Who is Ms. G?
On December 1, 2020, we lost Francesca Ginocchio.
She was passionate about teaching and empowering her students.
Some of her students were teen mothers.
We created Franky’s Fund to reward young single mothers, like those she taught. These young women, who graduated from high school, required extensive support to develop English language reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.
March 1, 2021
Dearest Friends,
Along with you, our family is shocked and heartbroken over the global pandemic that upended the lives of millions of young people worldwide. Witnessing the growing, unimaginable toll this virus has wrought, and alongside it, the perseverance of educators and students who work daily to provide and acquire essential educational skills. We know this is the time to deepen our care for each other and our communities.
In response to the loss of Francesca Ginocchio (Franky), our friend, sister, and daughter, the Francesca Ginocchio Memorial Fund (Franky’s Fund) was created to support her ideals. We have identified our grants this year and seek to increase our funding capacity. Our goal is to support community efforts protecting those who are vulnerable because of three factors: they are young women in high school, they are working to acquire English-language skills, and they are single mothers.
This month, we offered 2k grants to the Lower East Side Preparatory High School (Manhattan, New York).
We are studying the communities that may be eligible closely and plan to grant additional funds each year.
Thank you so much for your very generous support of these young women, and for doing your part to stay safe and help protect each other.
To stay updated about developments with the Francesca Ginocchio Memorial Fund (Franky’s Fund), please be sure to sign up to our newsletter.
With love,
Dave, Micaela, Dale, Blake, John, Rob, Laura,
Our Mission
To develop the Francesca Ginocchio Memorial Fund (Franky’s Fund) so that we continue to identify and reward teen single mothers who require support to develop English language skills (read, write, speak) and who will graduate from high school in California and New York.
“We have worked to officially make one of our graduation awards in excellence in ESL teaching, now named in honor of Francesca. She actually won this award herself and so it's so special to be able to do this, in perpetuity...”
— Dr. Laura Baecher. Associate Professor | Department of Curriculum & Teaching | School of Education
Programs in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Hunter College of the City University of New York.
Our Goals:
Establish a community to support Franky’s Fund
To make higher education more accessible to the students Francesca taught
To identify young single mothers who are graduating from high school and who needed special support to learn to read, write, and speak English
To encourage young women and support their higher education
To develop a community engaged in supporting immigrant students
To support young single mothers who attend school
Who is Ms G?
Her smile was remarkable, but it was her heart and dedication to her students that made her such a standout educator. Faced with remote learning, she made this video last summer (2020) for them. The young women she taught lived with impossible choices, like single motherhood, yet they wanted an education. They called her Ms G—she loved them. They loved her too.
