Birthday wishes... Hi Mark and all at Educo, 20 years ago today I launched Educo in a tiny office with a black & white computer and a dot matrix printer...seeking financial support from anyone who would listen. Through some extraordinary good luck and the support of some great people it took off. My first employee was Ainsley Taylor...closely followed by Warren Conradie (giving as much time as his Peace Effort could afford) and later becoming our Programme Manager. Then with a great stroke of luck Marian Goodman slowly came on board working mostly with Stephen Jacobs and steadily giving more time to Educo. She eventually became a legend as she took Educo to new heights after I moved away from the Directorship and into full-on fundraising. I started Educo on America’s 4th of July...a deliberate act on my part...to personally declare South Africa’s Independence from Apartheid and for its support of young leaders. It was great fun working with these people to launch Educo and to see it grow into what it is today. I was glad to start it but even more proud of the people who took it to new levels of inclusion and breadth of purpose. Happy 20th Birthday to you and may you continue to flourish for many years to come! Love to you all, Gary Gary Gillespie
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 11:13:03 +0000