Build Gala 2013

Suzanne McKechnie Klahr, Marissa Mayer, Shervin Pishevar, Jack Dorsey

Over 500 business and education luminaries came together on May 17th, 2013, for the Build Gala, to ensure that disadvantaged and disengaged high school students continue to have access to the entrepreneurial education that will propel them to college and career success. The event raised $1.5 million for Build.

Marissa Mayer, Jack Dorsey – Orkut Buyukkokten, Derek Holbrook, Jack Dorsey

This year’s Gala — the first time it took place in San Francisco — was truly an inspirational evening, thanks largely to the examples set by two women honored at the event: Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, (San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee took the occasion to name May 17, 2013 “Marissa Mayer Day”), and Build alumna Natalee Brahnam.

Amity Millhiser, Erin Glenn – Natalee Branham, Baratunde Thurston

Brahnam’s emotional speech showed the positive impact that Build can have on a young person’s life. “I was expelled from high school because of my temper… but Build stuck with me because they saw something in me I did not yet see in myself.” She is now a budding entrepreneur who appears to have a fantastic life ahead of her.

Marissa Mayer, who received the Pitch Prize for Entrepreneurship, presented to her by Jack Dorsey, summed up the spirit of the evening when she commented that, “We believe ideas paired with passion can change the world, and one person’s life.”