V: Hi, everyone! Welcome to our first Females of Filadelphia interview, or how I like to call it “Story”. Today I have one of my best friends here with me. Her name is Gabbi Rodriguez she’s 20 years old and one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. So, Gabbi Rodriguez, tell the readers a bit about yourself, specifically what you do in the North Philadelphia community.
GABBI: I am really involved with the Dream program. It’s a non profit organization that works to close the opportunity gap for kids living in low income housing. I work with one of the Temple sites at the Beckett gardens community- it’s an apartment complex in North Philly. And I am a mentor so I have been matched one on one with a mentee. My mentee is eight years old, his name is Damaras, he is the sweetest and I love him. I am also a co-chair, which means that I help to organize events and make sure everything runs smoothly and oversee that everything happens when we meet as a big group on Fridays. I am also a member of the [Dream] board, so we have a national board, where everyone’s together, and then a regional board. Dream is found in Vermont, Philadelphia and Boston and obviously I’m on the Philadelphia board.
V: What led you to the Dream organization? How did you become involved?
GABBI: Going into college, I knew I wanted to be involved in a mentorship program. I was originally looking a lot into the Big Brother Big Sister program but when I got to school, I was told there was a waitlist if I wanted to be a mentor. And then one of my friends sent me a picture of a flyer for Dream and it said something about an info session. So I went to the info session and they talked about the village mentoring that Dream uses. And I saw all the pictures of the kids smiling with their mentors. And they were telling us about the high need of mentors and how many kids wanted to join the program. That was when I knew I was meant to do this program. After the info session, I went up to the president and asked him, “How can I get involved? What can I do?” and by the end of the semester I was getting trained to be a co-chair.
V: That’s so exciting! What do hope to accomplish with Dream? What are some of your goals?
GABBI: Well actually, we just achieved two of my biggest goals this past year. When I entered at Beckett, the kids had never been to an end of the year trip- which is a way to get them out of their environment into something new. And we were able to take our kids to Skyzone, just an hour away but it was a lot of fun. Also, Dream has a camp up in northern Vermont, and Philadelphia had never sent kids to camp before because historically it had only been Vermont and some Boston kids, I’m not entirely sure how many. But no Philly kids had ever been and this summer I was able to take the first group of Philly kids up there. And it was amazing!
V: Ahh I’m so proud you! I know how much you enjoy working with the kids. What would you tell these kids about their dreams?
GABBI: As cliche as it sounds for the Dream program, I would tell them to keep dreaming. That is honestly what we are about. The Dream program is all about helping kids realize that they can do anything they set their minds to, and helping them get the resources they need to achieve those things. I would tell them to know that they are capable of so much and anything they put their minds to. I would tell them they have a community of people around them that is supporting them every step of the way, with whatever they want to do.
V: That’s a beautiful message and that is what Females of Filadelphia is all about- dreaming. On another topic, what are some of your dreams or some of the things you want to accomplish later in life? What does post college life look for you as a Female in Filadelphia?
GABBI: I want to take the ideas of Dream and our model of working to close the opportunity gap, which is something that just speaks to me on a powerful level, and I want to continue doing that for the rest of my life. I’m hoping to get my masters in Urban Education with a concentration in Education Policy and I want to hopefully work for the Philadelphia Public School District and work to equalize the public education system here in Philly.
V: That sounds very fitting. Who inspires you to do all these things? Who is your biggest inspiration?
GABBI: My biggest inspiration is always the kids. My mentee inspires me a lot to be a better human and role model. This summer I have been interning under a Chief Academic Officer and she was once the superintendent of the Philadelphia School District- she worked doing that for thirty two years. And I can see how much of an impact she has had in education. I also look at people like Malala Yousafzai, who is almost my age and is doing so much for the education of women and girls all around the world. I see all these amazing people doing these amazing things and I want to be a part of that, for the kids.
V: You really are just motivated by the youth. I mean they are truly the future. But what would YOU tell your younger self?
GABBI: Don’t be so set on your goals. If you think you know what you want, that’s great, but don’t limit yourself because I was really set on different goals for a really long time. And then I realized maybe that is not what I want to do in the world. I realized that the impact I wanted to have was very different from the career I was setting myself up for. I wish I had let myself dream a little bit more and think differently and not be so stuck in a hole. Think outside of what you have always thought. Question everything, even yourself. Just keep thinking and exploring, always.
V: That was very inspirational, Gabbi, as always. You truly are just the person I needed to be my first story on Females of Filadelphia. Thank you so much for sharing your perspective, I really appreciate it. That is all the questions I have, make sure to stay tuned for my next interview. Have a lovely day 🙂 Follow us on Instagram: @femalesoffiladelphia
Xoxo V