High Jump Raises OVER $1 MILLION at Annual Benefit
It was a record-breaking event for High Jump! Our annual Spring of Opportunity benefit on May 3rd was a huge success and we raised OVER $1 MILLION! We’re so grateful to all our supporters and sponsors who made this possible – together we are providing more students in Chicago with the opportunities they need to succeed.
Alumna Xiomara Contreras, Executive Director Nate Pietrini and Alumni Award Recipient Ramon Villalpando
The evening highlighted the success of our program and featured several alumni speakers who shared first-hand how High Jump changed their lives. We also presented our first-ever Alumni Award to Ramon Villalpando (Cohort 5) for his academic and career success as well as his dedication to supporting High Jump as a board member. Today Ramon is Partner at Jenner & Block.
The Keynote Speaker, alumnus Paul Trussell (Cohort 4), shared his inspiring journey starting out in Chicago’s South Side to being Managing Director of Deutsche Bank in New York City. Here are a few highlights from his speech:
“Look, I’m visiting here from New York City as a Managing Director at a global investment bank, who every once in a while is asked his opinion on stocks while being televised from the New York stock exchange. But I’m from the south side of Chicago people. This wasn’t part of the script we were told. There were no role models on 71st and Stony Island to look to for this outcome to play out in my life. What happened for me is that over 25 years ago I was introduced to High Jump – Cohort 4 and the rest of my life has been about taking advantage of the doors High Jump opened and opportunities High Jump presented.”
Keynote Speaker Paul Trussell
“I have two boys with my oldest at four starting kindergarten in the fall. Even at this young age, I push him to be inquisitive, to love school and the opportunities and friendships it brings, to work hard and reach for the stars. And, I send him to tutoring every Saturday – I tell him to blame his grandmother and High Jump’s for that. But my point, is that the tools I’ve learned and My overall educational experience at high jump is now having generational impact.
There are so many gifted and talented kids across Chicago whose parents are doing all they can to prepare them, yet could do even better if they had the encouragement, the counseling, the knowledge, the support, and the opportunity of High Jump that I was offered 25 years ago.
Your donations tonight will aid this program’s ability to help these scholars high jump over life’s hurdles. High jump over the doubts that creep in, high jump over the bad influencers on their neighborhood corners, high jump over the ridicule of being black brown and smart.”
Photos by Jasmin Shah