Looking Back and Dreaming Forward
Celebrating our 2021 DreamWakers Awardees
DreamWakers aims to close the opportunity gap for students in under-resourced schools by providing them with the unique opportunity to meet career role models from diverse backgrounds, identities, and perspectives beyond their city limits. We could not live out this mission without our incredible community of educators, speakers, schools, volunteers, donors, and supporters. Each year, we come together to spend an evening celebrating the many contributions community members have made to our collective goal of helping students see what they can be.
This year, our virtual celebration will take place on October 6 at 8pm ET. We will be wrapping up our Looking Back, Dreaming Forward campaign by looking back on the last year, dreaming forward to our bright future, and celebrating our 2021 awardees. We can’t wait to see you there!
As part of the annual celebration, we will honor four awardees who have each made immense contributions to the DreamWakers community.
Educator of the Year: Breanna Holtz
8th-grade Social Studies Teacher at Fred Fifer III Middle School in Camden, DE
Ms. Breanna Holtz has hosted 10 flashchats since 2019 and is a DreamWakers Educator Fellow. With each flashchat she hosts and each new educator she introduces to DreamWakers, Ms. Holtz has shown extreme dedication to cultivating students’ passions and supporting their future dreams.
Speaker of the Year: Precious Williams
CEO of Perfect Pitches by Precious
Precious has been a dynamic and committed speaker in seven flashchats in her time with DreamWakers. She brings her authentic self, boundless inspiration, and well-earned advice to each virtual connection, leaving students feeling seen and motivated to pursue ALL of their dreams.
School of the Year: Pittsburgh Science & Technology Academy
Math Department
Hosting an incredible 18 chats in the 2020–21 school year, Pittsburgh SciTech educators and students were prepared, enthusiastic, and inquisitive in every one. When schools put in the effort to prepare for each chat, it truly shows, and we are inspired by SciTech’s dedication to creating meaningful flashchat experiences.
Volunteer of the Year: Audric Smith
Senior Manager at Siegfried Group
Now in his third year of hosting flashchats with DreamWakers, Audric has become one of our most involved and impressive volunteers. In addition to frequently connecting with students, he helped create a new flashchat series on financial literacy and is a DreamWakers evangelist across the U.S.
Through our Looking Back, Dreaming Forward campaign, which runs from September 15 to October 6, we aim to inspire, connect, and support students to look toward the future — at a time when it’s needed most to ensure that students aren’t left behind.
Can you donate $5 at bit.ly/DreamingForward to help us reach our $50,000 fundraising goal?
Register here to attend the culmination of this campaign, our annual celebration, on October 6 at 8pm ET! Together we will honor our educators, students, and volunteers as we raise funds to expand our impact in the 2021–22 school year.
