The Daily Drop - A Year in Review

With the one-year anniversary of The Daily Drop coming soon, let's take a moment to look back at all the things we have accomplished this year.

A visual showing many of the Drop's achievements over the year.

The Daily Drop was meant to be a small project at most. After my Global Finance program at Fordham University the summer after my sophomore year, my newfound passion for finance led me to starting a finance newsletter along with my colleague Jason - us two would turn our respective interests in economics and politics into a single platform equipping easy-to-read articles to the youth and other readers from across the globe.

The first few months were very challenging. Many people downplayed our project as a fantasy, while our viewership never surpassed over 100 in a single post. Growth was very slow, and at many points, I was at the verge of giving up this experiment entirely.

But soon our project got growth after we were approved by Icahn Charter School 3, my alma mater, to present our first ever financial literacy summit. It was hard preparing for it, as I have never been a public speaker, but my motivation was fueled by the resolve to make social impact, to keep going. And that's what I did.

We did our 40+ member summit at ICS3, teaching them about financial basics, many of whom never even heard of them entirely. Jason and I are working on an economic study analyzing the effect of tariffs on Bronx small businesses - working closely with local businessowners to get their voices heard. And we continued the initial goal of a news website, posting over 600+ articles, having 10k+ unique readers from six continents, and reaching 600k+ individuals online.

Me (left) and COO Jason Davis (right). More photos could be found in the "About" page of the Drop's website.

I would first like to thank our volunteers and leaders for making all this possible. Just Jason and I could not have been enough to manage all of the projects that we have done.

Of course, I will start with Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder Jason first. A brilliant, ambitious prodigy for geopolitics and history, he has been fundamental not only for the growth of the website, but also our summits, serving as the coordinator of the civics section. However, he has also been my own personal motivation for wanting to continue with this website. I founded this organization with him not just because he would be an asset, but because he has been my lifelong friend, and I knew I could trust him to be enduring to the Drop's mission while also leading his World Politics section of the page. Without him, we would not be here today.

I would also like to thank Social Media Coordinator Jose Flores. Although quite an interesting figure, he was served as the head of the X account for half of a year, posting regularly the content of the Drop, while also helping prepare for our financial literacy summit by introducing the media aspect of making important decisions. Jose has also been a very close friend of mine and has served as a catalyst for my continued drive to lead the Drop - with my closest allies by my side.

Additionally, I would like to thank Tommy Spellman for being foundational in our summits, Ishaan Satija for being dedicated to the Drop's Finance and U.S. Politics sections, Alex Phan for adding a flair of technology to the site, and so many others who've contributed to our growth. Sincerely, thank you.

Lastly, I would like to mention all those who have recognized our work. Our greatest recognition was from billionaire investor Carl C. Icahn, who during a board meeting for the Icahn Charter Schools network, was "very interested" in our work, according to the ICS3 principal. Mrs. Icahn also expressed interest in our work.

Furthermore, we've been supported and/or recognized by much of the Icahn faculty, Fordham Preparatory School, a Fordham University lecturer, and others.

Thank you to everyone for making this dream a possibility. I promise to you that the next year will be one filled with even more community building, posts, and commitment to our original mission. This is merely just the beginning, and with all of your continued support, we could get this thing to be even greater, one drop at a time.

Alexangel Ventura

CEO and Founder of The Daily Drop