For this installment of 5 Minutes With, NationSwell sat down with Alix Guerrier, CEO of DonorsChoose — a nonprofit donation platform that helps connect teachers with the resources and materials they need to create the inspiring classrooms and projects that ensure a great education.

Ahead of Teacher Appreciation Week (May 5 – 9, 2025), we asked Guerrier about how DonorsChoose is helping to address racial and socioeconomic inequities in school funding; the impact milestones he’s most excited about; and how the platform is helping to support teachers who come from HBCUs. 

Here’s what he had to say:

NationSwell: Tell us about your personal connection to education — is there anything about your background that gives you a unique perspective or emotional connection to this space?

Alix Guerrier, CEO of DonorsChoose: I became a math teacher after I did investment banking, and I found teaching to be by far the more challenging profession! It remains the toughest job I’ve had. But the thing that I loved most about teaching was witnessing students as they understood new concepts. I would feel so fortunate to be able to observe kids as they were starting to do things that, before, they were not able to do. It’s an incredible privilege to be part of a kid’s journey as they learn and develop new skills.

NationSwell: Where are the existing gaps in school funding models, and how is DonorsChoose helping to close those gaps?

Guerrier, DonorsChoose: Public schools aren’t created equal. Schools that serve mostly students of color receive $23 billion less in state and local funding each school year – a funding gap of $2,266 per student. This inequity is reflected in teacher out-of-pocket spending. Teachers working at schools in lower income communities and with more students of color reach into their own wallet more to buy classroom materials. Our DonorsChoose platform gives members of the public a transparent, accountable way to bridge that inequity.

Every time a teacher submits a project to DonorsChoose, we receive a collection of data points on that classroom: number of students, subject area, items requested, teacher demographics, and more. We integrate this national data into our platform to help donors and institutional partners target their support where it will make the biggest impact. By highlighting schools that have been historically underfunded due to racial and economic inequity, we’ve made it easy for anyone to help us move the needle towards equity — whether they have $5 or $5 million to give.

NationSwell: Are there any anecdotes or moments that stand out to you in terms of the tangible impact you’ve seen DonorsChoose create for teachers?

Guerrier, DonorsChoose: What immediately comes to mind is the preschool classroom of Dominique Foster at Friendship Blow Pierce in Washington, DC, where the majority of students are Black or Latino and qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. You won’t find a better equipped or more engaging preschool classroom, and that’s because of Dominique. In December 2024, she used DonorsChoose to fund costumes for her students to dress up as veterinarians, doctors and dentists, skeleton models, weighted stuffed animals to serve as the patients, toothbrushes, and Band-aids – among so many other resources. 

Since posting her first DonorsChoose project in 2019, Dominique has raised $120,000 for her classroom through our platform. Along the way, her colleagues, too, have discovered DonorsChoose. More than 300 projects, posted by 78 teachers, have been funded at Friendship-Blow Pierce – totaling more than $300,000 in resources. Through DonorsChoose, educators like those at Friendship-Blow Pierce are accessing materials that their students uniquely need for an enriching education.

NationSwell: What has your experience at DonorsChoose taught you about the role technology has to play in the education system — what is the potential that you’re seeing?

Guerrier, DonorsChoose: DonorsChoose has always embraced technology as a fuel for social good. In fact, crowdfunding wasn’t even a word when we launched 25 years ago. Teachers have similarly embraced tech advancements, and their resource requests over the years on DonorsChoose show that progress within education.

Right now, there are a lot of conversations about the potential benefits and harms of artificial intelligence (AI) for both education and technology overall. Wherever you stand, it’s clear that AI is a remarkably powerful tool that isn’t going away — teachers and students are already engaging with it on a daily basis. We need to listen to the educators on the frontlines of this progress and make sure they’re a part of our national conversation about AI so that we can create a just and equitable future for our children.

NationSwell: Are there any new initiatives in the works that you’re particularly excited about and would like to lift up?

Guerrier, DonorsChoose: DonorsChoose is gearing up for Teacher Appreciation Week (May 5-9, 2025), and we’re planning even more support for public school teachers across the U.S. Teachers should stay tuned that week for more opportunities to get funding for their classrooms.

A new initiative this school year that I’m very proud of is Quad to Classroom. Studies show that the graduation rate among Black students increases by 33% if they have at least one Black teacher between third and fifth grade. In 2021, DonorsChoose conducted the largest survey of male teachers of color, and the survey shows that Black male graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) spend the most time engaging with students. The DonorsChoose Quad to Classroom program is inspired by these findings. The program helps to boost the pipeline of teachers who come from HBCUs and to provide them with funding on DonorsChoose.

NationSwell: Finally, what are some of the challenges you’re currently facing, and how can NationSwell’s community of changemakers help you with those challenges?

Guerrier, DonorsChoose: According to our annual DonorsChoose survey of our teacher community, teachers spend between $600 and $700 out of pocket on classroom supplies in a school year. We know that it’s often much higher than that. In fact, teachers on DonorsChoose told us that if it weren’t for our website, they’d be spending more than double out of pocket on classroom supplies. 

At the same time, teachers’ salaries have decreased as much as 15% between 2000 and 2017 and are decreasing much faster than those of comparable workers, yet they’re still reaching into their own pockets to get what their students need to learn. 

Anyone, from an individual to a corporation, can go to DonorsChoose to help a teacher avoid reaching into their own pockets again. DonorsChoose will not stop until every single student and teacher has the resources they need to thrive, and we’re doing everything we can to ensure that and to rally others to join us in empowering educators.