Kyla Gabriel (RHHS ‘13)
Meet one of our newer Ambassadors, Kyla Gabriel (RHHS ‘13)! Kyla joined the Foundation in 2018, and has jumped right into her advocacy. This past grant cycle she applied for a grant on behalf of Budget Buddies, a financial literacy non-profit in Boston, MA.
Kyla said that “raised by a longstanding lineage of social workers, I have always been passionate about addressing financial literacy and health inequities that disproportionately burden our country's most vulnerable populations.” For this reason, Kyla was drawn to Budget Buddies, which, as she describes, “has a fierce commitment to empowering women living on the economic margins.” A $5,000 grant from the Foundation helped to fund staff time, travel expenses, instructional materials, and other supplies related to adult and teen programs in Lawrence, Methuen, and Haverhill in 2019.
Budget Buddies’ work fit well into two of the Foundation’s mission goals: alleviating poverty and improving education. Kyla said, “moreover, the organization's mission firmly aligned with the Ascienzo Family Foundation's charge to assist local neighborhoods in the fight against poverty and to address the educational needs of those less financially capable. I thought a partnership with Budget Buddies was a fantastic opportunity for the AFF to play a role in empowering the lives of hundreds of low-income women and their families in the Great Boston Area.”
Kyla graduated from Brandeis University in 2017 with a double major in Business & Health: Science, Society, and Policy. She is currently living in Boston and working as a Digital Health Associate at Boston Children’s Hospital.