Teachers in affluent schools spend $600 of their own money every year on classroom supplies. In high-poverty schools, teachers spend double that. Something's fundamentally broken in how we fund education—and Jessica Thorne spent 14 years learning exactly where those cracks are.

After working across school districts, state legislatures, and education policy, she joined DonorsChoose as Vice President of Government Partnerships. The platform has channeled $1.8 billion to teachers over 25 years, and now Jessica's working to make it permanent government infrastructure—embedding DonorsChoose into state education budgets in Utah, Hawaii, Nevada, and Delaware, proving that mission-driven organizations can become essential, not optional.

"Teachers are the future of this country and they are taking care of our children every day and they bear this massive responsibility. I think the least we can do is let them kind of guide the way." - Jessica Thorne

🚀 Key Takeaways:

Transparency builds trust faster than polish: DonorsChoose shows every item, every price, every donor—making the platform trustworthy enough for government partnerships worth millions.

Speed and accuracy matter more than scale: Getting supplies to teachers in 2 weeks versus 18 months made DonorsChoose irreplaceable to states managing COVID relief funds.

Grassroots beats top-down every time: Letting teachers define their own needs creates better outcomes than one-size-fits-all government programs dictating what classrooms should have.

Government partnerships require proof, not promises: Utah, Hawaii, Nevada, and Delaware built DonorsChoose into permanent state budgets because the platform delivered measurable, fast results.

Fighting for funding never stops, even at $150M: Success doesn't end the hustle—donor attention shifts, priorities change, and mission-driven organizations must constantly innovate to sustain impact.

⏳ Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Jessica Thorne and DonorsChoose

01:36 How personal school experiences shaped her mission

05:18 What equity means in education and why it matters

09:12 Breaking into government funding and policy work

15:34 Moving from schools to policy and legislation

19:37 How DonorsChoose works and why teachers trust it

24:42 Why DonorsChoose exists when government could do this work

27:28 Government partnerships during COVID-19 crisis

33:24 Building trust through transparency and operational excellence

46:25 Reaching 90% of US schools and raising $150M annually

55:32 Using platform data to inform state education policy

1:02:26 Lessons on grassroots funding versus top-down mandates

🔗 Connect with Jessica Thorne

Website: https://www.donorschoose.org

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-thorne

🔗Resources Mentioned

Support a teacher or get funded: Visit https://www.donorschoose.org to get involved

DonorsChoose on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/donorschoose/

🎙️ About SowGood to GrowGood: Hosted by John Kane Gonzales, entrepreneur and innovator. We explore how change-makers and innovators are building sustainable systems for a better future, turning ideas into scalable impact.