Current Global - A Visionary Mission: Meet Ryan Banks Academy.

A Visionary Mission: Meet Ryan Banks Academy.

This is the first in a series of profiles that will highlight pro bono work done on behalf of our clients.

In 1994, Congress passed the King Holiday and Service Act, challenging Americans to reimagine and commemorate Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a day of community service. At Current Global, we take community service to heart all year long, annually donating about $250,000 in marketing services time and talent to various non-profit organizations.

This year, we would like to spotlight our pro bono clients, starting with Ryan Banks Academy (RBA) – Chicago’s first 100% scholarship granting, independent, co-educational school.

Dr. King once said, “the difference between a dreamer and a visionary is that a dreamer has his eyes closed and a visionary has his eyes open.” RBA was founded on the vision of a world without educational inequalities where all young scholars can flourish.

The name of the school has a special meaning and remembrance. Ryan Banks was a 12-year-old boy from Chicago who was tragically shot and killed in front of his home in 2012. Valerie Groth was a social worker at Ryan’s school at the time and vowed to create a school where students could thrive in a safe, secure, and stable space. With that vision in place, RBA was founded in 2018. The school is on a mission to become Chicago’s first inner city boarding school, creating a unique and innovative solution to the city’s youth homelessness and violence issues through providing the safety, scholarship, stability, and structure that Groth envisioned.

Recently featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, this non-profit school is re-envisioning what education looks like in the country’s third largest city. Focused on a personalized education for each scholar with an emphasis on social emotional learning, RBA ensures that every scholar has the resources and space to explore their potential.

Learn more about RBA here: www.ryanbanksacademy.org and consider contributing to the school’s 2021 Holiday Matching Campaign which runs through January 31. All donations will be doubled, thanks to the generosity of the Rogue Willow Foundation.