Christa Gannon ’97 swept into my life the summer before her second year of law school. A transfer student from Northwestern, she had gotten my name from mutual friends who suggested she look me up when she arrived at Stanford. When I opened my office door, I was the one who had to look up: Christa stands 6’2″. • “Wow!” I said. • “Do you play basketball? Would you like to coach my son’s YMCA team?” • She responded with what I would come to know as her characteristic enthusiasm: Yes, she would love to be my son’s coach.

Not only would my son have his first-ever undefeated season but I also had tapped into two of Christa’s many passions—basketball and helping kids. Honored by Stanford Law School last fall with its inaugural Alumni Public Service Award for her work with at-risk youth, Christa is someone whose talents and determination to help kids extend far beyond the basketball court.

Still, hers is a difficult story to tell without beginning with basketball.

Christa played starting forward at UC Santa Barbara, twice leading her team to the second round of the NCAA tournament. But basketball was only a part of Christa’s world. Committed to public service, she volunteered at a program for abused children and as a tutor in the local school district. She also mentored young basketball players, teaching them technical skills and encouraging them to work their hardest in school. “I wanted the kids to understand that education is critical. So no matter how good they were at sports, they had to give school their fullout effort,” Christa explains.

Following graduation, Christa entered law school, determined to become a district attorney. She volunteered to teach law classes in Chicago’s juvenile hall, where she encountered kids whose lives were essentially over. “I couldn’t stop wondering about what had led to their incarceration—and, more importantly, whether something could have been done to prevent it,” she remembers.

Seeking to continue the work she had begun at Northwestern, Christa helped found the SLS chapter of StreetLaw, a national program to teach law to lay people in a variety of institutions.

Christa’s interest was in incarcerated youth, and so she developed a curriculum and recruited 45 fellow students to volunteer in Santa Clara County’s juvenile hall. Working in the maximum security unit with teenagers who were facing up to life in prison, Christa recalls, “I was continually confronted with statements that began with ‘If only.’ ‘If only I knew how much trouble I could get into.’ ‘If only I had something positive in my life.’”

After graduating from Stanford with distinction, Christa incorporated those observations into a proposal to George Soros’s Open Society Institute. In 1997, she was selected as one of ten Soros fellows from across the country to receive a postgraduate scholarship. That was the beginning of Fresh Lifelines for Youth—known simply as FLY.

When FLY began in 1998, Christa worked with 25 kids, had 1 staff member, 4 volunteers, and a budget of $32,500. And her “space” consisted of not much more than a cubicle in the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office.

Since then a lot has changed. In 2000 Christa incorporated FLY as a nonprofit and last year—under her leadership and with a staff of 18 and 80 trained volunteers—FLY served more than 2,000 youth.

FLY’s offices, which still include a small space at the public defender’s office, have expanded to also include almost 4,000 square feet of donated space at the Sobrato Center for Nonprofits. And FLY’s annual budget is currently more than $1 million.

So what exactly does Christa do?

FLY’s clients are youth on probation or at risk for entering the criminal justice system. They range in age from 11 to 18 and are referred to FLY by professionals in the judicial system, parents, and community members.

Maria is a good example. Her story begins with a heart-stopping statement: “I was born in Chowchilla State Prison.” Her mother had just been sentenced to seven years, and Maria was sent to live with her grandparents and two older sisters. By the time she was a high school freshman, she was addicted to crystal methamphetamine. When she was 15, Maria was arrested for a drug crime and sent to juvenile hall. Then her probation officer referred her to FLY.

FLY has developed a three-part solution to prevent juvenile crime, based on the sentiments expressed by the same incarcerated kids Christa met in juvenile hall. The Law Program teaches kids about the law and the consequences of crime. The Mentor Program matches kids who are struggling with drug and/or alcohol addiction with an adult who works one-on-one with them for a year. The Leadership Training Program prepares youth for the transition into adulthood by teaching them to become socially responsible citizens.

FLY’s programs have been extremely successful and come at a substantial savings when compared with the cost of incarceration. For example, to incarcerate one youth for one year in California’s prison system costs $71,000; FLY’s most expensive yearlong program costs less than $7,000 per youth per year. Meanwhile, California’s state-run facilities have only a 25 percent success rate in preventing recidivism. FLY’s Leadership Training Program has more than an 88 percent success rate. In fact, 92 percent graduate from high school.

As a result of their accomplishments, Christa and FLY have received numerous honors at the local, state, and national levels. The Alumni Public Service Award that Christa received from Stanford Law School was perhaps the most meaningful so far. “Stanford’s recognition is invaluable to me. I feel it validates my decision to apply my education in the nonprofit sector and to use my skills in a less traditional legal career,” she says.

Maria has certainly benefited from Christa’s career choice. After being placed in FLY’s Mentor Program, Maria became clean and sober. She then joined FLY’s Leadership Training Program, where she was selected by her peers as its chairperson. Maria then became the first in her family to graduate from high school. And she has stayed crime-free and drug-free for the past three years.

Maria is just one of FLY’s many success stories. But Christa, while delighting in each youth’s achievements, is not satisfied. FLY has a long list of kids waiting to get into its programs. “I feel it is my moral obligation to provide FLY’s services to anyone who needs them,” she says. This might seem like an unreachable goal with more than 13,000 kids in Santa Clara County being cited for a crime each year. But with Christa’s vision, energy, and leadership, it’s a slam-dunk.

For information about FLY, visit www.flyprogram.org.