The founding story

Our story begins with our grandfather, Popatbhai, a barefoot teenager in rural Gujarat.

He owned just one pair of clothes and walked 8 kilometers every day to attend high school. Tuition was out of reach until his sister, Ambaben, stepped in and paid his fees. It was only 5 rupees (about 7 cents today), but that one act sparked a chain reaction. It did not just transform his life. It uplifted our entire extended family and the hundreds of students he taught during his 25-year career as a teacher.

That moment became our family’s legacy: education as the spark that creates momentum for generations.

Our father, Alpesh Patel, carried that spark forward. From IBM to Salesforce to DocuSign, he built a career of earned success. Yet he always measured true success by asking, “How do we give back? How do we extend the same opportunity that changed our family’s trajectory?” Our mother, Janice, lived the same truth. Her journey from inner-city New York to Columbia University was powered by sacrifice, wisdom, and the transformative force of education.

We grew up in this multi-generational household shaped by stories, not status. We never had to worry about food, books, or opportunity. But we always knew that opportunity carries responsibility.

When we traveled with our parents to India, Kenya, Tanzania, Thailand, and Peru, we saw it firsthand. There were children with brilliance and determination but without access to the resources that could unlock their potential.

That is when the idea struck us: What if giving back was not just about donating money? What if people with earned success could share their skills, wisdom, and expertise, and create the same multiplying effect our family experienced with those 5 rupees?

We pitched this idea at our dinner table. Our father said yes. To help us launch it, he pledged up to 50% of his GTM advisory income in 2025 and designed a way to amplify every contribution:

For every professional who pledges to share their skills, he will add $100.
For every student volunteer who contributes their time, he will add $100.
For every supporter who uses our knowledgebase and experts’ time to advance their goals, he will add $10.

He also committed that his and future leadership donations will cover all operational costs so that 100% of every community contribution goes directly to students in underdeveloped communities and countries.

And so, Momentum Makers was born.