All About

Jerry T. Joseph was born first generation in the United States in Chicago, IL, from a South Indian family originating in Valiyakalayil, Kerela.  Jerry's father strove to create a prosperous family after escaping an unrewarding life in India, allowing him to make a significant investment into his son's education.  Jerry is extremely grateful for his family's contribution and aims to create similar opportunities for his younger siblings Justin and Jenny.

 

As part of his extracurricular activities while attending Lane Technical College Prep High School, under the caring mentorship of Jeff Gerhardt, Jerry participated in the After School Matters program FOCUS ON NASA: Birds to Bots Apprenticeship where he worked with Motorola engineers to build rockets, planes, and weather systems. This opportunity lead him to explore the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida to attend an exclusive meeting with former NASA astronaut John Fabian and experience the launch of the space shuttle Discovery in 2006.

 

Jerry also was part of the Team Challenger Drive Team where he collaborated closely with Motorola engineers and veteran FIRST Robotics participants to construct robots for FIRST Robotics competitions. Team Challenger was awarded Best Robot Design Award in the 2006 Wisconsin Regional FIRST robotics competition and the Rookie All-Star Award at the 2007 Midwest Regional FIRST robotics competition.

 

After obtaining his B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2011, Jerry decided to take 90-day retreat to Australia.  Jerry participated in a volunteer-in-exchange-for-accommodation program called Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF).  For a majority of his stay in Australia, he participated at the Oddiyana Dharma Sanctuary as a Volunteer Sangha Member where he absorbed the teachings of eastern philosophy.  Jerry regards his experience during the program a vital turning point for his personal growth.

 

While representing the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS) at the World Leadership Diversity Summit (WLDS) 2012, Jerry fatefully met Yousef and – after receiving an empowerment from Stedman Graham – the two have been collaborating closely ever since to create opportunities for positive global change. Yousef's determination and clever planning has been a constant inspiration to Jerry as the two combine forces to overcome obstacle after obstacle in their journey of creating Jaygoe.

 

Jerry is a technologist by profession, but an adventurer at heart. He is eternally grateful to every kind mentor or spiteful adversary encountered throughout his many adventures; he understands that they are a valuable asset in his journey to success.  Jerry is constantly trying new things to expand his knowledge from the wonders of the universe whether it's making a new friend across the seas or sampling some exotic delicacies.  Jerry has learned from his many failures throughout his entreprenurship and eagerly looks forward to learning and growing from even more exciting experiences.

 

"LIVE like it is your last day... LEARN like you will live forever" -- M. Ghandi

 

You can follow Jerry on Twitter @jaitj7