Amber Barr currently serves as program services director for The lmmokalee Foundation, oversee­ing career-based programs for middle and high school students, post-secondary advocacy programs, summer camps and elementary early-intervention literacy programs. That passion for education began early in her career.

“After graduating from college, I joined Teach for America and was placed as a teacher in the inner city of Indianapolis, teaching seventh grade writing in a turnaround school that had been taken over by the state for poor performance and extensive gang activity,” she says. “Through devotion, positive culture and high academic and social standards, it was gratifying to help transform that school.”

At The Immokalee Foundation, Barr develops new, career-based programs with the goal of providing pathways to success for the children of lmmoka­lee. Her purpose in life, she says, is to make a direct impact on students’ lives through education.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

My grandma told me, “You don’t need everyone’s approval to live your life. Your decisions are yours to make.” I live by this, and it reminds me that I control my own destiny.