Founder and CEO Karim Abouelnaga started PRACTICE while in his dorm room at Cornell University. Karim was raised by a single mother on government aid in New York City where he attended some of the city’s most struggling public schools. Thanks to a series of nonprofits and mentors, Karim became the first one in his family to attend college, graduating in the top 10% of his class.
In his first semester at Cornell, he realized the significant difference in his K-12 experience compared to that of many of his friends on campus. There, he rallied a group of classmates to create an organization to level the playing field for low-income children. Karim was determined to change the inequities he experienced in the public schools he grew up in to ensure that a student’s zip code doesn’t determine their future.
As CEO, Karim understands the importance of first-hand experience when working with urban schools and that is the foundation of our inside-out approach to education. Many of our leadership team and tutors are of and from the communities we serve. A majority of our tutors are college students working on undergraduate or graduate degrees who intimately understand the realities of urban classrooms and are driven to help urban students like themselves reach their full potential.
McKinsey issues The Economic cost of the US education Gap highlighting the summer learning loss
A late night conversation in a Cornell dorm room hatches the idea to help underserved kids in school
Practice Makes Perfect launches as a non-profit with first summer program to stop the summer slide
Receives Echoing Green Fellowship and recognition by Clinton Global Initiative
Forbes names Karim Abouelnaga as a
30 under 30 in Education
Receives first contract with NYC DOE
Practice Makes Perfect incorporates
as a Public Benefit Corporation
Named to B-Labs Best for the World list for
governance and customer impact
Karim’s TED Talk named one of the
9 Most Inspiring of 2017
School year services added for full year programming
Achieves milestone of 20,000
students served
Practice Makes Perfect renames as
PRACTICE Benefit Corporation
We are a values-driven company. These core values are part of our DNA and guide our decisions and behaviors.