11 minute read
Field Hockey
The Opportunity Broker
Jay Banfield ’86
Jay Banfield ’86 embodies Caritas in his work as a social entrepreneur and in his efforts on behalf of the economically disadvantaged and homeless. four-year degree. That’s unnecessary. Not every job requires a four-year degree to be successful. Don’t over-credential the roles.”
After earning his undergraduate degree at Stanford, he matriculated to University of California Berkeley for a Master of Public Policy degree. He worked in the private sector at Oracle before gaining invaluable experience in non-profit organizations as well as positions in government and higher education. This led Jay to an idea: use what he had learned to address some of the country’s most difficult social problems.
Social entrepreneurs uncover the real nature of the barriers like those that keep the economically disadvantaged people from securing well-paying jobs. They understand how policy is made, how to change it, and the very different ways the private, public and nonprofit sectors approach challenges.
In 2015, Jay put his insights to work at Year Up, a national organization that takes a unique approach to preparing disadvantaged young people for substantial jobs in technology, financial services, software, etc. Many companies, especially the tech giants, are open to Year Up’s approach. “They are hungry for talent,” Jay said. “But they are used to recruiting from universities or luring employees away from competitors. I would tell them: think more broadly and you will find some incredibly talented people.”
You may be wondering what makes Year Up successful when other seemingly similar programs have failed. The answer lies in Jay’s brand of social entrepreneurship.
This is the focus of what Year Up students work on intensively for six months, with the help of Year Up coaches and mentors. As Jay points out: “Being able to navigate a new environment, write a clear email, communicate with colleagues, build a network, these skills can qualify you for the kind of job you ought to have.”
In the second half of the program, students take up internships at companies such as Google, Salesforce, and Tesla. This real-world experience, along with the support from the Year Up community, helps students develop their professional networks and their confidence.
“Private sector organizations are all about results. They are focused on efficiency; the public and nonprofit sectors are closer to the need. They focus on people and equity. No one sector can fix the country’s most pressing problems by itself. In my experience, the best answers lie at the intersection of the public, private and nonprofit sectors.”
“People often have the wrong idea about what it takes to succeed in a job,” he said. “And there are many stereotypes about poor young people.” When speaking to HR executives, Jay starts by clearing up those misconceptions.
“I would tell them, I’m not asking for anything from you. I’m offering you a business proposition. You have a problem filling jobs and I have qualified candidates. Almost all jobs call for a Every year, Year Up produces 3,000 graduates each year across the country. Even with this impressive number of program graduates, Jay never stopped thinking about ways to do more faster and more efficiently.
“We partner with community colleges,” he said, “to scale-up and help more people. Sometimes we embed inside a large company like Facebook and train people there; same coaches and methodologies, but we can lower our costs and serve more people.
Teaching a class at Year Up in San Jose
Speaking with students at Year Up Jay Banfield ’86
In his work from 2015 to 2019 as Chief Officer of Innovation and Scale and Managing Director of Year Up, he expanded the program to major cities in California – San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and to Phoenix, Arizona.
In 2019, Jay accepted the position of Chief Officer of Economic Mobility at All Home, a new organization in the Bay Area. All Home ‘works across regions, sectors and silos to advance coordinated, innovative service delivery and build coalition-supported momentum to challenge the long-standing systems that perpetuate homelessness.’
“I had two reasons for transitioning to All Home,” he said. “The first was pragmatic: There are 800,000 people in the San Francisco Bay Area who are either homeless or in danger of becoming unsheltered. I believe All Home1 is taking the only realistic approach to addressing the root causes of that problem.
“My second reason was personal. When I was a child, my family had to move in with my great-aunt and great-uncle in Somerville. We had no place else to go. In fact, other members of my extended family had to live there at certain times as well. I can only imagine what would have happened to us if we didn’t have family as our safety net. Because when you need it, you really need it. And not everyone has it.”
According to Jay, All Home was too big an opportunity to pass up. “Instead of helping 2,500 people, I can help 250,000 – or maybe 2.5 million.” Jay is convinced that only significant change at the policy level will make a dent in homelessness.
“Government has it all wrong. They don’t always think about finding shelter for people until they lose their homes. The approach should be to avert homelessness before it happens.
Jay refers to the process of managing public, private and nonprofit efforts as being sensitive to the inner rhythms of all sectors. “Working separately, we will always have the status quo. Together, we can fix things at the policy level and work toward better outcomes for everyone.”
When asked how he’d like to be known, Jay chose “Opportunity Broker.” “I try to use my skills to open doors for people.” This led him to a bit of advice for Austin Prep students.
Danielle Angiolillo-Thompson ’00
For many people, the global pandemic created an opportunity to step-back from the day-to-day spiral of work, school, activities and so on. It was an opening to evaluate and realign priorities; to dig deeper into what was in front of us. And that is just what Danielle Angiolillo-Thompson has done in the last 24 months.
