I grew up in a tiny rural town in Southern Maryland called LaPlata. I worked hard my whole life to an immigrant mother (whole family fled Cuba with 1 suitcase each) and a father that grew up in that small town. I was the first person in my tri-county area to be accepted (and attend) Duke University after which I've been a management consultant in the financial industry, a project manager in technology, sales/sales management in the tech industry in SF, and finally now I'm on the founding team and head of Sales for a well funded tech startup in LA.

The reason I can relate to this cause and connect with these children is because of my upbringing/early life challenges. I was in a terrible car crash on Christmas Eve when I was 3 years old involving a drunk driver that plowed into our family car. My father was killed in the crash, I was thrown through the windshield and barely survived myself. My mom/sister also sustained life-threatening injuries but survived. Going from growing up with almost no money (my mom was a teacher) in a small town in a single family home to being a founding member/ VP Sales of a venture funded startup has been one hell of a journey. Something that I think could really inspire these high-performing kids in tough situations/environments.