CREATING PATHWAYS TO OPPORTUNITY

Geneva Ann Johnson

Future Pediatric Neurosurgeon

There was a time in her life when Geneva Johnson thought she would never escape nor rise above the poverty and violence that surrounded her growing up in a poor section of Bronx, New York.  Like most of her childhood friends, she was raised on public assistance and food stamps.  Her high school was a hotbed of crime, drugs and gang violence, and she vividly recalls not being allowed to ever play in the streets.

Geneva credits her grandmother and mother with instilling in her the ability to imagine a life beyond what they could offer her and her siblings.  At nine years old, she won a scholarship to attend The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship’s BizCamp at New York University, an experience that changed the course of her life as she felt “control over her destiny” for the first time.

While only in high school, Geneva’s strong desire to succeed and inspire other at-risk teens led her to create BRING IT ON, the first youth service organization in northeast Bronx, run for and by youth.  The organization promotes leadership and civic involvement though YouthJams, environmental cleanups and entrepreneurship.

Geneva is the first on her father’s side of the family to attend college (her mother earned her degree after 13 years of struggling to balance work, family and her own education pursuits).  Today, Geneva is a freshman at Binghamton University in New York majoring in biology with a possible minor in economics. She dreams of becoming a pediatric neurosurgeon and is actively scouting out medical schools.  While her academic load is rigorous, Geneva continues to serve as executive director of BRING IT ON, as a motivational youth speaker for the Mission Society, as chief executive officer of her own business, the Hamilton Art Gallery, and as a seminar leader for the “You Go Girl Go” Empowerment Forum.  

“Breaking the cycle of poverty is through education,” said Geneva.  “My Western Union Foundation scholarship has renewed my faith in believing a quality education is possible and that I can shape my own future.”