- Company
- Character Lab
- Role
- Founder & CEO
- Est. Net Worth
- $5 Million (Est.)
- Stage
- Emerging
- Industry
- Healthcare
Angela Duckworth
Founder & CEO at Character Lab
About
Angela Duckworth left a career in management consulting to teach math in public schools, then earned a PhD in psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, where her research on grit — the combination of passion and perseverance — became one of the most cited findings in modern behavioral science. Her TED talk has been viewed over 30 million times, and her bestselling book 'Grit' changed how educators, coaches, parents, and employers think about achievement and potential. She founded Character Lab, a nonprofit that translates scientific research on character development into practical tools for schools and families.
Current Company
Character Lab — Founder & CEO
The Science of Grit
Angela Duckworth left a lucrative career at McKinsey to teach seventh-grade math in New York public schools, where she noticed that the students who succeeded weren't necessarily the most talented — they were the most persistent. This observation led her to graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, where she developed the concept of 'grit' — the combination of passion and sustained perseverance toward long-term goals — and showed that it predicted achievement more reliably than IQ or talent alone.
Her research, published in top psychology journals and presented in a TED talk viewed over 30 million times, challenged the widespread assumption that success is primarily a function of innate ability. Duckworth's bestselling book 'Grit' became required reading in schools, sports programs, military academies, and corporate training programs worldwide.
Translating Research into Practice
Duckworth founded Character Lab, a nonprofit that partners with schools to translate behavioral science research into classroom-ready tools. The organization develops and tests interventions designed to help students build character strengths — not just grit, but also intellectual humility, curiosity, gratitude, and purpose — through randomized controlled trials involving hundreds of thousands of students.
Character Lab represents Duckworth's belief that psychology research is only valuable if it changes practice. Too much behavioral science, she has argued, stays locked in academic journals rather than reaching the teachers, parents, and coaches who could use it. By building a bridge between research universities and K-12 classrooms, Duckworth has created a model for how social science can have direct, measurable impact on how children learn and grow.