2026 Graduate Diploma Ceremony Distinguished Speaker
Jim Ziolkowski, Founder, President, and CEO of buildOn, to Serve as Distinguished Speaker for Gabelli School Graduate Diploma Ceremony
Inspired by his passion for service and education, Ziolkowski left a career in corporate finance to found the nonprofit buildOn in 1991. Since then, he has served as CEO and led the organization in breaking the cycle of poverty and illiteracy through buildOn’s Service Learning Program in the U.S. and Global School Construction Program in the world’s economically poorest countries.
To date, buildOn has mobilized hundreds of thousands of U.S. youth to contribute millions of hours of intensive service in their communities. Once students get involved in buildOn, they come to school 15 more days per year and 98% graduate on time. Globally, hundreds of thousands of parents have contributed over 5 million volunteer workdays to build more than 3,200 schools. There are now more than 400,000 children, parents, and grandparents attending these schools they helped to build. Half the students are girls.
Ziolkowski is The New York Times bestselling author of Walk in Their Shoes and has been featured on NBC’s TODAY Show, CNN, CBS Evening News, PBS, TED, and NPR, and in The Wall Street Journal.
He has also been endorsed by three Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including Mother Teresa, the 14th Dalai Lama, and former President Barack Obama. Ziolkowski received a Doctorate in Humane Letters, honoris causa, from St. John’s University, where he delivered the commencement speech for the 2024 graduating class.
“We are delighted that Jim Ziolkowski will address our students during the Gabelli School Graduate Diploma Ceremony. His profound commitment to improving the lives of others serves as a shining example of the ways individuals can collectively come together to make the world a better place. His work speaks to the power of education and its ability to lift people out of poverty and despair,” said Lerzan Aksoy, PhD, dean, George N. Jean PhD chair, and professor of marketing, Gabelli School of Business. “His compassion directly aligns with the Jesuit values that are the bedrock of the educational experience we provide—one that is selfless and anchored in leveraging business as a catalyst for positive and lasting change.”
Dean Aksoy commented, “We are deeply grateful to Bob O’Shea, who will be introducing Jim Ziolkowski. In addition to his exemplary leadership of Silver Point Capital and his deep connection to Fordham, his continuous support of the buildOn mission and his hands-on involvement in its many initiatives, are an inspiration to us all.”