“Kristi is a great example of someone who is humble, and someone who is so dedicated to helping young people be at their best. I think the best thing I can tell to you is that I did not know Kristi; she just simply reached out to me on social media, and I think her message was so kind. I just had to actually say, “OK, I’m happy to talk to you;” and one of the wonderful things that I think everyone should know is that when you approach someone, never have an agenda because I think one of the things that surprised her when we were talking, I asked her, “what is it that I can do for you?” And since she had no agenda, she stumbled and she said, “I don’t know,” and I think that was perfect. Because to me that showed clearly that she did not approach me to ask for something, and I think that’s really where the friendship started. It wasn’t based on her approaching for a specific thing, other than simply to look for guidance and advice, and to some extent, I have learned just as much, if not more from her, and how she operates, than i have given back to her. So to me, anytime you’re working with anyone, it’s a bidirectional experience, meaning everyone from that experience benefits. So I just want to acknowledge Kristi because I think you do so much for so many people, and you may not hear that as much because when you’re working hard and never get recognized until much later; when your body is failing and you think, “Oh my God was it really worth it?” Then people start telling you how you have changed their lives.”
"When most companies hiring at this moment are saying that their new recruits lack the basic skills necessary to function at basic level positions, that tells me there is a serious problem. So, when we’re talking about education and what education should be, we need to ask ourselves what should the outcome be once a child graduates? What do I want that to be for my own child or grandchildren".
Kristi Maggio Founder Maggio Multicultural Academy