- Christopher Gray is the founder and CEO of Scholly, an app that helps students easily find scholarships for college and graduates pay off their student debt.
- Scholly has over 4 million users and has helped students raise over 100 million dollars.
- Christopher has been featured in the New York Times, O Magazine, Huffington Post, Forbes, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and more.
- He was featured on the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 List for Social Entrepreneurship, making the top of the list. Christopher is also one of Oprah’s Inaugural Super Soul 100 honorees, Oprah’s list of her favorite people. He is also a recipient of the 2016 Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award.
Videos
Biography
After winning $1.3 million in scholarships himself, Christopher Gray founded Scholly, an app that helps students easily find scholarships for college and graduates pay off their student debt. Scholly was featured on ABC’s Shark Tank, landing a deal with Daymond John and Lori Greiner and sparking the biggest fight in Shark Tank history. Scholly has over 4 million users and has helped students raise over 100 million dollars.
Christopher has been featured in the New York Times, O Magazine, Huffington Post, Forbes, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and more. He was featured on the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 List for Social Entrepreneurship, making the top of the list. Christopher is also one of Oprah’s Inaugural Super Soul 100 honorees, Oprah’s list of her favorite people. He is also a recipient of the 2016 Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award.
Topics
How I Overcame Poverty, Won $1.3 Million in Scholarships & Built a World Class Company Before 30
Raised by a single mother of three and often homeless, Christopher is no stranger to struggle. At an early age, he understood that education was the only way to conquer his circumstances. Determined to attend and graduate college, Christopher needed money to achieve his dream. This talk will focus on Christopher’s self-motivation, how he rose above unfortunate circumstances to find more than $1.3 million in college scholarships, what he learned from the experience, and how he filled a need in the marketplace by creating web and mobile app, Scholly.
Building a Company as a Millennial Entrepreneur
This talk provides insight on approaching and pitching investors; taking an idea to product, and, ultimately, the marketplace. Using personal examples, Christopher will discuss the skills, resources, and tools needed for young innovators to create and fund an enterprise.
Leveraging Technology to Scale Social Impact
Now, more than ever, advances in technology help nonprofit organizations worldwide advance their missions and allow corporations to fulfill their commitment to social responsibility where their employees live and work. This talk focuses on Scholly’s commitment to make quality education accessible and affordable to everyone.
Diversity in the Tech Industry & Work Force
Diversity drives better products, increased revenue opportunities, and ultimately a more cultured workforce. In this talk, Christopher will discuss how diversity allows companies to create better products that resonate with a large market, how it increase revenues, and, ultimately creates a more cultured workforce that is better enabled to serve customers and create a comfortable, inclusive environment for everyone. Christopher will also provide insight and recommendations for how companies can work differently with recruiters to change the way we think and bring different candidates to the table at the talent acquisition stage - within tech start-ups as well as generally.
Tackling the Student Debt Crisis
Student debt in the United States is a whopping $1.3 trillion. There is a lot of scholarship money available. The problem is finding it. In this talk, Christopher will discuss how Scholly is tackling the student debt crisis in the United States, as well as give suggestions on ways to minimize college debt and how doing so will affect career and lifestyle.
