Episode description
Episode description
When Alejandro Gibes de Gac was 7, his family immigrated to the US seeking educational opportunities for their children. His parents’ tireless efforts enabled Alejandro and his sister to overcome their circumstances and pursue their dreams. Alejandro published two books by 14 and was admitted to Harvard by 16.
After graduating from college, Alejandro joined Teach For America and became a first grade teacher in Philadelphia. There he became frustrated that the school system treats marginalized parents as liabilities, rather than as assets. Alejandro founded Springboard Collaborative more than a decade ago to close the literacy gap by bridging the gap between home and school. Springboard runs out-of-school time programs that help teachers and parents team up to improve reading outcomes for 35K+ students across the country.
While continuing to lead Springboard, Alejandro recently co-founded the edtech startup Paloma. Paloma harnesses AI to unleash parents’ untapped teaching potential. Their mobile web app helps marginalized families build and sustain a habit: 15 daily minutes of short-burst tutoring at home. (Imagine parents sitting with their kids and engaging in curriculum-aligned instruction every night.) By the time students enter middle school, families that do their Daily 15 throughout elementary school will have given their kids the equivalent of an entire extra year of school!
Alejandro’s career is guided by a singular objective: to close the opportunity gap by making parent-teacher collaboration standard practice in American education.
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