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Charles River School alumni, parents and faculty gathered last week to present Jeffrey Raider ‘95, entrepreneur and co-founder of Warby Parker and Harry’s, with this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
In 2010, Jeff founded Warby Parker, creating a company that offers designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while also leading the way for socially-conscious businesses; for every pair of glasses sold, the company distributes a pair to someone in need. Building on that success, in 2013, Jeff founded Harry’s – a company that makes and sells simple, well-designed men’s shaving products at a fair price.
An alumnus of Charles River School who grew up in Wellesley, Jeff now lives in Manhattan and has young children of his own. “Now that I’m a dad, I spend a lot of time thinking about the power of a great educational environment. I want for my children what I had at CRS; a warm, tight-knit and welcoming community that helped me develop a strong academic foundation, and helped instill in me ethics and values that I’ve tried to carry throughout my life and career,” said Jeff.
“Being in such a nurturing environment [at CRS] – where people really cared about me and about every individual – instilled self confidence, and made me believe that I could be what I wanted to be, and do what I wanted to do,” continued Jeff. “I loved coming to school at CRS every day, and I’ve carried that with me into the professional world. I actually love coming to work every day.”
Jeff co-founded both Harry’s and Warby Parker because of the lack of high-quality products available at reasonable prices, and the companies are revolutionizing their respective marketplaces. Both Warby Parker and Harry’s have been covered broadly by media including Fortune Magazine, the Today Show, CNBC, Fast Company, and in Wall Street Journal blogs.
“Jeff has created two disruptive businesses, taking on industry giants and challenging the conventional, or accepted, approach. Charles River School is proud to have played a role in Jeff’s education, and to count him among our alumni,” said Gretchen Larkin, Head of School for Charles River School.
The event was hosted at Bully Boy Distillers, co-founded by alums Will Willis ‘88 and Dave Willis ‘92.
