'Let's Get Ready' Film Series

MEET CARLOS — Carlos Tifa Jr. an inner-city kid, rose above his situation by focusing on his education, ultimately landing at the door of the non-profit Let’s Get Ready, who helped him get into an Ivy League college, against all the odds. Made for the Let's Get Ready after-school program. Please watch, enjoy, shed a tear, and be inspired.

MEET CINTHIA — The Ibarra family emigrated from Mexico in search of the American dream, but their daughter Cinthia soon realized that education would be her only ticket out of poverty. With help from Let’s Get Ready, an SAT prep program for low-income and first-generation students, she sacrificed whatever was necessary in order to study—eventually winning a full scholarship to an Ivy League university.

MEET MARIAMA — “We had two choices: let everything go, or fight. Mariama showed me that we needed to fight.” Mariama Barry has faced many obstacles in life--including the sudden deportation of her father--to get into and thrive at the prestigious Georgetown University. Now she has her sights firmly set on becoming the first female basketball coach of an NBA team. Go Mariama! Thank you to Let's Get Ready for trusting us to tell your stories.

MEET MELIKA & JEANNIE — Nothing makes me happier than creating my yearly pro bono documentary film for Let's Get Ready, an amazing charity that helps low-income kids study for their SAT exams and supports them as they chase their dream to get into college. This year was their 20th anniversary and we took the opportunity to look back at where it started, in a church basement in Mount Vernon.

MEET JUMOKE — A girl coated in melanin. A spoken word poet. A future neurologist. A daughter. An older sister. A Nigerian American. A success story — Jumi’s immigrant parents didn’t speak the language of education, but she found Let’s Get Ready, who helped her get into and succeed in college, and ultimately changed her life.