Danielle graduated from Austin Prep in 2000, earned an accounting degree at Quinnipiac University, and went to work for her family’s business, “I worked in accounting, taxation, and franchise operations,” she says.
In 2012 she welcomed her son Drew into the world, who happens to have Down syndrome. Like most parents, Drew is Danielle’s first priority; placing him and his development front and center. She works to ensure that Drew feels understood, respected, included, heard and loved in every aspect of his life. It is an ongoing role of advocacy and love for most parents who have a child with Down syndrome, and Danielle accepts it with great passion and a full heart.
Danielle has always been a reflective person. Mindfulness, yoga and spirituality became a way for her to find peace and purpose while navigating a shift in career and caring for a new child.
In the mid-to-late 2000’s, she began a coaching business, empowering women entrepreneurs to connect deeper to their passions and purpose. Eventually, with her friend and business partner Lauren Lopez, who was fighting terminal cancer at the time, they founded The Sukha Barn, a meditation and yoga center in Westford, MA. There, they were helping many different people in many different ways by creating a space for anyone who needed it; making it inclusive and accessible to all. Their shared value of serving others is sewn throughout their work. “I felt I was being guided to this path.”
All the while, Danielle worked with Drew and his team of teachers to advocate for the right balance of meaningful inclusion with his peers in a general education setting, while receiving the educational support he needs. Throughout Drew’s life, Danielle has been advocating for greater inclusion for people with Down syndrome, “We have come so far with research, legislation and programming; it is an ongoing journey filled with compromise, balance and continuously pushing for civil rights.” Drew thrives in an inclusive environment; in a general education classroom learning alongside his peers. He can be an enthusiastic learner, some days coming home, going to his desk, giving himself homework and reading books from his shelf. That is how dedicated he is to learning.
Then the pandemic struck. Danielle and Lauren had to close The Sukha Barn, and embrace an online platform for their sessions. Danielle found herself at home with Drew for the next eighteen months. Together they adjusted – Danielle to working from home, and Drew to attending school virtually.
Danielle was working together with Drew each day. “In an odd way, it was a blessing,” she says. “It gave me much greater insight into the experience Drew was having at school.”
Danielle and Drew find themselves in an uphill battle around meaningful inclusion. All too often, schools hesitate to fully include children with Down syndrome in the general education classroom. Often this is a result of systematic barriers (in implementing an inclusive education system), inconsistent and/or clashing belief systems and inexperience. The need for consistent inclusive models is greater today than ever before, with increased diversity in school classrooms.
Danielle has been working closely with the school system to share resources and best practices with educators and administration about inclusivity from the perspective of a parent raising a child with Down syndrome. She brings research and personalized data to each scenario, with the intention of helping educators shift belief systems in hopes they will adopt meaningful inclusion models. It is an ongoing process.
Author and advocate Julie N. Causton-Theoharis, one researcher Danielle aligns with, is quoted in her article on ‘Support Others as You Would Wish to Be Supported’ saying, “One purpose of including students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms, as opposed to segregating them in special education classrooms, is to help all students (students with and without disabilities) learn to live, work, and play together so that eventually they can successfully live, work, and be together in the
Drew working on homework
Danielle with her friend and business partner Lauren Lopez
Drew and Danielle Angiolillo-Thompson ’00
community as adults. For students with disabilities, inclusive schooling should promote intellectual growth, independence, and interaction with peers.” “I can’t begin to share the heartbreak, frustration and disappointment I’ve felt in advocating for Drew’s education. And yet I’m still hopeful,” Danielle shares. “I’d venture to say it’s the hardest thing I’ve done to date. I really can’t think of anything that has induced this amount of stress while simultaneously lighting my heart on fire as this journey to advocate for an appropriate, equitable and meaningful education for Drew. There’s just so much to learn, there’s so much work to do, and I’m not patient enough to sit back and wait. I love my child and all individuals too much to stop, too much to give up, too much to give in. I love Drew so much, I will always believe in him. I will believe in him when others don’t, and I believe in him when he doesn’t believe in himself.” And for Drew, Danielle hopes to clear a path for him; to light the way by showing him how to be courageous, faithful, empowered, and full of love. She hopes to foster independence,
Drew posing in Memorial Hall at the State House perseverance, resilience and confidence in him. She is leading by example, with Drew inspiring her path.
In the fall of 2020, Danielle’s friend and business partner Lauren succumbed to cancer. To carry on Lauren’s legacy and their shared passion for inclusivity, Danielle continues to find ways to advocate for and help others.
“Having the ability to pivot and adapt to life circumstances...see what’s in front of you, and what’s most important in this moment, what will serve the greater good...and having the freedom and choice to pursue this is a gift that I don’t want to waste,” says Danielle.
When it comes to Unitas, Caritas and serving others, and most importantly Drew, Danielle is all in.
