Every one of us can look back in our own lives and identify the mentors who helped us launch our ambitions and reach our full potential.  That's what EVkids is all about:  giving talented young people in the underserved communities of Boston the support and encouragement they need to realize their dreams.  I've been immensely proud of how the kids we serve find a way to grow and thrive under the most challenging circumstances -- and I'm as excited as ever to invite you to join me in supporting EVkids' critically important mission. As in years past, my wife Rajani and I will be matching every donation made through this page, dollar for dollar, to help make this year's gala our best fundraiser yet.

I first discovered EVkids in 1988, during those early days of my freshman year at Harvard, when students are all choosing classes and figuring out how they want to spend their extracurricular time. I was looking for an opportunity to do something useful and meaningful for the community I'd just become part of, and I found that and much more when I met Marie-Claude Thompson and saw the program up close. I spent four years as a volunteer tutor during the school year and a camp counselor during the summertime, and found the experience so rewarding that I stayed on as a tutor for a fifth year after graduation.

About 20 years later, in 2013, I was asked by Eric Thompson to join EVkids' board of directors. The son of founders Marie-Claude and Brian Thompson, Eric had recently taken on the role of Executive Director and was leading the organization through a critical transition as his parents handed off day-to-day management of the program. Under Eric's leadership, EVkids has grown its tutoring program to four sites across Dorchester and Roxbury, supporting 120 tutor / tutee pairs with the help of volunteers from local universities such as Boston College, Harvard, Northeastern, and Tufts. And thanks to generous and committed donors like you, we've renovated our Vermont camp site and instituted a College Success program that continues EVkids' one-on-one mentoring model all the way through college graduation.

The College Success program is especially important to me. We're proud to say that year after year, 100% of EVkids high school seniors have not only gotten their diplomas, but matriculated in college or an alternative post-secondary program -- quite often, the first in their families to do so. This resonates deeply with me because my father was the first in my family to go to college, opening that door for me and my brother, and completely changing the course of our family in the process. For one reason or another, many young people who start a college career don't manage to complete their degree -- but with support and mentoring from EVkids, our students are much better equipped to finish what they've started.

I can't begin to tell you how much I believe in the mission of EVkids and in the organization's ability to deliver on its promise. As a tutor and camp counselor, I've experienced first-hand the program's immense impact on the lives of these kids and their families. While serving as a board member for the past twelve years, and as board president for the last nine, I've had the privilege of seeing up close just how carefully and effectively EVkids puts every dollar in its budget to good use transforming lives. The results have been simply outstanding -- and the best is yet to come!