Reverend Sara Smith, Esq. has a history deeply rooted in service and hard work.

Growing up in Kentucky and helping with her 1000 acre family farm, she isn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty. After passing the bar and working as a labor rights litigation attorney, she had a calling to attend Divinity school, which changed the trajectory of her career and life. Now, with 30 years of experience as an ordained clergywoman in the United Church of Christ, she continues to make an impact and isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

As Senior Minister of United Congregational Church of Bridgeport located in CT, she is also CEO/President and Founder of the nonprofit nOURish BRIDGEPORT, Inc. which is a mission of the church working to provide resources and essential programs to those who need it most.

nOURish is focused on community and provides critical resources including a weekly food pantry that serves over 500 families (2500 individuals) each week, ESL classes serving over 100 each week, a team of dedicated cooks that prepare 300 hot meals to the unhoused every week. In addition to all that, she is the creative mastermind behind the first non-profit indoor hydroponic farm in the state. In three years, they have produced over 17 TONS of produce that’s been distributed to their food insecure neighbors and residents of Bridgeport. Additionally, she is the Protestant Chaplain and Adjunct Instructor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield.

Reverend Sara is a proud advocate for the LGBTQ community and facilitates an Open and Affirming congregation in alignment with the mission of the United Church of Christ. She is truly an energizer bunny with a purpose of changing lives, creating opportunities and opening hearts.

Ola Bossio is an incredibly talented artist who immigrated from Poland in 1999 at just 20 years old. Joining her older sister who had arrived prior to Ola, she immediately immersed herself into English classes and began to work. Originally from north Poland, which borders Russia, she felt moving to the United States would bring more opportunities than under the regime she was living in. Living in a predominantly Polish neighborhood in CT she found community and initial comfort in being able to speak her native language and felt safe and free to express herself more openly. She met and fell in love with an American man and started her beautiful family while slowly dabbling in more painting and creative outlets. She paints landscapes of her favorite places in Poland which brings her peace and serenity. She describes Poland as a grey place because of the climate, but her paintings are full of natural color and celebrate the sky and vast fields of nature. Ola has been in art galleries and shows in Southport and Stamford, CT and was recently picked to show her work at the prestigious New Britain American Art Museum. She is incredibly proud of being picked for this showcase her work. Her life in the U.S. is deeply focused on family and faith and she’s abundantly grateful for all she’s been able to accomplish.

Urmi Hossain shares her sense of belonging in the world. As a proud South Asian woman who has an interesting and inspiring story that we can all learn from. Her family of origin roots are embedded in Bangladesh, as both parents are from there, but a few years before she was born, they emigrated to Sicily, Italy, for better opportunities. It is heard that Urmi was the first Bengali baby born in Sicily.

She grew up speaking Bangla at home and Italian in school and with her friends. Currently, she lives in Montreal, Canada, and her multilingual and cultural influence is extraordinary. She speaks about being a “third culture kid,” which means her roots are embedded in one culture, while growing up in another, and then taking both of those backgrounds and moving to another country. When she relocated to Canada to attend university she was fluent in four languages: Bengali, Italian, English and French. She is currently learning Spanish which she knows is important for her work. Her philosophy and advice to immigrants is to integrate quickly and building a community is essential for growth.

Urmi fell in love with the finance field while at university and now has a successful career as an investment associate. In her spare time over the last three years, she has managed her own YouTube page, which focuses on sharing study tips for the CFA exam, among many other interesting topics.

She lives every day to its fullest and embraces new professional and personal challenges with grace. Her inner strength and resilience are evident at every turn as she finds that she belongs exactly where she is.

Diane Rosenthal, Executive Director at Student Advocacy, Inc. in Westchester, NY, is the epitome of servant leadership. Beginning her career as a middle school teacher, she moved from the classroom into the nonprofit world, leading the New York Public Library’s adult literacy program which served over 1000 students per year. Diane’s leadership helped shape the social and literacy skills needed for students to achieve independence and self-sufficiency. She remained in adult literacy for many years, leading Literacy Volunteers of Stamford, CT, which was ranked among the top 10% of volunteer-based programs nationally. A true visionary, she created programs and wrote grants that would significantly benefit the adult learner community. She also facilitated a successful merger with a larger non-profit program that resulted in more resources and programming to serve the needs of their clients.

