Since graduating in 2006, Florida State University School of Communication alum James Walter Doyle has been dedicated to educating students in low-income areas.

Immediately after college, Doyle joined Teach For America, an organization committed to providing all of the nation’s children with a quality education.  He relocated to Harlem, N.Y., and served as a middle school teacher in a low-income neighborhood.

“After I served my two-year commitment, I felt there was a still a really strong need (for teachers),” Doyle said.  “I didn’t feel like I was done with teaching and I moved to high school and taught for another five years.”

Doyle taught English at Thurgood Marshall Academy in Harlem where he is credited with bringing fitness education, literature circles, film studies and a technology elective to the school.  In addition, he started the Kids in Culture program six years ago.

“Kids in Culture is a yearlong program where students learn about a new culture from every possible angle,” Doyle said.  “The year culminates in actually traveling to that country.”

Doyle enlisted corporations and individuals to sponsor the cost of the program, and used fundraising organizations like DonorsChoose.org, which is a non-profit “online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need.”  Public school teachers from across nation can post classroom project requests on DonorsChoose.org and donors can give any amount of money to projects that interest them.

On the website, Doyle was featured in a viral video named, “Meet Mr. Doyle,” which profiled him and how he changed students’ lives in Harlem.  In addition, Doyle was nominated and chosen for a 2012 GQ Leadership Award by Charles Best, the founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org.  Doyle was one of five non-celebrity recipients for the award based on charitable work, volunteerism and community involvement.

“It was very inspiring to be amongst the other guys who were nominated,” Doyle said.  “It was a really special experience.”

Because he was so successful in his own fundraising efforts through DonorsChoose.org, Doyle began doing freelance work for the organization and building communications for teachers to rally and motivate them to advocate for their classrooms.

Last fall, DonorChoose.org created a position for Doyle as the National Director of Teacher Engagement. Doyle not only encourages teachers to participate, but also teaches them how to write a strong proposal for the website.

“I really get to motivate teachers on multiple levels whether it is retention level, engagement, outreach with different programs that we have and really building a community of a certain kind of teacher – one that goes above and beyond to push the needle and think outside the box,” Doyle said.

Doyle, who majored in media and communication studies at Florida State, said his educational background gave him a solid foundation for success.

“I was so well rounded in communications strategies that it gave me a basis in attacking different aspects of education and the organization I started,” Doyle said.  “I learned how to rally support from different mediums whether it was telephone or Internet or creating brochures.  But it goes beyond that.  I think being able to communicate and have a presence in front of students and be able to garner they support and trust had a lot to do with some of the classes I took and experiences like working at the radio station.”

Watch “Meet Mr. Doyle”: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAT3tWcyS10