
The Story
In 2004, Matt Berninger quit his day job to invest full time in an insane dream—headlining a rock band. Eight years earlier, his cousins Joe and Jeff Berninger did the same—leaving their private-sector careers to start a nonprofit that would help more than 278,400 Guatemalan students (and counting) break the cycle of poverty. Today, the Cooperative for Education is focused on educating and empowering girls through the Thousand Girls Initiative. The goal? To help 1,000 girls across the country stay in school, graduate, and go after their dreams just like Matt, Joe, and Jeff.