ROBERT FORD-REYNOLDS

We recently asked Mikva Challenge Alumnus, Robert Ford Reynolds, to share a few things about his experiences at Mikva Challenge, and here is what he had to say:  

Mikva Challenge is an absolutely amazing organization and I am very fortunate to have been a part of it. I joined Mikva Challenge with major reservations. "Politics? At 15? During my free time?... How could that be a good idea?" These were just a few of the reservations present heading into the second semester of my freshman year at Hales Franciscan High School (Winter - 2000).

I soon learned that it was indeed a very good idea. After joining Mikva, I found myself wanting to commit even more time than I initially dreaded losing.

Fast forward three years, I had just submitted my applications for college and was waiting to hear back from a few of my top choices; Stanford, Notre Dame, Georgetown and Cornell. Because of the unique opportunities that Mikva had provided during my high school years, these university choices became realistic options for me, a lower-class Chicago South-Sider.

Fast forward one more year, I was a freshman at my first choice, Stanford University, feeling very overwhelmed and undistinguished. However, I soon discovered that very few of my classmates could say that they had worked on 5 political campaigns (city, state and national); had studied and put together proposals on school vouchers and youth violence to lobby in their state capital; and had served as an election judge all prior to their 18th birthday. Again, Mikva Challenge!

At Stanford, I studied Political Science and Philosophy and since then I have gone on to work the Obama for America Campaign in Columbus, Ohio. Go BLUE Ohio! After finishing the campaign, I began working as an image consultant for one of the largest image consulting firms in Chicago, The Image Studios.

Today, I am still working as an image consultant, which I love, but as of recently, have gone on to start my own partnership, Ford-Reynolds Doherty Image Consulting. The exposure that Mikva Challenge provides is unlike any other for Chicago area high school students. It can easily turn your dreams into a step-after-step reality. I have much appreciation for the opportunities Mikva Challenge has provided and I only hope that many more of Chicago's inner city youth are given this same opportunity.

At Mikva Challenge, our mission is to train life-long civic leaders, and our alums, like Robert, and students affirm our success in getting young people to become today and tomorrow's leaders.