October 24, 2024
6:00-9:00 p.m.
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library
901 G St NW Washington, DC 20001

Dress Code: Business Attire

Tickets     Donate

Higher Achievement is committed to making our events accessible to everyone. If you require an accommodation or service to fully participate, please fill out this form at least two weeks prior to the event.

Going Places 2024 Speakers

Lily, event emcee
Lily is a 7th grade scholar from Brookland. She enjoys learning, traveling, and spending time with friends and family. Lily looks forward to sharing the stage on October 24!

Kodi, event emcee
Kodi is an 8th grade scholar from Ward 6. She hopes to attend Benjamin Banneker, McKinley Tech, or School Without Walls for high school.

Bathsheba Philpott, alumna
Bathsheba Philpott is a career fundraising development professional and currently serves as president and principal consultant of Fundraising Guru Consulting LLC. She has served in leadership roles at a number of institutions including the Smithsonian Institution, George Washington University, and American Council on Education and is an alumna of George Washington University and University of Maryland.

Addisen, Mauren Holla award winner
Addisen is a Higher Achievement alumna and winner of our 2024 Maureen Holla award. She is a 9th grader enrolled in her high school’s International Baccalaureate Program.

Going Places 2024 Honorees

Jay Epstien
and Community Champions

Jay Epstien has been part of the Higher Achievement community for more than 10 years. In addition to chairing the Going Places event in 2016 he has served on the Board of Directors since 2019 and as Treasurer of the organization. Jay’s thoughtful and creative energy was critical to Higher Achievement’s ability to navigate through the challenges of the Covid 19 pandemic. His enthusiastic support of the middle school scholars has made a real difference in the communities served by Higher Achievement.

Outside of Higher Achievement, Jay was a partner in DLA Piper LLP, an international law firm with offices in more than 40 countries. Under Jay’s leadership, the DLA Piper real estate practice became the leading practice in the world. Among many professional accolades, Jay was named the 2019 Global Real Estate Lawyer of the Year by Who’s Who Legal; inducted into the Legal 500 Hall of Fame; and was one of only two attorneys recognized among 30 executives as the “Most Influential People in Real Estate” following the Global Financial Crisis. He is a fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers where he served as President in 2018 and is the host of the ACREL Files – podcasts where he has interviewed more than 20 of the leading commercial real estate executives and attorneys in the US.

Jay is the recipient of the prestigious Judge Learned Hand Award from the American Jewish Committee in recognition of his exceptional professional achievements and dedication to civic and philanthropic causes and organizations. In addition to Higher Achievement, he also serves on the boards The Headstrong Project, focused on mental health support and suicide prevention for military veterans and their families; and the Annika Foundation, which aims to develop, empower and advance young women around the world through golf.

Going Places 2024 Leadership