Beyond Bezos and the Google Founders
building the largest open source dataset of Montessori alumni, weekend side-project edition
Hello everyone!
It’s been a bit quiet here lately, and for good reason. Life has been a whirlwind as
and I gear up to launch our first Renaissance startup. My kitchen has been doubling as a film studio for a new YouTube channel, and as a two-person team we’re constantly learning, working, and living all at once.I’m excited to share more updates about what we’ve been building soon! But first, a little weekend side-project👇
What do Jeff Bezos, Beyoncé, and the founders of Google all have in common?
If you're in the education world, you probably know the answer: they all went to Montessori. This same handful of high-profile names have been used for marketing materials as evidence of successful Montessori alumni.
But what about the thousands of other incredible entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, and leaders out there today who also benefited from a Montessori education? Their stories are largely untold.
We can anecdotally point to alternative education as a better option, but we’ve never had the comprehensive, long-term data to truly substantiate its impact compared to traditional schooling.
As a Montessori alum myself, I can speak to how much of an impact this education had on the rest of my trajectory and where I am today. But how many others out there like me have a similar story to share?
"Where are they now? What have they done?" These are some questions I've been pondering but getting answers to them hasn't been easy.
This challenge was front and center for me after a fantastic call last week with
, Founder of The Socratic Experience. Michael shared that he’s working on a research proposal to study the long-term outcomes of alternative education, focusing on metrics like well-being and mental health. His work highlights a critical gap: the data is scattered, anecdotal, and hard to access.This conversation inspired Karel and I to work on a mini weekend side-project, to build a small piece of the solution ourselves.
The largest open source dataset of Montessori alumni
The Montessorians aims to celebrate and document the achievements of the many trailblazers who were shaped by a Montessori education. We want to build a resource that goes beyond the same few famous faces and brings it closer to home with extraordinary, everyday people.
We've made a start, but its real value comes from community contributions. It's fully open source under a Creative Commons CC0 license and our hope is that it becomes a shared public resource.
This is more than just a list of names. It’s the beginning of a movement to build the evidence base for educational models that nurture creativity, independence, and a lifelong love of learning. It’s a small piece of our larger mission at our startup studio, Renaissance, to champion and build the future of education.
And now, we need your help.
Are you a Montessori alum? Do you know someone who is?
Explore the database: Discover inspiring individuals and see the diversity of paths taken.
Contribute to the project: Add your own profile or the name of a Montessorian you admire. It only takes a few minutes. If you have questions or need help submitting, feel free to reach out to either of us!
Thank you for being part of our journey.
-Sam + Karel