In Chapter 18 of 22 in his 2014 Capture Your Flag interview, elementary charter school network CEO Preston Smith answers "At This Moment in Your Life, Where Are You Seeking Advice and Coaching?" Smith shares a big life lesson he learned from crashing a car while in high school. The lesson reminds him to stay humble even when you think you have everything figured out. As a professional, this helps Smith embrace support from an executive coach, his Aspen Institute Pahara Fellowship cohort and a group of advisors he terms his "kitchen cabinet."
Preston Smith is co-founder and CEO of Rocketship Education, the highest performing low-income school system in California. After graduating the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Smith joined Teach for America. After three years teaching 1st Grade, he founded a district school in San Jose and became its principal. Smith was selected as a member of the 2010 class of Aspen Institute New Schools Fellows.