Jay Patel founded Funding Bright Futures in 2015 after traveling to his family's home in a remote village in Gujarat, India where he witnessed the struggles many of the villagers endured. With two-thirds of India’s population living in poverty, access to a quality education is not a realistic option for most. Rather than sit idly by, Jay acted on his desire to help. He decided to focus his work around education in an attempt to address one of the root issues of the vicious cycle of poverty in his family’s village. 

 

The lack of access to education is a universal issue. Countless children around the globe are unable, for one reason or another, to complete their education and instead begin to work at a young age. Once he had settled on his mission, Jay was tasked with the big question, how was a 12-year-old going to raise enough money to pay for a child’s education? Jay had been playing soccer for many years so he began hosting weekly soccer classes for his four-year-old brother and his friends. FBF’s first classes were held on the front lawn of a residential building in New York and participants were asked to contribute a $10 donation. Slowly, over time, Jay’s classes grew and he began hosting weekly soccer lessons with 20+ participants at Asser Levy Park. In 2016, Jay began reaching out to other students, who like him, had hobbies and talents that they would be willing to teach to young children in their communities. 

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