NEW YORK, N.Y. – On Friday, February 24, 2017, Working in Support of Education (w!se) will host its annual Breakfast Club to honor w!se volunteers. The event will take place at Deutsche Bank, 60 Wall Street, from 7:45 am – 9:30 am. Queens Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, a w!se Quality of Life INNOVATIONS alumna, will deliver the keynote address. 

Awards for extraordinary volunteerism will be presented at the Breakfast Club to Credit Suisse’s Sal Favia, the Financial Planning Association of New York’s (FPANY) Pro Bono Committee, Jose Santos (who recently retired from JPMorgan Chase), and Soros Fund Management employees Will Holtz and Sahil Gupta.

For more than 20 years, the Quality of Life INNOVATIONS program has engaged high school students throughout New York City in social entrepreneurship, while also building critical research skills for their success in college. Through the program, students learn how they can shape their community by completing an in-depth research proposal on a quality of life issue.

As a student at Townshend Harris High School in 2003, Assemblywoman Rozic participated in w!se’s QLI program. She won the Bronze Medal for her innovative proposal to install solar powered street lights in Rochester, NY. The proposal was later implemented.

Through QLI, Assemblywoman Rozic was able to interview volunteers who deepened her understanding of solar powered street lights and helped her fine-tune her idea. QLI’s Field Research Workshop and Resources Fair, staffed by volunteers from Columbia University, NYU, and the Global Action Project also prepared her for the rigorous research necessary to successfully promote and implement her idea.

Today, as a member of the New York State Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee, Assemblywoman Rozic continues to work on environmental issues facing her district in Queens and the state. She is also a passionate advocate for education and has introduced a number of education-related bills. Rozic credits wise’s volunteers for enhancing her QLI experience and preparing her to eventually implement her idea.

“I am pleased to be attending w!se’s Breakfast Club and to have the opportunity to give back to a program that shaped me in my early years. Programs like QLI are critical to creating an engagement with students and their communities that lasts a lifetime. Active community involvement is important in our neighborhoods and I am grateful that w!se provides this space for students in Queens,” said Assemblywoman Nily Rozic.

“We are very excited to welcome back our extraordinary QLI alumna Nily Rozic,” said Phyllis F. Perillo, w!se President and CEO. “For more than two decades QLI has inspired high school students like Assemblywoman Rozic to creatively tackle civic challenges facing our city and we look forward to celebrating the volunteers who have helped the program thrive.”


 

About w!se

Working in Support of Education (w!se) is a leading educational 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in New York City with a mission to improve the lives of young people and at-risk adults through programs in 46 states that develop financial literacy and readiness for college and the workforce.

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