Our Mission:
To provide highly motivated, economically disadvantaged students an opportunity to have a successful college experience and productive career.
Stephanie Guza
Gaffney Siblings
In 2019 we had three students whose siblings were Gaffney fellows.
Adriana is going to the University of Pennsylvanian and her sister Stephanie graduated from the University of Virginia in 2011 with a degree in civil engineering. Stephanie is working at Enstoa, software consultancy in NYC.
Dayanara will attend Dartmouth in the fall, and her sister, Hilary, graduated in 2018 from the university of Richmond. Hilary is working as an ER Tech and Research Assistant for an Alzheimer’s study with a group of neurologists in Norwalk, CT. She plans to continue her education to become a Physician’s Assistant.
Jeffery is also going to the University of Pennsylvania. His sister Nicole graduated with dual degrees from Bates and Columbia University in 2018. Nicole plans to complete her graduate degree in Computer Science at Columbia while she continues to be a financial analyst at Natixis, a Corporate Investment Banking company.
Victor Borges
When Victor was a student at Brien McMahon High School I Norwalk, CT, he knew he wanted to go to college but had no idea how he was going to afford to go.
Victor had an excellent academic recorded that included honors and AP Courses and was an outstanding community service leader. When Victor joined the Gaffney Foundation, his math SAT was in the top 10%, but, because his family spoke only Portuguese and little English, his verbal score was low.
Victor memorized 900 vocabulary words in less than a month, and his verbal score went up 500 points. Victor is now in his third year at Columbia University where he is majoring in Applied Mathematics at the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, He will graduate from Columbia with no college debt.
Gaffney Fellows Give Back
The Matthew Gaffney Foundation has begun collaboration with Building One Community.
Juniors and seniors in high school volunteer regularly at Building One to help adults learn English and prepare for their citizenship exams. They also work with first generation students who need help with their homework.
The Gaffney students encourage these young first-generation students to pursue a college education beyond high school.
Veronica Ortiz
Veronica Ortiz graduated from Franklin and Marshall 2015. Completed her Master’s in public Health at Johns Hopkins 2016. She is now attending Einstein Medical School and has received awards for her work in the Hispanic community.
