Springboard Collaborative Founder Alejandro Gac-Artigas Makes Forbes “30 Under 30” List
January 8, 2014 Category: UncategorizedWith 15 different categories, the 2014 edition of Forbes 30 under 30 honors 450 of the brightest and boldest worldwide in education, social entrepreneurship, law and beyond.
One Philadelphian gracing this year’s list is Alejandro Gac-Artigas in education, founder of Springboard Collaborative.
“I think that being on the list is meaningful in two ways: personally and professionally,” Gac-Artigas said. “Professionally, my hope is that it provides credibility, validation, and a platform to get our message to more people.”
He added that it’s meaningful for him and his family because his parent’s made big sacrifices immigrating his family to the US so that his sister and him could get a better education.
“To be named in a publication that’s recognizable to my parents and to my family for my work in education, which is kind of the magnet that brought me and brought all of to us this country to begin with, is something that’s kind of gratifying and validating on a personal level,” Gac-Artigas said.
This year the literacy-gap summer school program reached 600 students, after winning a contract with the Philadelphia School District to provide a five week summer program for struggling readers. Gac-Artigas credits filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan’s funding with catalyzing other philanthropic donations and additional media attention.
In 2014, Gac-Artigas said the organization has four main goals: expand the program to include 1,000 students in 20 schools, expand to a second city, pilot a school-year program, and to raise two years of funding to get on a path to financial stability by 2018.
Find more of the 30 under 30 list on Forbes.com and learn more about the Springboard Collaborative and Gac-Artigas at SpringboardCollaborative.org.
(Image via SpringboardCollaborative.org)