By: Natalie Johnson

Just an hour outside the bustle of Los Angeles, in a quiet corner of Moreno Valley, something extraordinary is rising from the dirt. It is not a tech campus, a luxury development, or a film studio. It is something even more powerful. It is a school. A school designed to become a national model of Black excellence, innovation, and educational liberation. And at the center of it all is a woman with vision.

Tiffany Gilmore, Founder and Executive Director of Garvey Allen STEAM Academy, is leading a revolution in public education. In a state known for its contradictions and cultural complexity, she is reimagining what learning can and should look like for Black and Brown children. Her latest effort? A $500,000 GoFundMe campaign to complete the construction of GASA’s brand-new campus, a project that has already broken ground and is actively in progress.

This is not just about bricks and mortar. It is about rewriting the narrative for historically marginalized students. It is about building futures rooted in possibility, pride, and power.

A Movement Born from Urgency and Love

Garvey Allen STEAM Academy, known as GASA, is a public charter school serving grades 5 through 8. Nestled in a fringe rural section of Riverside County, the school serves a student body that is 99 percent minority and 72 percent economically disadvantaged. But step onto the campus or speak to one of its scholars, and you will not find deficit thinking or despair. You will find something that feels radical in today’s educational climate: joy.

That joy is intentional. It is woven into GASA’s model, which fuses a rigorous STEM education with deep arts training. Students are dancers and coders. Scientists and singers. Painters and mathematicians. It is a curriculum built not on compromise, but on expansion. GASA challenges the false binary that says students must choose between logic and creativity, intellect and identity, culture and academic rigor.

Gilmore describes it as raising ACHIEVERS—young people who are high-performing, culturally connected, and equipped to lead.

“We are not just building a school. We are building a lifeline,” Gilmore said in an interview. “Ground has been broken and construction is moving forward, but we need our community to help us cross the finish line. In 2025, when the future of public education is hanging in the balance, we cannot afford to wait. Our children deserve spaces that affirm their worth, fuel their brilliance, and prepare them to lead.”

Why the Fundraising Push Matters

The GoFundMe campaign, which aims to raise $500,000, will support critical components of the new campus. That includes classroom buildouts, state-of-the-art STEM labs, outdoor learning environments, upgraded safety infrastructure, and expanded arts and athletic programming. Importantly, funds will also help support scholarships for families in need—ensuring that economic hardship does not block a child’s access to this transformative model.

GASA has already outgrown its current space. The new campus is not about ambition for ambition’s sake. It is about necessity. Demand is high, and the need is urgent. Families are hungry for an educational option that honors their children’s gifts and challenges their intellect. Gilmore believes this school is the blueprint.

And she is not alone.

A Track Record That Speaks for Itself

Since its founding, GASA has drawn attention from educators, activists, and community leaders across the state. Its integrated approach to arts and science is producing students who excel both inside and outside the classroom. But more than that, it is producing leaders. Students at GASA learn to articulate their ideas, connect their learning to the world around them, and imagine themselves in rooms they have never been allowed to enter.

This work is especially critical as national conversations around educational equity remain under attack. Efforts to cut funding, ban books, and roll back culturally responsive teaching practices are growing louder by the day. In this context, what Gilmore is building in Moreno Valley is both courageous and essential.

“We believe in leading with love and excellence. Our scholars are not just the future. They are the now,” Gilmore said. “When our students see themselves reflected in their learning and their environment, everything changes. They begin to understand that they belong everywhere they choose to go.”

The Stakes Could Not Be Higher

This is more than a school fundraiser. This is a fight for the soul of education. It is a declaration that Black and Brown children deserve world-class facilities, top-tier instruction, and access to opportunity without apology or condition.

Gilmore is not waiting for permission. She is building the future now.

Through her leadership, GASA has already become a model of what is possible when schools center culture, creativity, and community. The GoFundMe campaign offers an opportunity for the broader public to be part of this transformation.

Every dollar is a step toward classrooms filled with light, safety, and cutting-edge tools. Toward libraries stocked with books that reflect diverse brilliance. Toward arts spaces where students can move, create, and dream without limit. Toward a school that doesn’t just educate, but liberates.

Join the Movement

As Gilmore says, “This is not just a call for dollars. It is a call to believe in something bigger. If we want our children to thrive, we have to build the spaces that make thriving possible.”

To donate or learn more about the campaign, visit:
https://gofund.me/5275a6e7

To learn more about Garvey Allen STEAM Academy, visit:
https://www.garveyallenacademy.com