Following on the success of our first Opportunity Forum, we were very grateful to once again welcome over 100 Tampa Bay area philanthropists, community supporters, and business owners to the Centre Club.

Together, we had the distinct privilege of amplifying the heroes behind Project Dynamo and Junior Achievement of Tampa’s life-changing 3DE high school program.

Project Dynamo: US Army Sergeant Major Andrew “Andy” Wilson updated us on Project Dynamo’s most recent rescue efforts and explain how it is able to save lives operating in what they call the “grey space” where our government is unable to go. Established in response to the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, Project Dynamo has since rescued more than 6,075 men, women, children, and babies.

3DE: Six 3DE schools in Tampa Bay are re-engineering high school education to be more relevant, experiential, and authentically connected to the real world.

JA president Richard George introduced 3DE Executive Director Christina Roberts. Christina, along with principal Jake Rusell from Chamberlain High School and Robert Shimberg of Hill Ward Henderson, shared how six 3DE Schools in Tampa Bay are providing students with equitable access to high quality education that is unlocking their learning.

The results tell the story:

• 72.5% higher reading proficiency
• 84.6% outperformance on state assessments
• 44.5% fewer cases of student suspensions
• 20.5% fewer cases of chronic abstenteeism
• 27.2% higher math proficiency