Bob Howitt has worn many hats in a long and productive life.

Beginning as a research analyst and then portfolio manager, I became a general partner in the Wall Street firm of First Manhattan Company. While there, I volunteered in various homeless shelters and decided to make a career switch to education and initiate a foundation and an “I Have a Dream”-type program.

Before I could get to New Jersey and manage that effort, I was drafted to be Interim Executive-Director of The Door, a well-known New York City youth agency. In the past twenty years, my WKBJ Foundation has developed multiple internal education programs, all of which have assisted young people to pursue their dream of higher education. Throughout this period, I have consistently interacted one-on-one with those students.

WKBJ provided the seed capital for North Star Academy Charter School of Newark, which evolved into Uncommon Schools, one of the leading charter school organizations in the country.

I believe I am the only writer who has been published in this combination of publications: The Wall Street Journal, Greetings Magazine, the Hispanic Outlook for Higher Education, and Basketball Weekly!”