Diane currently leads Student Advocacy, an organization that provides legal representation and counsel on education related matters for families with children who have special needs due to disabilities or other challenges. Their services are free for families with limited resources.. Diane’s impact and leadership have been powerful over the decades of her career. She has made a significant difference in helping families, children, and youth in the areas of literacy, workforce development, and assistance for those facing challenges with the educational system.

Student Advocacy will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Overcoming the Odds Awards Celebration on May 14th at Abigail Kirsch at Tappan Hill, Tarrytown, NY, where they will honor students who have faced challenges, yet made education and giving back to others their priority.

Bonnie Solivan is a proud “Nuyorican”. This word refers to someone who has been raised in New York with deep ancestry and cultural traditions from the island of Puerto Rico. As a child of missionaries, she has lived in South and Central America, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and various boroughs in NYC, and her now in her current home in CT. Growing up, her family focused on education and learning, but she struggled with a learning disability not discovered and diagnosed until her freshman year in college. She describes living through shame, embarrassment, and bullying during her grade school years. Now, she is working on her fourth Master’s Degree and there seems to be no end in sight!

In addition, to her career as an Instructional Designer and Educational Technology Coordinator at a community college, she is building a passion project, “Threads of Resilience”. This project is focused on honoring her beloved and proud roots as a Latina and building awareness of the Hispanic/Latino community across the world.

Valerie Wilson was the first person in her family to attend college and she knows how important this was for her career path. As a certified professional Career Coach and Resume Expert, she is committed to helping young and experienced professionals. Her experience in higher education working with undergraduate and graduate students truly helps soon-to-be graduates and job seekers focus on their goals for career next steps and Valerie is there to coach them on their journey. Working with immigrant or first generation American students has its own set of unique challenges but Valerie sees potential in everyone and is quick to offer guidance and useful advice.

As an entrepreneur, she is passionate about her private practice, Career Coaching by Valerie, where she impacts professionals at all levels. She is engaging and warm, and knows how to empower people to pull out the very best they can offer a potential employer.

Flor De Hoyos is Latina from Puerto Rico who is a force to be reckoned with. Her career has been focused on advocacy and support to adult learners, children and their families, and it’s her personal experience that is the underlying tool to her professional effectiveness. Flor’s ability to connect and empathize with families in her district is the key to the overall success in her current role.

After moving to the eastern section of Connecticut at age 12 and struggling to transition to a new school, she struggled with English as her second language and adapting to a new culture was challenging.

She shares her educational journey from a vocational high school to Johnson & Wales for a culinary program, getting inspired and moving into programs for Human Services and Social Work, and now on her way to earning her Ph.D in Educational Leadership. The road has been long and challenging but as an incredible role model to her daughters, and impacting so many people around her, her success is deeply rooted in gratitude and faith.

Luisa Viladas, Executive Director of Literacy Volunteers of Southern CT, grew up surrounded by books so it’s no accident that she leads a literacy program. With extensive career experience in non-profit development, she has tutored ESL adult learners with as strong focus on grammar. Bringing her experience to a new level, she is overseeing this small but mighty program located in Milford, CT where they serve adult students focused on improving literacy skills and English as a Second Language learners. Their agency is settled among many diverse families living in their communities, with approximately 53 native languages and over 15,000 adults without a high school diploma. They prepare learners with basic literacy, English as a Second Language, voting for the first time, getting a driver’s license and other essential credentials that lead to an independent and sustainable life.

René Soto is a supremely talented artist: painter, singer and dancer. Moving to the United States from Guatemala over 14 years ago was a big life change but one that opened many doors for his creative expertise. After arriving in the U.S., he immersed himself in learning English and his writings and poetry were published on two separate occasions in an adult education newspaper. He was the founder and owner of René Soto Gallery which honored Latino artists. After closing its doors post-Covid, he began teaching again and engages artists, both young and older, in a variety of programs.

He was the mastermind behind the Latin Colors magazine and is still under production today and is under new management. He is a true visionary with deep hope for the future.

Season 3 is here!

Astrid Robitaille is passionate about adult learners and is a strong advocate for adult education programs across the nation. As a former 7th grade teacher, she transitioned into adult education

and never looked back. She has taught many subjects including courses preparing students for U.S. citizenship, the GED (high school diploma program) and English as a Second Language. As a trainer and assessment guru for adult education programs across the U.S., she is committed to providing excellent service to education programs and administrators all while keeping the adult learners as her top priority.

With adult education and other federally funded programs at risk, listen and learn how impactful this reality could be on our future generations, our workforce, local communities and our nation at large.

And learn from Astrid how one student's persistence, patience and sheer motivation finally paid off.