Rey Faustino, a 2018 New America CA Fellow, started One Degree, a technology-driven nonprofit organization that harnesses modern tech, to directly empower low-income and at-risk families and individuals with the resources to achieve upward mobility.
Rey’s passion for equity and social justice comes from his upbringing in a working-class immigrant family from the Philippines. Like many new immigrants, his family faced challenges in meeting their basic needs, such as healthcare, educational programs, and immigration services.
Rey began his career as a teacher and later as site director at BUILD, a college access nonprofit organization that propels low-income, at-risk youth to attain a college education. Rey started One Degree in response to the broken social service system and is building a model for the critical infrastructure that empowers communities to break the cycle of poverty.
Rey received his B.S. in Business Entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California and earned his Master in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He is an alumnus of Y Combinator, an Echoing Green Fellow, and an Education Pioneers Fellow.