As a high school student, Greg Gannon was recruited by one of his teachers at Georgetown Prep to spend his summer working for the Higher Achievement Program, a small program offering educational enrichment for students in underserved areas of DC. Greg spent that first summer working one-on-one with students on their math—an experience that convinced him to return for multiple summers throughout high school and college. By the time Greg graduated from college and returned to the DC area, this original program had closed, but the memory of it stayed with him as he started his career in education.
In 1975, Greg decided to take his love of education and his commitment to social justice to start his own nonprofit modeled after the one he had worked with all those summers; he also called his program the Higher Achievement Program, but it was more affectionately known as HAP. Greg recognized that in DC many students had great talent and abilities but lacked access to opportunities; he hoped HAP would help provide the opportunities that had thus far eluded these students. He used his Catholic connections to get spaces for HAP at several Catholic elementary schools, and a full-time English position at Gonzaga College High School that would support him as he built the program.
Greg’s work ethic was unparalleled and his passion for this mission was contagious. For Greg, HAP was a family and community affair. His parents, Mary and Gil, were his greatest fundraisers, soliciting many of their friends for the start-up funds for the programs. He recruited his sister, Patti, brother, Rick, and many of his and their high school friends, college friends, and many more to volunteer as tutors, or as chaperones for field trips to climb Old Rag, to the local roller skating rink in Adams Morgan, and beyond. He met his wife Mo when a friend brought her to volunteer at a HAP event.
Greg started Higher Achievement Program (HAP), under the umbrella of Gonzaga, with fiscal and operational support, and most of the early staff were members of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Eventually, HAP became an independent nonprofit focused on admission to strong high schools across DC.
Greg served as Founder and Executive Director for HAP’s first 10 years. When Maureen Holla became Executive Director, she re-engaged Greg with Higher Achievement, asking him to serve on the board, where he dedicated his passion, commitment, and exceptional skills as a fundraiser to the program. Even after being diagnosed with brain cancer, he remained a dedicated and active board member until he passed away in 2006, at the age of only 55. Greg’s wife Maureen, his brother, Rick, his sister, Patti, and his four daughters (Katie, Colleen, Megan, and Margi) remain dedicated supporters to this day.
Over the decades, Higher Achievement expanded to reach scholars throughout the DC metro region, Baltimore, and Richmond. 15,000 scholars have graduated from Higher Achievement and have gone on to careers in politics, education, law, medicine, the arts, and more. Greg’s commitment to social justice informed by his deep Catholic faith became a transformative reality that has shaped countless lives.