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Notable Honorees John & Tashia Morgridge to Receive Legacy Champion Award

SANTA CLARA, CA, UNITED STATES, November 1, 2024 // — ��ɫ��Ƶ San José/Silicon Valley (SJSV), a trailblazing, youth-powered nonprofit that recruits young adults for a year of service in local public schools, proudly announces its , scheduled for Friday, November 1, 2024 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. This milestone event will celebrate three decades of unwavering commitment to expanding educational equity by supporting students furthest from opportunity, and to developing diverse leaders through national service.

John and Tashia Morgridge will receive the highest honor of the evening, the Legacy Champion Award, for their myriad contributions to ��ɫ��Ƶ and AmeriCorps. For more than 30 years, the Morgridges have played a transformational role in ��ɫ��Ƶ’s development and successes, with their generous contributions as well as their insights on leadership, management, program design, and organizational development.

“As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of ��ɫ��Ƶ San José/Silicon Valley, we don’t just look back at what has been achieved, but we look forward to the future. With each step, we’re making strides toward the ultimate goal: giving every student the high-quality education they deserve,” said Luke Hostetter, Executive Director, ��ɫ��Ƶ SJSV. “This gala is more than a celebration; it is an expression of gratitude for the tremendous contributions of the Morgridges, a renewal of commitment, and a testament to the power of collaboration in pursuit of equitable access to educational opportunities.”

The event marks the return of ��ɫ��Ƶ SJSV’s annual fundraising gala that was last held in 2019. The gala is the organization’s most impactful night of the year, raising critical funds to support its work and bringing together a strong network of hundreds of individual supporters and corporate partners. In addition to the awards ceremony, the evening will feature speeches and videos from current and past Corps members, a silent auction, specialty cocktails and dinner, and a variety of fun and celebratory activities.

“In San José, we have seen firsthand that the more time a student spends with a ��ɫ��Ƶ AmeriCorps member serving as student success coach, the better the student outcomes – academically, socially and emotionally,” said Matt Mahan, Mayor of San Jose, who will be delivering remarks at the event. “The ‘cycle of opportunity’ – a chain reaction where a year of service supporting students in our community equally impacts those receiving support and those providing it – is so evident in San José where ��ɫ��Ƶ has Student Success Coaches in our schools.”

Since 2004, the ��ɫ��Ƶ SJSV gala has honored some of the most ardent advocates for service to the community, supporting students, and promoting educational equity, including U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Maria Shriver, San Francisco 49ers owners and co-chairs, Denise and John York, and John Sobrato.