I proudly serve on the Boston Arts Academy Foundation Board of Directors and am honored to have recently been voted in as its Treasurer.

This year, I would like to dedicate my birthday on August 20th to a nonprofit close to my heart, Boston Arts Academy (BAA).

In lieu of birthday gifts, I ask that my friends, family, and colleagues donate to support Boston's first and ONLY public high school for the visual and performing arts.

As a pilot school within the Boston Public Schools system, public funding covers only a portion of the costs of the first-rate education BAA provides.

Did you know that each year the Boston Arts Academy Foundation must raise $5,000 per student in order to continue providing the education its students need and deserve?

All too often I am reminded that without Boston Arts Academy, many of its students, though talented, may never have had the opportunity to realize their full potential. 62% of BAA students come from economically disadvantaged families, and professional arts training is often financially unattainable. Many students arrive at BAA with little to no formal arts training, and a wide range of academic abilities.

Because of the generosity of friends and supporters of BAA, our students enjoy opportunities that are otherwise inaccessible to them. Now in its 21st year, BAA is proud to have graduated over 1,300 students with 95 percent having been accepted to college!