STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS: NONPROFIT EDITION

In the Spring 2022 issue of LUMEN, we featured six students who began pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams while attending Newark Academy. In this issue, we continue the series with two students who have started their own nonprofit organizations to give back to their local communities.

Kyra Gallagher ’23 – G.L.E.A.M.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kyra Gallagher ’23 kept reading about the negative effects that virtual learning was having on the academic and social skills of young girls in her community. So Kyra, along with her friend Sofia Keri, founded the nonprofit organization G.L.E.A.M. Inc.

mentor meet once a month to establish goals and create a plan to achieve those goals. The organization also hosts movie nights with post-screening discussions and guest speaker opportunities.

“I founded and run the Ethics Club at Newark Academy, so the ethical implications of my actions and how I can help benefit the greater good in my community are always on my mind,” Kyra says. “Also, being part of the soccer team at NA gave me invaluable connections with a close group of girls, and it’s extremely rewarding to help mentees create similar connections. I’m so glad that this could all come to fruition.”

In the future, Kyra hopes to continue to expand G.L.E.A.M.’s reach well beyond New Jersey and throughout the country.

Aaron Li ’24 – Bake to Delight

G.L.E.A.M. stands for Girls Learning

Empowering Aspiring with Mentors and is a mentorship program that seeks to connect girls of all backgrounds in grades 3 through 8 with female mentors. These mentors help their mentees cultivate passions and interests, develop skills to achieve set goals, and create support systems to navigate their transitional phases of life.

Begun as a passion project between Kyra and Sofia, G.L.E.A.M. has grown to approximately 30 mentors and 50 mentees. Once paired, a mentee and her

Aaron Li ’24 has always cherished being able to express himself through baking and cooking. Loving the process of creating food and sharing it with others, Aaron decided to spread the joy of food with his community by creating the nonprofit Bake to Delight. Bake to Delight’s mission is to create social change through the power of food and the spirit of service. The organization provides complimentary baked goods and workshops as a means of feeding children and seniors, connecting communities and providing sustained civic support.

“At NA we have great opportunities to engage in service activities benefiting less fortunate communities,” Aaron says. “These experiences have been a great inspiring influence to me as I seek ways to give back through the sharing of joy in baking and providing tasty treats.”

Through Bake to Delight, Aaron works with community organizations and institutions including care centers, senior living communities and rehabilitation facilities to provide delicious goods and run baking workshops. During the process of setting up his nonprofit, Aaron leveraged many skills he developed through his classes at NA, such as project management and effective communication.

“I’m grateful to be able to connect and lift up communities through my love of baking,” Aaron says. “It is also endlessly gratifying for me to see people’s reactions to their first bite of a cookie or cake.”