Four CA Alums Featured in 'Compassionate Careers'

Four Colorado Academy alumni — Romain Vakilitabar ’10, Ana Dodson ’10, Danny Dodson ’01, and Ashley Shuyler ’03 — are featured in Compassionate Careers: Making a Living by Making a Difference, a book about people whose careers positively impact the lives of others.

 

Featured alongside Dave Matthews of Dave Matthews Band, as well as Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu, the book seeks to mobilize young people to dedicate their talents and energy to making the world a better place.

 

Romain, VP of Marketing and Global Expansions at Watson University, is the author of the children's book Matteo’s Day Off about climate change. Romain also works with the Unreasonable Group, a program that brings the world's most promising young leaders to Boulder to learn how to maximize global impact.

 

“I've been so fortunate to have such amazing mentors and teachers, many of whom came from Colorado Academy,” says Romain. “Ana Dodson, for example, was a huge inspiration to me. Seeing her start her amazing organization at such a young age really impacted me. And it's so cool to be featured in a book alongside her.”

 

While attending Colorado Academy, Ana started Peruvian Hearts, an organization that encourages social, economic, and political change in Peru through the education and empowerment of young women. Her brother, Danny, who is also featured in the book, now serves as the executive director.

 

Like Ana, Ashley is doing similar work for girls through AfricAid, a nonprofit organization that supports girls’ education. Ashley founded AfricAid at Colorado Academy, a club that is still on campus today (CA students recently sponsored an annual benefit to celebrate the school's thirteenth year of partnering with AfricAid). Since its beginnings, the non-profit has grown to raise over $1,000,000 for education in Africa, impacting over 40,000 students.

 

Compassionate Careers is written by Jeffrey Pryor, a professor at Regis University and the University of Colorado, and Alexandra Mitchell, Co-Founder and President of the nonprofit organization Pathfinder Solutions, the research and advisory firm she and Jeff created. The book, which was just published, can be purchased at Tattered Cover or at Barnes and Noble bookstores, or through the Compassionate Careers website, where for every purchase, a book will be donated to GOAL Academy, an alternative school for Coloradans.

Says Romain, "If it weren't for Colorado Academy, I know personally, I wouldn't be where I am today."

Congratulations, all!