Student Sponsor Partners (SSP) celebrated its 40th anniversary at the “Where Hope Grows” Founder’s Dinner, held on May 19 at the Waldorf Astoria. This year's Founder's Dinner featured powerful stories of resilience, gratitude, and celebration and the recognition of SSP as a place that has cultivated hope for deserving students and their families for more than four decades. The event raised more than $2.8 million to impact low-income students across the five boroughs and Westchester.
The gala celebration honored Peter Forlenza, Global Head of Equities, and members of his team at Jefferies, one of the world’s leading investment banks and financial services companies. Peter and his wife, Ellen, have sponsored the education of dozens of SSP students over the years and mentored five through their entire high-school journey. Since 2018, Jefferies and its employees have funded the education of 40 SSP scholars, with more than 100 team members on board as sponsors, mentors, donors, or volunteers who help SSP plant seeds of hope for future generations.
The evening’s speakers included Ellie Berlin Stover, a global marketing and brand strategy executive in the sector of leading luxury brands. She has been involved with SSP as a mentor and volunteer for more than 20 years and spoke about the importance of providing opportunities to support, guide, and inspire young people. “Mentors need to show up when they can — consistently, authentically, over time,” she said. “Because it’s in those small, everyday moments that confidence and trust build, perspective shifts, possibility gains momentum, and hope grows.”
Donovan Cumberbatch, an SSP alumnus and Class of 2021 graduate of Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, in Brooklyn, also was a guest speaker. One of eight siblings who grew up in Queens, New York, Cumberbatch went on to attend Penn State University, from which he graduated this spring with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He spoke of his difficult childhood and how Student Sponsor Partners changed his life: “After meeting the admissions team at SSP, I was given a full scholarship to Bishop Loughlin. That was a turning point. I found support, structure, and people who believed in me.”
Lydia Fenet, founder and CEO of Lydia Fenet Agency, led a live auction that raised more than $400,000 in the room on the night of the dinner to support SSP’s educational and mentorship programs.
Photos and video of the event have been shared on Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
