Alejandro Gibes de Gac

When Alejandro Gibes de Gac was 7, his family immigrated to the US seeking educational opportunities for their children. His parents’ tireless efforts enabled Alejandro and his sister to overcome their circumstances and pursue their dreams. Alejandro published two books by 14 and was admitted to Harvard by 16. After graduating from college, Alejandro joined Teach For America and became a first grade teacher in Philadelphia. There he became frustrated that the school system treats marginalized parents as liabilities, rather than as assets.

Alejandro founded Springboard Collaborative more than a decade ago to close the literacy gap by bridging the gap between home and school. Springboard runs out-of-school time programs that help teachers and parents team up to improve reading outcomes for 35K+ students across the country.

More recently, Alejandro co-founded the edtech startup Paloma Learning. Paloma helps districts accelerate learning by enabling parents to reinforce classroom instruction daily at home. In 55 Title I districts across the country, Paloma gets most PreK-2 parents to reinforce foundational skills at home through short, daily tutoring sessions aligned to district curricula. Parents using Paloma replicate the effect size of high-dosage tutoring (0.28–0.31 SD), without burdening teachers or budgets. As one superintendent put it, "Paloma awakens the sleeping giant of parents as tutors."

Alejandro’s career is guided by a singular objective: to close the opportunity gap by equipping all parents to support their children's learning and success.