Former Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer has given $20 million to College Advising Corps.
The Chapel Hill-based organization places advisers in high schools to help first-generation and underrepresented students navigate their way to college.
CEO Nicole Hurd said Ballmer's gift will not only help hire more advisers, but help secure the Advising Core as a stable institution.
"The idea is to really build up the resources, that at the end of the campaign, we won't just be an organization that's kind of living year to year to year like most non-profits do," Hurd said. "But really an institution that has financial viability, that has infrastructure, that has leadership that'll allow us to think about the next 20 years, not just the next 20 months, if you will."
Hurd said the Corps has helped more than 300,000 students go to college. She said she aims to reach 1 million by 2025.
This story has been corrected to reflect the attribution of a quote. It was said by Nicole Hurd.