I THE INFLUENTTALs ]
oneacademic tutoringis a flxture of contemporary New Yor\ and Alagappan is the father ofthe business.Twenty yearsago,Alagappan,a Princetonphilosophymajor and Harvard Law grad, ieft the white-shoe law firm Sullivanand Cromwell to found Advantage Testing,aboutiquetutoring service for college-bound high- schooikids.Today,Alagappan and too fellow tutors work with up to 2,ooo kids eachyearin subjectsrangingfrom core academics and essaywriting to SATprep. Despitelaw-partner rates(Alagappancharges$685 for a So-minutehour,although stafftutors charge less),ayear's wait is not uncommonfor Alagappan'sservices.Alagappan
youirgson,shesetaboutfinding it for herself,then shalingit with the restof NewYork. Today,her Website,InsideSchools.org, offersan educationalmix of information aboutNewYork's 1,5oopublic schools.The Website's choolplofilesdetail test scores,ofcourse,but they alsodescribe the cultureofeach school,givingprospective familiesinsightson teaching styles,homework,and discipline. Therearealsopolicypapers, parentalerts,andnuts-and-bolts guidesto schooladmissions, testing,and other education essentials. InsideSchools.org doesn'tpull punches;you'reas apt to readaboutbarrenscience labsat a givenschoolasyou are to readabouta greatprincipd. Arun Alagappan Fountle4 Acluant age Testin.g I nc. Like it or not, high-end,one-on-
on an eLeven-acrecampus in Canarsie, it would look more at home in Houston or LA.-now has a congregation ofmore than 25,ooo (with anotherSoo,ooo tuning in to hearBernardon WMCA-AM). Vocalconvertslike JasonKidd and StarJoneshave helpedspreadBernardsversion of the prosperitygospel : taking personalresponsibility, livingby bibjical standards,and finding success in all parts oflife. And
and flirted with petty crime, but a teacher tookthetime to sethim
on the right track, and he eventuallygraduatedfr om
Bowdoinandearnedamaster's in education from Harvard.He started the Zonewith the help of Soros's Quantum Fundmanager andfellowBowdoinalumnus StanDruckenmiller (who,along rvith other private, corporate,and go!€rnmentsources, fundsthe program).ThePromiseAcademy hasproducedremarkableresults. In September2OO4,, only1l percentofthe kindergartenhids, dl chosenby lottery testedabove grade level.ByJune'o5,that numberhad risento 80 percent. Clara Hemphill Foundaa I nsi.tleScItoo ls.org Empowering parents. When Hemphill couldnt find the information she needed to choose a oubiic school for her
Bemard hasleveragedhis ministry into considerable
power-politicians like Spitzer andBloomberghavecourtedhim
insistshe doesn t track test scores ; regardless,Advantage hasinspireddozens ofhigh- pricedimitators,and,for betteror worse,transformedthe precollege landscape. (nruum) avidly,ashasdeveloperBruce Ratner.Disneyflew Bernardto Burbankto showhim an early rough-cut of}/orniq then held a marketing eventat the CCCfor 7OONewYork religious leaders. Charles Bronfman Jwish plilanth.ropist The largesse of Bronfman-and his iatewife,Andrea-is reshapingthe waythat thousandsofyoung, urban, secular-leaning Jewsconnect with their faith. Everyyear, Bronfmanawards$15million to
BISHOP CATHERINtr ROSKAM
$2o million-and leverages another $2O0million from other lbundations-to innovative,media-sawy,youth- focusedJewishprograms. Birthright Israelis sendingits IoO,OOOth Jewto Israelthis summer,and the artsnonprofit Rebootputsout 2o,oOO copies of the bi-monthly Guilt and Pleu,sure magazineand sponsors informal salonsfrom ParkSlope to MorningsideHeights. $9"*g*;T!y.u. Asidefrom the Dalai Lama himself,no onehasdonemore to spreadinternational awareness and appreciationfor Tibetan Buddhismthan Thurman, a former monk and current Columbiaprofessor.His translationsmadekeytexts availableto Englishspeakers, and his charismaticspeaking tours haveinspired thousands around the country.Yes,he's Uma's father, and remarkably Hollywood-sawy-in 1982he
Rev. Timothy Keller Redcdilet Prcshyterian Keller hasbecomethe most successfu I ChristianEvangelist in the city by recognizingwhat marketershaveknown for decades: that young professionals and artistsare "disproportionatelyinfluential" in creatingthe country'sculture and that you haveto meetthis coveteddemographicon its own terms.With inteliectua.l, brimstone-freesermonsthar manageto citeWoodyAllen alongsideMatthew,Marli, Luke, andJohn,Keller drawssome 5,ooo youngfollowersevery Sunday.Churchleadersseehim asamodel ofhow to evangeiize urban centersacross the country,and Keller hashelped "plant" so gospel-based ChristianchurchesaroundNew York plus another5o from San Francisco to London. Rev, A.R.Bernard NewYork'smegachurchman.His ChristianCulturalCenter-built
and RichardGerefounded Tibet House,a nonprofit organizationfavoredby celeblitiesthat hostsevents rangingfrom yogaretreatsto mind transformation.
tl l, t: :lr li l ,
86 NEw YoRK I MAY 15, 2oO6
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