Through July 4, The Post, in conjunction with the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream, is featuring US citizens explaining what the American dream means to them in 2026 — including Marla Blow, CEO and president of the Skoll Foundation.

I walked around in the community I lived in and… I thought, I don’t think people are making good financial decisions. I [was] 15, or 17, but that was just my observation.

And I thought, I’m good with numbers and I think I’m good with people. And I think I can help people make better financial decisions …

That came sort of out of nowhere. I got to Penn and I got a job in student financial services. And I worked in the student aid, student loan disbursements, the bursar’s office at the school. And I worked in financial services at Penn my entire four years … that was my work study job the whole time I was there.

And then I worked in financial services for a long part of my career after that.

Both of my grandmothers spent their lives as domestic workers. They picked cotton. My mother said to me once — I was complaining about something or I wasn’t happy about something — … the life you live would have been unfathomable to your grandmother. That your big issue was trying to find somebody to give you millions of dollars go go and build a business. This is the American dream.

It doesn’t get any better than that. That was not available to my grandmother. It wouldn’t have been in her worldview … and that we can make that kind of journey is what it’s all about,

We all have the opportunity through … access to capital to make our lives work. And that’s at a micro level, on a day-to-day basis — just to have the capital you need to pay your daily bills and provide for the things you need … — and at the very loftiest of levels. Even if you do make a mistake, it does not need to be fatal. You can recover from that mistake. You can have another chance.

The American Dream Video Project showcases real stories that illuminate pathways to opportunity. Featured at the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream (MCAAD), this series is part of the Center’s celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. MCAAD is Washington, DC’s newest cultural institution, offering interactive exhibits and stories about achieving the American Dream. For more information, visit mcaad.org.