The 35th Annual Whitney M. Young, Jr. Memorial Conference
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Dahni-El Giles
Co-Founder, DonorsChoose.org
Dahni-El Giles is a co-founder of the Internet non-profit DonorsChoose.org. Launched in 2001, DonorsChoose.org enables public school teachers to submit project proposals for experiences or that would benefit their students. These ideas become classroom realities when concerned individuals, whom we call “Citizen Philanthropists”, choose projects to fund. In completing a project, donors receive a feedback package of student photos and thank-you notes, and a teacher impact letter. 100% of the donor’s gift funds the teacher proposal UNLESS the donor instructs otherwise. Through DonorsChoose, over $25 million have been given to public school classrooms across the nation. Giles has served as the Operations Director in New York City, and the Acting Executive Director in Los Angeles.
The organization has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey show and ABC World News Tonight, as well as in the New York Times, CNN Money, the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Fast Company and a host of other publications and programs. In 2005, DonorsChoose won the Stanford University-Amazon.com Non-Profit Innovation Award and, last month, DonorsChoose finished second in the American Express Member’s Project.
Giles is from Brooklyn, New York, and currently works as a commercial transactions and customs attorney for Kraft Foods Global, Inc. Giles received his Bachelor’s degree in Government from Harvard and earned his Juris Doctorate from Georgetown.