Wes Moore

BridgeEdU

Wes Moore would later go on to be a Rhodes scholar and New York Times best-selling author, but when he first started college the transition wasn’t smooth.

He realized he wasn’t alone and saw that students of color or from low-income backgrounds in particular need more support.

“Why can’t we reinvent that freshman year for them?” Moore asked.

In 2014, he started the first-year college program for-profit social enterprise BridgeEdU. It helps students work toward college completion and job placement while earning credit from higher education institutional partners.

Moore said they are already seeing positive outcomes and high retention rates. Next year, 500-600 students will participate in the program, and he plans for it to expand – potentially nationally.

“I learned early that the only way you’re only going to be great at something is if you’re passionate about it,” Moore said.

Moore is the author of “The Work” and “This Way Home,” written with Shawn Goodman. His first book, “The Other Wes Moore,” is in the works to become a movie.

Moore was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University, a White House fellow and special assistant to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and he served as a paratrooper and captain in the U.S. Army. Later, he was the host of Oprah Winfrey Network’s Beyond Belief.

He is the co-founder of Baltimore Corps, an initiative connecting talent to opportunity in Baltimore. He is on the Baltimore region advisory board for Teach For America, the board of the Iraq/Afghanistan Veterans of America, and the Board for the Corporation for National and Community Service.