A Message from Our CEO

Dear Friends,

What an extraordinary year we have all been through together, full of moments to reflect, to innovate, and to create futures that are brighter than we had ever imagined before. Like the students in Prep Contingent XLIII and PREP 9 Contingent XXXIV who commenced this summer, I started my tenure at Prep for Prep remotely, during citywide shutdowns amid a global pandemic. Yet during this time, I’ve been inspired by the thoughtfulness and resilience of our students, staff, alumni, and supporters, and by the many ways we’ve managed to build community in a virtual environment.

New challenges require us to innovate how we teach ethical and effective leadership, and the Prep for Prep community rose to those challenges. Middle school students launched an online newspaper to share their whole selves with each other beyond the classroom. Older students shared their research on social issues at the inaugural Aspects Symposium, and families participated in year-round financial education workshops. Prep families and friends around the world celebrated our high school graduates with the first-ever virtual Lilac Ball, and the event raised nearly one-third of the organization’s operating budget. Entrepreneurial alumni adapted their business models to continue online marketplaces, reopen restaurants, and publish books. You’ll meet just a few of these enterprising individuals in this year’s annual report, Creating the Future.

Emerging slowly but surely, and safely, from patterns that have dictated our lives for a year and a half is no easy feat. We enter a new world of social distancing in schools and workplaces, with a return to in-person Prep classes and hybrid offices. We continue to live in a nation that is evolving its understanding of the effects of systemic inequity. But with the Prep Community taking part in the creation of this new future, whether as alumni at the forefront of COVID-19 vaccine development or at the helm of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights division, we know we are all in good hands. Thank you for your support.

Best regards,

Ruth Jurgensen