Hoosick Falls, NY
On August 6, 2018, the JLS Foundation continued our billboard campaign in the town of Hoosick. Our billboards celebrate the incredible success of people from Hoosick Falls. Although our community is small, the success of our current and former residents is impressive and cuts across nearly every industry you can imagine. Our hope is that students from the school district will be inspired by the Hoosick Falls residents that came before them.
Our second billboard celebrates the inspiring story of Dr. Zach Helft (HFCS Class of 2007). Zach grew up on Cottrell Lane in Hoosick Falls, and was a JLS Foundation alum. He received his Bachelor of Science in Cellular Neuroscience from Colgate University and a Ph.D. in Vision Science from UC Berkeley. In 2014, just seven years after graduating from HFCS, Zach founded C. Light Technologies, Inc., a biotechnology company that is helping the medical community diagnose neurological disorders years earlier than previously possible. Prior to founding C. Light Technologies, Zach worked in the Technical Process Support team at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals where he helped launch the company’s first large-scale biologic (Eylea) to the market. Zach has also authored multiple research articles related to the field of neuroscience. He currently resides in Berkeley, CA.
Zach’s billboard is the second one produced by the JLS Foundation. The first featured Zach’s HFCS classmate, Jessica Abramovich Kuron. After winning the JLS Foundation Scholarship, Jess earned her bachelor’s degree at Simmons College in three years and just a few years later was working on Capitol Hill as Director of Operations and Executive Assistant to U.S. Senator Tom Carper (Delaware). She is currently working in the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
Stay tuned for more billboards featuring current and former residents of Hoosick Falls. Every person featured on our billboards are part of our Hometown Network, which is a network of people from Hoosick Falls organized by profession and willing to help students network within industries of their interest. Students can access our Hometown Network and begin corresponding with anyone in it at https://thejlsfoundation.org/business-directory/