The recipient of a bachelor's degree and an MBA from Duke University, Kurt Lutgert is a spiritual development author and the vice president of The Lutgert Companies, a real estate development enterprise in Naples, Florida. Outside of his professional pursuits, Kurt Lutgert is an active supporter of Take Stock in Children.
A Florida-based nonprofit organization that provides supplemental educational skills and opportunities to students from low-income families, Take Stock in Children has served over 24,000 children throughout the state since its creation in the early 1990s. In 2010, the organization received an Innovation Grant from the United States Department of Education, which it used to fund a college readiness program titled "Facilitating Long-Term Improvements in Graduation and Higher Education for Tomorrow" (FLIGHT).
The three-year study began in 2011 and included 312 students, 150 of whom were put into the FLIGHT program, while 162 were part of a non-FLIGHT control group. Those in FLIGHT received consistent one-on-one mentoring, informed feedback, and college and career workshops. At the end of the study, academic outcomes included 98 percent of FLIGHT students attending college as opposed to 83 percent of non-FLIGHT students. FLIGHT students also reported fewer financial and preparedness impediments to college success as well as an increase in education aspirations.
