Jonathan Gonzalez

December Alumni Spotlight

LEAP Academy Class of 2010

I like to think of my life as a confluence of events. So when I think about the role LEAP Academy has played in my life, I have to start with reminding myself that it takes a village to raise a child up to reach their greatest potential. With that in mind, I have to say that LEAP served as a hub for me to find a number of the resources I needed to plant the seed in me for a life of high achievement. LEAP’s constant message of pursuing a higher education never fell on deaf ears with me. It was something I’d heard since I started attending the school in second grade and, naturally,  served to inculcate a deep appreciation within me for the power of a good education, especially for a young Hispanic male born into a poor family. Now that the bulk of my years in school are behind me, and I face the world of applying what I’ve learned in the classroom into everyday situations, I’m reminded of the incredible value of institutions like LEAP Academy. As I find myself fortunate enough to travel the world working for one of the Big Four, meeting with C-level executives to discuss their strategic & tactical approaches to complex problems, and frankly living in a world that is so different from the one I grew up in, I frequently stop and think about how I got here. It is because of institutions like LEAP Academy that focus on fundamentally addressing the issues facing urban youth throughout our country, that I can serve as an example of the effectiveness of community-based programs that focus on providing holistic alternatives to the status quo. LEAP Academy’s ability to attract some of the region’s most talented faculty, combined with its uncompromising focus on high achievement through a higher education has helped paved the way for me to boldly approach the world that has met me outside the classroom. I will forever be grateful to everyone who made it possible.