Al Motley is the founder and CEO of Techademics, a technology company driving innovation in education, social impact philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector.

In this episode, Al shares his journey from working at Penn State’s Center for Academic Computing as a student to leading an international tech company transforming the education and social impact sectors. With offices in Philadelphia, Buenos Aires, and Botswana, Techademics delivers digital solutions and strategic guidance to schools and nonprofits around the world—impacting hundreds of thousands of students, educators, and community leaders.

Al discusses his path in education, how Techademics helps schools and nonprofits build effective tech infrastructure, what’s next for the edtech industry, and how mission-driven entrepreneurship can create lasting change.

Episode Chapters

0:00 - 5:20 Moving from school to school growing up

5:20 - 10:26 Choosing Penn State and getting heavily involved as a student

10:26 - 11:34 Knowing technology was the path for him

11:34 - 12:57 Al's time with Mastery Charter School in Philadelphia to learn change management and scale

12:57 - 18:40 The inspiration behind launching Techademics 

18:40 - 22:57 Positioning schools to be successful in evolving technology landscape

22:57 - 24:21 Advice for his younger self

The Dare to Disrupt podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Penn State Smeal College of Business.