We first learned about Curtis Carroll (aka "Wall Street") after watching his TED talk, which has gathered more than 2.4 million views since April. Known by the media as the "Oracle of San Quentin", Wall Street is known for his stock picking abilities, but he had to overcome a number of challenges to earn that title. Carroll grew up in Oakland and was convicted of murder/robbery 20 years ago. Sentenced to 54 years to life behind bars, he decided that rather than becoming a victim of the prison system, he wanted to do something impactful with his life. The stock market grabbed his attention, but he was illiterate. He educated himself, teaching himself to read and switching his role models from drug dealers to financial gurus like Warren Buffett. He now sees his life as an opportunity to teach financial literacy the masses, attributing crime, or the motive behind it, directly to the disconnect between financial security and most people.

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