Throughout high school, Christopher Gray and his mother dealt with homelessness as a result of his mom losing her job during the 2008 recession. But that didn't stop Gray from persevering to create opportunities in his own life.
Hoping to make it to college, Gray spent endless hours applying for scholarships, using his small cell phone to write application essays. Soon his hard work paid off tremendously.
Gray won over $1.3 million in scholarship awards. But after going through the grueling process of having to search and apply for scholarships, he wanted to make it easier for future generations.
Along with his college friends, he launched the Scholly app, which helps people find scholarship opportunities. After making an appearance on Shark Tank, the app became even more popular, now having over three million users and helping them land over $100 million in scholarships.
Gray’s innovative idea is helping to make attending college more affordable and accessible, which is particularly important for students from financially-disadvantaged households and communities. His work is helping to change the outcomes for millions of students nationwide.